Author's Note: Now time to venture into plotland:)

Fool Me Once
Chapter 2

Buffy paced impatiently, her mind racing as she debated entering the examination room to hear the results of the CAT scan. Her mind was busy enough as it was with worrying about her mother's health, but had been helped none by her insane—yes, that was the word, insane—dream last night and the coinciding Food Network Iron Chef marathon that she had watched trying to get back to sleep.

The blonde flinched, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to block out the images of Spike's infuriatingly sexy looks. Actually dreaming of what he had done to her was bad enough, but—as she told herself repeatedly while her pacing feet wore a path in the linoleum floor—everyone had crazy dreams every once and a while. Hello Cheese Man? she thought to herself ruefully, a nervous laugh escaping her throat. No, what had been plaguing her thoughts was the way that she had reacted to her dream; there was no denying that she had gotten hot. The taste of what she had experienced had only fueled the unacknowledged lust that she had so never felt for the Evil Dead.

The slight touch on her shoulder sent her whirling around to face Riley, and with a twinge of guilt the fantasy that had most definitely not been playing in her head came to an abrupt stop. "I heard," he said simply, reaching out to pull her into a hug.

"I have to go check on my mom," Buffy said quickly, taking a step backwards and crossing her arms. It was involuntary, but she knew the second she pulled away that he had been hurt. The realization of rejection showed in his eyes and, knowing that she was being unfair, she moved close to him once more. "Will you help me out and watch over Dawn while I'm in there?" she asked, Riley's eyes lighting up when she cast him the part of the Needed, Dependable Boyfriend.

"Of course I will, Buffy." Nearly hugging her again, too late he changed the motion into an awkward back-pat and stepped away. "Where is she?"

"In the waiting room. I'll head back over there when I'm done in here." Attempting a grateful smile, Buffy turned and entered the examination room.

"All in one day!" Buffy yelled angrily, punching the vampire in the face and kicking it to the ground before slamming her stake into its chest. "Can you believe it?"

"I most certainly can't, love." With a yelp, the Slayer turned and faced the suddenly-present vampire of her dreams. I'm going to slay my internal monologue for that one, she thought mutinously, at the involuntary term of endearment bestowed upon the smirking blond vamp.

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy asked, brushing the vampire dust off her black coat and giving him the most annoyed look she could manage. "I'm having a bad day and I really can't deal with you right now." Her dream had been pushed from her thoughts during the big 'gotta kill the evil Key-seeking demon' ordeal, but Spike's presence had unwelcomingly sent it (and the oh-so-infuriating fantasies it caused) crashing back; the last thing she wanted now was to talk to him with that on her mind.

Setting himself casually upon a headstone, Spike tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow. "I see you're all healed up, pet," he said, gesturing to her side. "I'm just checking to see whether my favorite li'l Slayer is in the mood for a dance."

"And that'll happen in what universe?"

His eyebrow quirked slightly as he responded, deadpan, "I'd wager in the one where we're mortal enemies." With a momentarily pensive expression, Spike gave her a smirk. "Hey, it's your lucky day. I think we just might live in it, pet!"

Undeterred, Buffy turned and began walking away from him. "Go home, Spike."

Within a second, he was following her. "I was just wonderin' how you were doin' was all." When she was silent, he said, "I'm taking that as not so good."

"I already told you that I had a bad day. Now leave." Buffy knew she was being more dismissive than usual, but she was covered with vampire dust and really needed to go home to take a shower. Alone. And go to bed. Alone. When Spike's nose twitched interestedly in her physical response to the not-so unaccompanied scenarios being posed by her mind, Buffy's cheeks reddened and she quickened her pace.

Unfortunately for her, vampires weren't exactly lacking in the stamina department.

The observation caused another naughty thought to surface, and when she saw out of the corner of her eye Spike open his mouth to speak, she said the first thing she could think of to make him forget about what he undoubtedly had sensed.

"We found out about my mom." There was a momentarily tense pause; for a moment, Buffy debated upon simply leaving right there, but there was something in his eyes that compelled her to tell him the whole story. Evenly, she said, "It's cancer."

As soon as she said the words, a strange look appeared on his face. Buffy studied him for a moment as he turned to the side, a muscle tensing in his clenched jaw as he swallowed forcefully. It came to her then, what he was thinking. He's sad about my mom. To others, it may not have been such a revelation, but Buffy had never really thought of Spike as a person before, never realized that his interactions with her mother had ever been anything other than an attempt to infuriate her. Spike didn't have friends. He couldn't fit into the demon world, but most certainly wouldn't be accepted as human. And now, the one person who had really treated him as such…

Before she realized what she was doing, Buffy reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm. He quickly turned back to face her, trying to shake off the emotions that threatened to overcome him but knowing that she had already seen them.

It was almost refreshing, she realized. All day she had been surrounded by people that were too afraid to show her anything other than assurances that her mother would be fine. Dawn was the only one who hadn't acted as such, but she was not only scared, but confused as well. She needed Buffy to be strong for her, to be the mother that theirs might not be able to be. Buffy could be strong for Dawn without a problem, but she had no one to be afraid with.

But with Spike… she glimpsed that fear in his eyes and knew that she wasn't alone.

He must have seen the change overcome her; he stopped his strong-man act and let his shoulders sag with the worry he felt. "I'm so sorry, love," Spike said softly, settling down on a headstone and pulling out a cigarette. Buffy said nothing, but her silence was not uncomfortable; she sat down beside him and watched the smoke drift through the air and dissipate into the night.

It wasn't until Spike had taken the last drag and flicked the ember aside that he spoke. "Is it bad?"

"Yes." Buffy brushed a strand of hair out of her face and let out a derisive laugh. "Well, the said she had a good chance, but I'm not exactly leaping with joy that she's got a 30 likelihood at life."

"Christ," Spike breathed, nervously pulling another cigarette out and placing it between his lips before lighting it. Sucking in until the end glowed, he exhaled harshly and looked to the girl sitting next to him. "How's the bit?"

"She's dealing," Buffy answered. "Willow and Tara are letting her stay over with them tonight, so I could patrol and head back to my mom."

They shared another comfortable moment of silence, Spike quietly smoking. He looked slightly apprehensive, but after a moment he finally spoke. "Your mum's always been kind to me Buffy. Never met many humans that I liked, but she was one of 'em." He took another drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke spill from his parted lips in a thick, slowly drifting cloud. "Point is, I don't want you thinkin' I've got any evil mischief up my sleeve in asking about her. Figure it's the least I could to do repay her."

He looked down to the ground, as if afraid to see her reaction to his statement. Letting the unfinished cigarette fall to the ground, his hands began nervously fidgeting in his lap. There was no way for him to know how Buffy would react to his statement; he'd almost half expected to get kicked to the ground the second he said anything about her mother, a nice wooden stake shoved through his chest to accent the lesson of 'don't talk to the Slayer about her sick mum.' When he finally glanced at Buffy's face, however, he was met with a sight he hadn't expected to see.

"You're smiling." It wasn't so much a statement as a question, as his eyes met those of a girl who looked entirely too comfortable with his presence. It was strange, to see her looking at him with those eyes; the gaze she held now was one that he had only seen directed at him on one previous occasion, and that was only the result of a spell gone completely wrong. But she was looking at him like that again, and it felt… right.

"You got a problem with that, Spike?" Buffy asked, in response to his question. This exacted a smile of his own.

"Just surprising was all, Slayer."

"You're not the only one, then," she said shortly. "Today was not one of the joyful variety." She looked to him again with those eyes and Spike felt something warm fill his chest. "You helped though."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

Shaking her head and standing up, the Slayer stood before him, gracing him with another smile and saying simply, "Good night, Spike." Before the shocked vampire could say another word, she turned and walked away into the darkness.