A/N: So, finally I managed to rewrite chapter 4. Whew, that was not easy, but its done! Go me! Now I can start concentrating on the brand new chapters instead of obsessing about the already finished ones that dissappeared whem my old computer went kaplooey... Stay tuned for chapter 5, as always I'll try to update within a week. Or more likely ten days. Hope you're still with me! Thanks.

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"Oh no! Please no!"

Oh crap! This was just bloody brilliant. To literally bump into one of the mini-slayers from the Hellmouth minutes after getting out of the plane was just... Fuckin' hell!

After the chock had receded somewhat, he started berating himself. He clearly hadn't thought this trip through at all! He should have known this could have happened, London was bloody watcher central! He had been so focused one forgetting the one slayer he couldn't get out of his mind that he had ended up overlooking the fact that there now was hundreds of them scattered around the world, and a few of them could identify him by sight. And of course one or more of the ones that had been in the fight against the first would be stationed in Great Britain. Aside from Faith and... the one whose name still was difficult to think about... the few potentials that had arrived at Revello Drive the year before and had survived the battle must have the most fighting experience of the new slayers.

A look at Rona told him that she was still suffering from her own chock. She just stood there, right in front of him, staring into his face with huge eyes and her mouth slightly open. Clearly she must have thought him dead. Did she know of his return and thought he'd died in the battle in LA, or had she thought he was nothing more than a pile of dust in the bottom of the crater that had once been Sunnydale? Had Andrew really managed to keep his promise and not told the slayers about his return?

Not bloody likely.

Right now, he didn't think it mattered. He still wasn't ready to take that particular bull by the horns. One way or the other, this was going to come back to Buffy, and he would rather shower in holy water than see her face to face right now.

Taking advantage of Ronas frozen state, he quickly turned right around on his heel and disappeared amongst the masses of people as fast as his enhanced speed allowed him to. He didn't even hear her shouting after him, intent on putting as much distance between them as possible.

***

"Hey! Stop!"

One moment he had been standing right in front of her, and in the next he'd disappeared! At first she'd been convinced that she had gone completely of the bend, and was hallucinating, but the increase of indignant shouts and yelling got her to notice his retreating back as he ran away from her, and she added her own shouts as she took up the pursuit. She quickly lost him though, and she came to an halt in front of the baggage claim.

She quickly came to the conclusion that there was no point in trying to find him on her own. They had wicked powerful witches at their disposal, and a locator spell could probably be arranged within thirty minutes. There was no doubt in her mind on who she had just seen, and if nothing else his escape and excessive swearing had clearly told her that he recognised her to.

Fishing up her mobile phone, she quickly pushed speed-dial for mister Giles.

***

Buffy woke up the next morning feeling unusually well rested. Heather had almost slept through the entire night, only waking once at three fifteen in the morning demanding her mothers attention. It had taken her twenty five minutes to calm down enough to put to bed again, but after that she had slept soundly. Since she had been put to bed a lot earlier than usual, Buffy was surprised that she had slept as long as she had. She put it down to the journey the day before. Heather hadn't left London since she was born, she wasn't used to travelling.

She checked the time and was surprised that it was only half past six. Usually when she woke this early it felt like her head had had a close encounter with a sledgehammer, but today she sat straight up in bed as soon as she woke, feeling as if she'd drunk ten cups of black coffee and was on an energy high.

She made her way to the nursery to check on Heather, relieved to see that she still was in deep slumber. She should be waking up soon though, she had slept for nearly ten hours straight.

Buffy looked out through the window, making a note of the cloudless sky and the bright sun. it looked like it would be a fantastic day. Maybe she could take Heather out, explore their surroundings a bit? Or she could stay at home today, and try to do something about the garden. She wondered if she had inherited her mothers green fingers. Anyway, it couldn't be to hard, could it? It wasn't exactly rocket science. The least she could do was to cut the grass and try to sort out the jungle of weeds that covered the flowerbeds.

Yeah, that sounded like a plan. She would have a day in, do a bit of gardening and spend some quality time with her daughter. It would be nice to have her to herself without being crowded by all her "aunts", as the junior slayers had proclaimed themselves.

Satisfied, and with her mind made up on how she would spend her day, she made her way into the kitchen in search for breakfast. She could get used to this kind of living. This was... nice. Tranquil. She had been wishing for peace and quiet almost since the day she was called. This was what she wanted. Really, it was.

Nope, she wouldn't get bored at all. Or restless. This was really... neat. Great even.

No, not getting restless. Or bored. At all.

She sighted, realising that she had been out of bed for almost ten minutes, and was already trying to convince herself of something she really knew was not even remotely true.

Not getting restless. Nope, not at all restless. Look at me, all calm and ready for some ordinary, perfectly normal gardening.

Yeah, right.

***

Giles was staring at the phone in his hand. He was contemplating whether one of his senior slayers either was pulling an elaborate prank on him, or if she simply had gone completely insane.

She claimed to have been face to face to William the Bloody. At London Heathrow.

She claimed Spike was back.

Apparently, while waiting for a plane from Italy to act as the welcome wagon to Andrew and Dawn, she had literary walked right in to her, only to start cursing violently and quickly running in the other direction. She was adamant that he had recognised her, and that he clearly didn't want a confrontation.

Had it been one of the slayers that hadn't been present in the last days of Sunnydale making these claims, he would have dismissed it right away, but this was a girl that had spent a long time living in close quarters with the vampire in question. The newer slayers all got the full scoop about the "champion" that had saved them from the First right from the beginning, Buffy saw to that, and had it been a new girl that had claimed to have witnessed the resurrection of Spike, he would have called it wistful thinking and adolescent hero worship. It was quite clear that many of the newer girls was starstruck by the now legendary vampire.

Two things made him doubt though. One was the fact that it was Rona who had made the call, and he knew her to be a down to earth, no-nonsense kind of girl, and not at all likely to make up stories.

The other fact that had him in doubt was the description she had given of him. Apparently, gone was the shockingly white-blond hair and long duster, instead replaced by light brown hair in a really short buzz-cut and a shorter jacket. Had it been a fiction of her imagination or a blatant lie, surely she would have described him as she remembered him from Sunnydale? She had said that the only reason she was so sure of exactly who she had seen was the fact that their faces had been only inches apart , and she could clearly see the blue eyes and the scarred eyebrow she remembered vividly. That coupled with his reaction to her when she called him by his name and his quick escape had her utterly convinced that what she had seen was no other than William the Bloody himself.

Giles sighted when he noticed that he yet again had started cleaning his glasses. He shook his head and realised that he couldn't ignore this, no matter how much he wanted to. He wouldn't say anything to Buffy yet of course. It wouldn't do to get her hopes up and then completely shatter her when it became clear that this was nothing but an elaborate hoax.

And even if this really was the resurrected Spike, it wasn't clear exactly what incarnation of him that was walking the streets of London. There was always the chance that this was soulless, evil Spike they had to deal with, not caring that he'd once loved Buffy and intent on killing his third slayer. Maybe he was even seeking revenge against them for all the wrongs that had been done to him in Sunnydale.

Or maybe that was just his own guilty conscience talking.

No, Buffy wouldn't be told about the possible return of the father of her child, at least not yet. It was for her own good. But he would have to look into the matter. Rona had suggested a locator spell, and he had to admit that was a good idea. He picked up the phone again, intent on calling in the most powerful witch he had in his arsenal. Willow would have to handle this herself.

***

Stupid, stupid Buffy!

After an hour of unsuccessful attempts at sorting out the weeds from the plants meant to be preserved, she gave up. She clearly had no idea what she was doing. In the end the flowerbeds had almost been completely bare, since she barely could tell the difference between dandelions and pot marigolds, never mind the strange plants she had encountered in this garden. In the end, every plant not currently blossoming was discarded. She didn't care any more, she could buy new ones. Despite, it wasn't even her cottage, or her garden. Let the council worry about it.

Guh! She was bored to tears! Gardening clearly wasn't her thing. She had meant to cut the grass, but after spending an hour on her knees in the dirt, she didn't feel like doing anything other than curl up in front of the television. She had absolutely no stamina at all in this department.

She had new respect for her mother though. The woman had done this voluntarily and had actually seemed to enjoy it. That, she couldn't fathom. Clearly Joyce had been a stronger woman than Buffy in some ways, at least when it came down to patience. And so what? She already knew that patience wasn't one of her strong suits. No newsflash there.

She looked over to her daughter in the bouncy chair less than two feet away from her. She had placed her in the shade of an overgrown bush, and had turned her head to check on her every thirty seconds. She was currently happily entertained by chewing on one of her stuffed animals, and was uttering quiet gurgling noises.

Sighing and wiping her hands on her trousers, Buffy made a decision. She picked Heather and the chair up and made her way into her house, intent on quickly changing her clothes and head into the village. Surely she could find something the council had neglected to supply her with that she needed to buy? Grocery shopping would give her a reason for leaving the house.

She sighted again, realising that after a one single day of tranquil existence in an adorable English cottage in an idyllic environment she was ready to climb the walls. Her little speech to herself bout not being bored or restless clearly hadn't helped. Not even she listened to her.

Yeah, not restless at all. Brilliant.

Exasperated with herself, she decided that the pantry was in dire need of flour, despite the fact that she had an entire unopened bag in there, and after quickly shedding her gardening outfit and putting on a simple pale yellow summer dress, she and Heather headed out to explore the village that would be their home for the foreseeable future.

And to buy flour, of course.