Chapter 44:

They were having a family dinner. It was strange, this table hadn't been used in a really long time and Saffron had cleared a thick layer of dust from the top of it before she set the table. Giles had decided everyone needed a proper home-cooked meal, he had been looking after Dawn over the weekend as Buffy had been away to visit Angel. Willow and Tara were making polite conversation, thinking that nobody could see them playing footsie under the table and Dawn was animatedly telling Spike and Saff about the latest drama at school which ended with the girl that had been picking on Dawn having someone's lunch dumped down her brand new white blouse. Spike and Saff laughed with glee at Dawn's story, Spike because he had paid for it to happen and Saff because she enjoyed Dawn's storytelling and was pleased to be alive to hear it. Spike was holding Saff's hand and they happily rested their entwined hands on the table. Giles kept eyeing them, but he didn't have the heart to say anything. It would only please Spike and upset Saffron if he did. Besides, he could see their love for each other, he would have to be blind not to. Spike was sipping from a mug of blood, having finished his human food and Saffron was gazing up at him softly.

The front door went but Saffron and Spike didn't notice until Buffy had walked into the room and set the bucket of chicken down in front of them. Saffron had noticed some stray blood from the corner of his mouth and had gently wiped it away with her thumb. The pair could barely leave each other's side and it was hard for the others to imagine one without the other.

"We uh, kinda already ate…" Dawn said as Buffy's face dropped. She had brought them food but they were all eating like a family.

"I don't know anybody else but I would love some chicken" Tara said kindly as everyone started to nod.

"I won't have any" Saff shrugged and nobody was surprised, then a thud could be heard under the table before she spoke again, "Ow! Spike can have my piece" before she shot him a look.

"What? You're all super-strength ain't you love?" he shrugged with a smirk, grabbing some chicken from the bucket but she couldn't bring herself from him despite the meat he was happily biting into. She leaned against him as Buffy sat down at the table, picking at her chicken.

The others asked about what seeing Angel was like as Spike muttered some choice words about the vampire, making Saffron giggle softly. The pair were in their own world as Buffy explained she didn't really want to discuss what had happened with the rest of them. Saff could feel a mix of emotions around the room, but mostly she could feel Spike's loving gaze that she all too happily matched.

"Buffy, um, there was... some discussion in, uh, your absence a-about, um... w-what you're gonna do now…"

"Yeah they kept bugging me about my future too, you're lucky you were in L.A" Saffron rolled her eyes as Spike stroked her cheek with the back of his hand as she spoke, bringing her attention back to him instead. Buffy watched the pair, not able to help the jealousy after seeing but not being able to be close with Angel. Giles shook his head, continuing what he was saying after the disruption as the pair seemed to have stepped back into their own world. Dawn watched them, wishing she had a boy that would kiss her and stroke her cheek like that.

"Well, moving on from, ah, that…" Giles said, putting his glasses back on his face after wiping them vigorously, trying to ignore the way the pair who were softly whispering while he was speaking, "We have been discussing- you know, um... your plans"

"Oh, um, I've been giving that a lot of thought actually. I think I've figured it out, what I should do"

"That's good, that's good!"

"Yeah! I figure, if I hold off paying the plumber, I can pay the utility bill and then I can wait to re-shingle the roof until we get the refund back-"

"Oh, I spoke to the electricity man about rewiring my room back how it was and he's saying we can have another fortnight" Saffron managed to extract her gaze from Spike as he finished the chicken, to look at Buffy who nodded with a small smile despite being cut off.

"By spoke to the man, she means she won him a game of poker where the wager was she would get another two weeks… isn't she bloody brilliant?" Spike said, smiling softly at the girl as she flushed slightly at the way he spoke about her. Bragging on her behalf, even if the others didn't find gambling for bills something to brag about. Giles chose, again, to ignore the pair who were a hindrance as usual and direct the conversation back to Buffy.

"Um, I meant… with your life" Giles coughed awkwardly. Buffy seemed confused about this question, not really able to come up with a solid plan. She mentioned wanting to go back to college after she had to drop it, but being dead meant she had missed the chance to re-enroll. The worry about her in the room was heightening but it seemed to plateau after she agreed to tag along to some classes with Willow and Tara to get back into it. Giles decided to direct the interrogation towards Saffron instead, "How about you Saff- Ah, Saffron? Saffron?!"

"Yep, I'm back in the room, sorry. The whole dead thing, I forget you're supposed to keep your elbows off the table during tea and not snog your boyfriend before the chicken bucket's empty" She winked at Giles as Spike snorted at her words. She faced Giles who rolled his eyes but was glad of the distraction as he was worrying about Buffy's attitude. Luckily, Saff seemed to be exactly the same since she returned.

"Have you managed to think more about your, ah, plans? It is, ah, fairly likely the Corrupted will return now that you are alive again"

"My coffin's barely fucking warm and we're already onto my next death scene?"

"Death's made you forget to stop swearing in front of Dawn as well?" Buffy asked with a look.

"You should hear the bit when she's talking about the teenage brats at her school, she swears like a sailor" Spike piped up with a glint in his eye and a smirk as Dawn tried to get him to quit it.

"Ah, well, yes, how about college then? Like Buffy?"

"Not interested"

"But you are intelligent, I always found it a shame that-"

"Look, gramps, she bloody said no alright?" Spike stepped in, she had confided to him the reason she dropped out and he could tell she was feeling the same, if not more so, about it.

"Okay, so the prophecy then. We must research and prepare as much as possible. Your sacrifice has proved that without a doubt, you are the True Sight. To sacrifice yourself for another, to lay down your life…. Saffron? Where are you going?"

"Need a smoke, we can do this later G" Saffron kissed Spike on the side of the face, shooting him an apologetic glance as the sun was still setting so it would be a little bit before he could come and join her. She moved her chair back, splintering the back into pieces with her strength as she groaned in annoyance. She took her lighter and a cigarette from Spike's hand as he offered it to her before kicking the pieces of wood as she left out of the back door. Giles frowned to himself at the pair, although he told himself that Saffron had always been abrupt and her nicotine addiction stopped for no conversation. He instead got up and started to clear up the splintered wood from the chair as Spike helped Dawn clear away the plates.

Saff stepped into the cool air of the evening and managed to take a deep breath. She steadied herself against the doorframe before closing the kitchen door behind her, lighting up quickly. She couldn't handle hearing any more. She couldn't keep pretending. She closed her eyes as she inhaled, thinking about that night. Dawn's face. Following Buffy. Everywhere she turned it reminded her. She couldn't shake this awful feeling. Guilt. Knowing something bad was coming. Because she messed up. Because she's back. Bad luck seemed to follow her around, or conveniently written prophecies did anyway. She took another drag of her cigarette as she heard the door click closed.

"Don't ask to try a fag, it'll kill you. Again" She said more softly than normal to her cousin, who was now walking to stand next to her.

"Me smoking? A world of no" Buffy tried to smile, but Saff knew she didn't feel like smiling because she didn't either.

"Was it this bad last time you died?" Saffron asked, inhaling the smoke from her cigarette as if it would take away everything that had happened. Buffy just shook her head. They both stared into the darkening garden, the sun finally setting and casting a rich purple light across the sky. They were quiet for a while, Buffy feeling that Saff was in her head about the guilt again. She rested a hand on her cousin's shoulder making Saff turn to look at her.

"Feeling what everyone else is feeling is so distracting. I kinda only have room for my own thoughts" Buffy said, barely above a whisper. Saffron nodded, worrying about her cousin. Living with your own shit was hard enough, but adding feeling other people's emotions to it as well?

"Welcome to my world!" She sighed exhaling smoke away from Buffy's face as she did. She had nothing to offer Buffy, only some waterlogged magazines. She hadn't quite mastered the whole feeling emotions thing herself.

"Is it always this… much?" Buffy asked, rubbing her temple slightly as she heard a disagreement inside. Probably Giles and Spike, they both decided. Saffron frowned at her cousin, her hand had moved from comforting her, but it made her realise she couldn't feel anything from Buffy since she came back from LA. No emotions at all. It was creepy. She was about to open her mouth to ask why she couldn't feel her emotions, but it was as if Buffy had anticipated it.

"You managed to fit any training in?" She asked quickly, "Giles is right, you can't just rely on the strength"

"Try me" Saff flicked her cigarette away and beckoned towards Buffy as if to tell her to bring it on with a small grin. Spike had been watching from the kitchen window and rolled his eyes, his girl was going to get beaten up. He debated whether or not to go and step in but decided against it. Maybe she would take training more seriously if she lost. He didn't have the heart to use his full strength on her when she asked him to practice-fight her.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Buffy asked, feeling that she was. Saff still couldn't feel anything from Buffy but she was distracted now. She wanted to prove herself.

"Yeah, I'm tough! Probably better than you now Buffy, who needs a slayer when you've got an empath-on-steroids?" Saff said with a smile as Buffy went to punch her and she caught her hand, surprising herself, "Aw, you're going easy on me! Did the dying turn you into Diet Slayer? Do you come in Zero-sugar too?" Saff mock taunted. Spike sighed at his girl's words, seeing the familiar glint in Buffy's eyes that had been mostly absent since she had died.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't said that" Buffy landed a punch to Saff's shoulder, knowing she could handle it now. Saff had tried to block her again but she was too slow. Buffy kicked her in the lower stomach making her stumble back. Saff tried to distract Buffy by pretending to go for a blow one way but suddenly moving direction, in a way that Buffy had once taught her. Buffy rolled her eyes at the trick, not believing she had fallen for it. Buffy socked her in the jaw and she groaned in pain but quickly moved to kick Buffy's feet from under her and Buffy landed flat on her ass. Saffron was too busy gloating to realise that Buffy was already on her feet and spinning into a round-house kick, sending Saff flying. She hit her head against something hard, being thrown against a wooden bench in the garden. She'd always hated where Joyce had put that stupid fucking bench. When Spike saw she hit her head, he ran out of the kitchen through the back door as Buffy walked towards Saff, about to land a final blow.

"Enough, Slayer! She's in pain" Spike said, he could feel it as if it was his own. He shoved Buffy to the side, expecting to get a headache and faltering slightly when he didn't. He frowned but ran and knelt at Saff's side. She was smiling, rubbing the back of her head. Buffy looked on guiltily, she wasn't sure what had come over her. She should have stopped after she hit her in the jaw. Saff wasn't a slayer, she was just stronger than human.

"Did I win?" She smiled up at Spike. Spike stroked the side of her face softly, he guessed she was concussed. He sent a glare towards the slayer as he pulled Saff to her feet. He checked her over, knowing her soft skin was going to be scattered with powder-blue bruises within minutes. She bruised easily.

"I didn't know you had a twin" Saff whispered, smiling at the non-existent second spike. She was seeing double, about to wave at Spike's twin. He softly took the hand that was about to wave and set it firmly into his hand, interlacing his fingers between hers slowly. He whispered to her, making sure she kept her eyes open as she blinked slowly. He lead her slowly inside and to the basement where he could tend to her better without the Slayer's blank stare on them.

xoxoxo

Saff was sat in the magic box, she had recovered from her fight with Buffy, making sure her cousin knew there was no harm done. It had been a long week of working almost non-stop. She had just got off her shift and had time to kill before her next one at the diner. She wanted to try and contact the voice again. See if it would come back to her. The bell went as someone entered, but she didn't look up. She continued to look down at her cards, she had a bad feeling. She felt like she was being left behind by the powers. Her punishment. She was deep in thought, trying to centre herself. She heard someone clearing their throat, raising their dark bushy eyebrows at her.

A man. He had a slight tan, not uncommon for California and a shaved head. His muscles were toned, he clearly took care of himself. He had a chunky septum piercing and his eyes were pale grey, almost translucent in the light. He wore a cream-coloured shirt, the pattern she couldn't quite make out and it was unbuttoned slightly to show his chest. He had white high tops and cuffed off-white jeans. His clothes fit him but they weren't exact. Her guess was thrifted, her and her family used to buy a lot of her clothes from charity shops when she lived in England. His outfit confused her, it was as if he had tried on a lot of different outfits to try to wear the perfect ensemble and then ran out of time before he had to leave the house and just stuck with the last thing he had tried on.

"Look at you, kitten just sittin' pretty"

"Hi, you wanting a reading?"

"Aren't you a little… young?" the slightly older man said, looking her over, scrutinising every inch of her. She shivered slightly, but unfortunately this wasn't the weirdest experience she had while doing readings in Sunnydale.

"To read a fortune? I don't think there's any age-restrictions" She shrugged. He nodded, a smile playing on his lips. She couldn't quite feel his emotions, the man felt very far away from her. Perhaps he was some kind of demon, she shrugged.

"Uh, your name? For the reading?" She smiled, indicating to her pack. Both his hands landed flat on the table, rolling his eyes as if he was exasperated. He looked her in the eyes, as if weighing up whether he should tell this stranger his name. He let out a drawn-out sigh before responding.

"I was going to wait for a big reveal, but seeing as you asked so sweetly…" He dragged out his words, as if he was savouring every syllable on his tongue, "Oleander" He smiled, moving to clutch his hand in hers, his vice like grip keeping her hand in place. He shook it once and she noted the eye-shaped ring on his right ring finger. She felt all the blood drain from her face. The Oleander. Shit. Just what she needed. She was struggling to blink, her eyes started to water.

"Like the plant?" She asked nonchalantly, snapping herself out of it, pulling her hand away and offering him the pack instead.

"I hope my endowment was satisfactory" He said with a wink, referring to the flower he had sent her a lifetime ago.

"It was a shrub, how exciting could it be?"

"It was a double-entendre, darling" He laughed at her. As if she were a child that wouldn't understand such a notion. Must be how Dawn feels, she managed to think to herself. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I know what it was, it just wasn't necessarily a good one" She replied coolly, but they both knew she wasn't so collected. Neither of them needed to read emotions, her hand that was offering the pack was shaking. He chuckled, making sure to brush her hand with his as he split the pack, laying his card face down between them.

"You want to do the honours?" he watched her closely, smiling cruelly at every small inflection of emotion she had. She reached to flip it, but he was faster. The Devil. She looked up at him.

"So naïve. A child in her Wendy-house wouldn't have fallen for that one, how precious you are!"

"The Devil. It concerns your shadow-self" She started, ignoring his insult and he snorted at her words.

The devil is a major arcana. This represents a shadow-self that must be addressed. You are one side of a coin, heads or tails? Negative influences are surrounding you, when your time is right it will be done. You shall seek to shine your light on the patterns that have been standing in your way for so long, and over time, they will appear to loosen the grip they have on you. Do not be fooled by your power, there is a chink in all armour if it is not forged out of the right intentions. She blinked. Hard. The voice was back.

"So, head's or tails?" Her eyes snapped up to him. How could he have heard that? She didn't say it out loud. Did she? She had never felt anything so much, it was as if everything was rushing at her at once with him sat there unmoving with her. It shook her to her core. It was if the reading was for her as much as it was for him.

"H-how?"

"H-h-how?" He mocked before snapping out of it just as quickly, "How do you think your witch found the ritual to bring you and the itty-bitty slayer back into the world, a-kicking and a-screaming the way you came into it?" He sneered at her, shaking his head. She wasn't going to be a match for him, not even a challenge. He might as well play around with her before it's time, "I guess the devil's in the detail, kid" he laughed as he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it, looking deep into her eyes. His eyes went white, as if there was a flashlight shining at her. She was trapped on the spot. She was panicking but she couldn't even move to blink. He dropped her hand and it went limp, slapping onto the table. It hurt, but she didn't wince nor make a noise. The worst feeling descended on her as she could feel she was being made to panic and feel the most surreal fear. It chilled her soul and it felt as if she was naked in front of him. She felt violated and he was smiling. He was fucking laughing.

Her eyes slowly filled with water and tears fell like a waterfall down her cheeks. He left her like that, as he seemingly got bored of watching her suffer. She watched him leave, hearing him sing a familiar tune. She wasn't sure if it was inside her head or he was really singing as he strolled into the light of the afternoon.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when…

But I know we'll meet again some sunny day…

Saff opened her eyes slowly. She was stood, wearing a pastel outfit with a little apron attached, pouring hot coffee into someone's mug. How did she get here? She wavered, confused and poured coffee onto the table in her shock at her new surroundings.

"Aw, crap! I'm so sorry, can I offer you a complimentary scone?" She said politely, dabbing at the coffee that had created a lake on the table with the cheap diner napkins. She must have been pouring on the table for longer than she thought. She shocked herself at her voice, it was as if she had been functioning on autopilot. She didn't recognise the voice she heard coming from her mouth. It had been hours until her shift, how had time gone so fast? Martha came over, apologising to the customer and explaining that Saff was new. Saff walked behind the counter, checking the clock that hung on the wall. 8p.m? It had been around 4p.m when she had met Oleander, so where had she been for the last four hours? She decided to ask Martha to investigate.

"When did I get in today?"

"Right on time, as always. You've been a little distracted, but I'm not one for holding grudges"

"So, Wednesday. What could I have done for four hours on a Wednesday?" Saff wondered out loud, trying to weigh up if she would have run to Spike to tell him what had happened. Probably, she decided.

"It's Thursday, hon"

"Thursday?" Oh shit. Oh no. Over 24 hours, "Was I here for my shift yesterday?" she asked, trying to hide how frantic she was. Martha was busy plating up a scone for the table Saff had been serving as she tried to come to terms with how much time she had lost.

"Yeah, you came in early. You're gonna make employee of the month, and that's not just because I got the power to decide" Martha winked and walked back towards the table. Her head started to spin and she had to hold on to the counter to steady herself.

xoxoxo

Saff blinked slowly, opening her eyes and seeing that she was in the crypt, a familiar sight as she was close to her boyfriend in the comfort of their safe place. She had moved in while her room was drying out. She couldn't help smiling, it was as if it was a dream. It was so familiar, everything she had ever wanted back when she was stuck in the ground.

She was staring at his lips, a low buzzing sound was coming from them and she frowned slightly at the weird noise. She blinked, hard, and everything came flooding back to her. The sound of the static in the tv. Spike's voice was louder now and she jumped at the volume. He stared at her confused, "You seem a little distracted, love"

"Threw coffee over someone at work again yesterday. Trying to recover by repressing the memory through mind power." She said lightly, "It isn't working, in case you were wondering" She looked down, she was in her diner uniform, realising she had another shift in less than an hour. Another one? It never stops. She hauled herself up, resigning herself to another gruelling shift at the diner. Spike took her wrist and spun her to face him.

"Don't go… I've barely seen you since you started living"

"Opposed to all the long nights we spent together when I was dead?" She tried to keep it light, but her eyes were blinking slowly as if she was about to fall asleep. She looked as if she hadn't slept in years. She moved from his grip, rushing around the room.

"Not a joke, Honey. I need you. With me" He said, mirroring her actions, following her to try to convince her.

"And I need you… But I need to work. I can't convince Buffy to let me send Dawn up any chimneys so I need to pick up as many shifts as I can" she aimed for a joke again, grabbing various things she would need and smoothing her uniform down.

"Stop, love… please" He all but begged, grabbing her wrist again, "You're making yourself ill" he said, gesturing at her pale complexion. The permanent dark circles under her eyes. The way she clutched her head every so often.

"I'm fine, babe. I'll take some tablets and everything will be golden" She waved him off, but her next step towards the door left her clutching at her head and stumbling from exhaustion. She looked back at him, knowing there's no way he'll let her leave now.

"That does it. I'm calling you in sick" He said, snatching the cell phone she had just picked up from her and finding Martha's number. He had met her and knew she would happily let her off.

"I need the money" Saffron said, a hint of desperation in her voice as she reached for the phone that was now ringing through as he held it high and away from her.

"I can get you money" He said firmly, putting the phone to his ear as Martha picked up. Saffron collapsed onto the beat-up couch, accepting the help from her vampire. The way he cared about her made her smile at him while he was on the phone. He winked, sweet-talking the older woman on the phone the way he had the first time they met and Saffron could hear her giggling on the other end.

Saffron woke up, her head on Spike's lap, after a whole one-and-a-half-hour sleep. She was still in her work uniform, she didn't remember falling asleep but knew she had needed it. However, she wasn't used to sleeping for long at the moment, which is how she was currently wide awake at 11p.m. She was restless, trying desperately to cling to the sleep she so needed. She tried to relax, but it was no use. Spike started to huff, she wouldn't stop switching positions. On her tenth change in what seemed like the same amount of seconds, Spike sighed and stilled her, looking in her eyes. There was no way she was getting back to sleep. She groaned, hauling herself up to sit up on the couch beside him. She resigned herself to the crappy Tv, leaning against Spike's shoulder. Eventually, they had decided to go out, Spike figuring she needed the distraction and besides, he knew there was a poker game happening in the back room of one of the bars he liked. Saff changed quickly, trying her best to ignore Spike's enthusiastic i-told-you-so's about how the drawer he had taken from the dump was in such good condition and would last for another century at least.

The demon bar was not somewhere that Saffron would frequent, despite her boyfriend being a vampire. She was open to trying something new though, she trusted Spike to be with her.

"Two beers please" She ordered at the bar, out of habit mostly. She took out her ID to flash at the demon behind the bar. She was still working on autopilot apparently. Spike coughed and changed their order, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Come on, I've been dead" She rolled her eyes, but tried her best pleading face. He wasn't buying it. They waited for their drinks at the bar as Spike replied, "Not a chance in hell" he said a gleam in his eye, handing her an orange juice and kissing her on the forehead.

"Funny" She said stoically before smiling at him slightly. She needed this. A night off. Away from working herself into the ground, "Might as well put it in a fucking sippy cup" She groaned, taking a sip to check if the bartender might have slipped some vodka in. No luck. She set the glass down as Spike took a sip from his glass of O negative. They chatted softly together and tried to enjoy a rare evening while they could.

Spike left her side for a moment, seeing someone that owed him a kitten or something. Saff didn't want to ask. Instead, she picked up her glass again to take another sip of the boring drink, but the glass didn't make it to her mouth. It crunched under her hands, spilling shards of glass and orange juice down her front. Again? Fuck! She would never get used to the super-strength thing. It made her beyond clumsy. At least she wouldn't be mistaken for a human by the demons surrounding her.

A pale man pressed against her going up to the bar. Usually Saff could handle herself, but after everything this unwanted contact tipped her over the edge. She flinched violently, "Get off!" Saff screamed, recoiling from the man. He had been pressed up against her back as he moved closer to the bar, "Get the fuck off me!" She screamed louder, her hand shaking slightly as she squirmed away from him. The man looked shocked, he hadn't realised he had pressed himself up against the woman, focusing on getting to the front of the queue for the bar. He needed a shot of blood (or two). He started to apologise but Saffron backed away, the fear in her eye evident to the onlookers that had heard her screams. The man started to move away, shaking his head. Spike ran out of nowhere, doing his best to intimidate the man. He headbutted him, revealing the man was also a vampire. He had heard her screams from across the room and he made his way to her as fast as he could through the sea of people in the bar. The vampire stalked off, not looking back. Spike walked back to her, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened? You ok, love?"

"Yeah, uh, I was just overreacting" She shook her head, using her hand to rub her temple slightly. She looked washed out. Spike wanted to take her somewhere quiet, ask her about it but a familiar figure came into his line of view. He took Saff's hand and led her to the back room after Clem. This might take her mind off everything.

They were in the back room of the bar, various demons were sat around a circular table. There was a wicker basket in the centre of the table filled with tiny kittens. The demons around the table had cards and were finishing a hand. She was appalled when she realised that the kittens were the currency the demons were playing for. She was even more appalled when she noted that at least two of the demons around the table were known to actually eat kittens. Saff smiled at Clem when she noticed him, she had met him before. He was a sweetheart and she was glad she knew at least one other face. Even if his did look like it had been melted. The rest of them were intimidating and she could tell that they didn't like her, they knew she was related to the Slayer.

Bluffing. Bluffing. Winning. Bluffing. Doesn't understand the game. Saffron called each out in her head. Poker was an easy game when you had her abilities. Her abilities? She could detect deception again?! Thank God. She smiled smugly and sat down on the chair Spike set her on. She wasn't invited into the game, she was satisfied watching and proving herself right. Spike pulled a chair up to the game and waited for his cards to be dealt.

After a while, Spike and Saffron subtly started to work together. She lit a cigarette from the corner of the room, moving her head subtly every time she felt someone bluffing. Spike was suddenly very good at poker where he had been half-decent before. He already had a reputation as someone who cheated and Saffron's appearance made the rest of the players wary of her.

"You gonna play, human?" one of the demons asked in the break where Spike had got up to buy a round of drinks, paid for through the 'nasty word' jar. Spike had continued to use it, out of habit, while Saff was away.

"Oh, no. I'm just a girl, it's a well-known fact that human-girls sit pretty and watch"

"Sarcasm isn't cute on you, sweetheart"

"Okay, I'll bite. If you want to lose even more you just had to ask" Saff smiled.

"Maybe I'll bite if you do lose"

"Can't tell if you are threatening me or flirting with me" Saffron smiled as she dragged her chair towards the table, setting it next to where Spike's empty chair was.

"I'll even let you borrow a kitten, so you can ante up" The man smiled, clearly he had chosen a mix between flirting and threatening. Well, it did seem to be Saff's type after all.

"Ah ah, if anyone's giving her a kitten it'll be me, Kordolf. Take your pick, love" Spike offered, setting down the beers and an orange juice for Saff. She detected a hint of jealousy, Spike was glaring at him, meaning he wanted more than anything to win against this demon now. He didn't like other people giving her such attention.

Every time the cards were dealt, no matter who it was that was dealing, Saffron managed to have the winning hand or miraculously call even the best liar at their bluff. She had amassed a large number of kittens. She was pleased about this, she planned on taking them to a shelter to make sure they were safely housed rather than used as demon-food. Everything was going smoothly until the demon named Kordolf had had enough. She had won almost every round.

"You're a fucking cheat!" The man called her out, flipping the table and shouting, "You should have kept yourself and your human bitch at home, Spike!" Saffron and Clem had managed to grab the basket of kittens before they fell to the ground as Spike stood and squared up to the demon.

"She doesn't even smell that human. Should we give her a taste?" Another demon piped up, layers of teeth could be seen as he smiled menacingly. A fight broke out at these words and Saff tried her best to break it up so Spike wasn't fighting two-on-one. The new strength came in useful for something at least. The bar owner came in and chucked them out, Spike wasn't well liked around here as it was and starting a fight during a secret poker game was the last straw. Spike grabbed Saff's hand and led her into the night and away from the threat.

As they slowed to a walking pace, satisfied nobody was following them, they smiled at each other. They had missed getting stuck in situations like this, they knew they had each other's back. The adrenaline was still coursing through Saff's veins as she slowed her breathing. They walked in a comfortable silence their hands clasped tightly together.

"Meow"

"What the bloody hell was that?" Spike looked around, expecting to see the source of the squeak.

"Nothing, uh, it could be my boots, I never broke them in properly from when I bought them" She offered. He looked at her suspiciously.

"Love, that wasn't-"

"Meow"

"Oh all-bloody-right, the jig's up!" She rolled her eyes. She opened her leather jacket to reveal a tiny black kitten that she had swiped during the chaos. She was determined to save at least one. Spike looked dumbfounded at the little thing and quickly said they couldn't keep it. This started a squabble that Saffron eventually won by the time they made it to their crypt. He scowled at the evil little furball as she showed her around her new home. Saffron would be out first thing in the morning to buy supplies for their new addition to the household.

xoxoxo

Saff was, once again, sporting her pastel pink outfit but today she had been given her shiny new nametag. She flipped open her notepad she used for taking orders, took the pencil from behind her ear and walked up to a booth to take another order. She had been so distracted lately, what with hiding from more demons than usual, her delightful introduction to the corrupted himself and the guilt that she hadn't been able to shake since she died. Her mind was kind of elsewhere. That's how she missed that a certain bleach-blonde vampire had taken the younger brunette out for a milkshake.

"Welcome to Nell's, can I take your order?" She asked faux-cheerily, not looking up from her pad. She jumped and flinched when she felt a hand rest firmly on her wrist, her eyes widened like a deer in the headlights as she turned to face him. Spike. She visibly relaxed, smiling at him and Dawn. The other two were not smiling back, they were both frowning in confusion at her reaction. She tried to laugh it off, but neither of their expressions changed.

"What's with the jumping-jacks?" Dawn asked, clearly concerned. Buffy hadn't been so good since she had been back either.

"Just a little jumpy, you know" She shrugged, "Not used to the whole living, breathing, thing. I'll get back into the swing" She smiled. And hopefully you'll stop fucking rhyming.

"Not buying it, Honeysuckle" Spike said, as Dawn nodded her agreement. He hadn't forgotten she had jumped in the crypt and when they were out.

"Look, I need to do my job. Do you want to order something? Isn't it a little late for you to be out?" She directed the latter at Dawn.

"Spike set my curfew" Dawn said smugly as Saff looked to stare suspiciously between the pair.

"And when is it?"

"One" They both said together, shrugging. Saffron fell into a fit of giggles, bordering on hysteria. They both stared at her, Dawn checking nobody she knew was in the diner as her cousin continued to almost bring herself to tears through her laughter.

"A.m.?" She confirmed through her laughter and they nodded, "Buffy's gonna stake you for real this time" Saff continued through her outburst. She managed to calm herself down long enough to take their order. A vanilla milkshake with double everything for Dawn and one of the best-damned diner coffees in the state for Spike.

When she brought their order over, she whipped her apron off and made Spike move over so she could sit next to him, explaining she was on her break now it was quiet. She guessed she owed them an explanation. He moved to rest his arm on the headrest of the vinyl chair, his hand on her shoulder as she leaned in to take the cherry from the top of Dawn's milkshake.

"You wanna know?" She asked slowly, focusing on knotting the cherry stem with her fingers instead of looking at the other two. They nodded, waiting impatiently to hear what was going on.

"I met him. The corrupted" There was an intake of breath from her audience, despite the fact that half of the pair didn't need to breathe, "He touched me and-"

"He fucking what?!"

"Uh, my hand. He touched it and I couldn't move, he was torturing me. He just left me there, I'm not completely sure I'm not still sat there and this is a dream…" She tailed off as her words caught in her throat. Spike was livid, his hand was gripping her shoulder tight.

"That's horrible!"

"I'm going to kill the bastard" He gripped her shoulder tighter, if she didn't have newfound strength it probably would have hurt.

"I think I'm gonna have to do that, except I'm no match for him. Not even a challenge" She didn't know how she knew he felt this way, but she felt it too.

"Don't say that, Honey… you're a stubborn bint at the best of times and besides, you've got me haven't you? I'll bite a chunk out of the ugly bugger if I have to, headache or no" Spike said, pointing for emphasis, firmly gripping Saff's shoulder with the other hand as if he could protect her from the man immediately.

"I mean it… not that I don't appreciate a good macho-protect-your-woman's-honour-threat, he has power that I couldn't even dream of" She said, twisting the silver ring on her finger as she thought about everything, "I, uh, I've been losing time… getting headaches and the occasional nosebleed. He's so powerful, how the fuck am I supposed to believe we're equals?"

"Hey, Saff! You can do it, you went up against a Hell-God for me, this will be a piece of cake!" Dawn assured her, making a horrible noise with her straw as she had finished her milkshake, but still insisted on trying to suck the remaining drop from the bottom of the glass.

Saff continued to explain more about losing time, being exhausted all the time and not just because she was working herself into the ground. The pair listened intently, offering their support where there was a pause to chip in. Saffron had never been so visibly nervous before, her hands were shaking as she twisted her rings on her finger as she described him and everything that had happened with her 'shadow self'.

"That's why she was so weird at the Bronze" Dawn finally muttered to herself, as Saff walked off to start wiping down the counters and offering coffee-refills around the room, the youngest Summers was thankful that Saffron wouldn't have recollection that she had been out so late (way past even Spike's curfew).

A/N: Song he sings is 'We'll meet again' - Vera Lynn. We're only 44 chapters in but, at last, we've met The Corrupted one! What do we think? Feedback is beyond welcome, creating a big bad and trying to maintain the story has been a challenge! xoxo