Disclaimer: I do.

Familiarity with Buffy's and Angel's last seasons would be good, otherwise this might spoil you or leave you baffled.

Dedication: For Mac because she introduced me to fanfiction, for DelSonica for listening and liking, for Gremlin whom I'd figured would never read it but did any way and who sometimes is my inspiration for Jack.

Thin Ice

O'Neill got two days of sick leave courtesy of the base doctors. The weekend saw him back at the gym. This time he looked for that Summers woman but apparently she had that weekend off. The next week had the SGC hosting a diplomatic meeting between two warring people and Jack pretty much moved on autopilot most of the time, but on Friday Jack strode up the stairs to De Salvo's. Through the glass doors he could already see that she was there.

Here goes nothing.

Jack stepped up to the bar and put down the envelope he had carried with him every time he went here after the mugging that nearly happened.

She looked up and gave him a smile in recognition.

She was a pretty one if rather young. Her blonde hair was tied into a messy pony tail with tendrils escaping to frame her face. She looked like your typical twentysomething, what she lacked was that certain emptyheadedness that seemed to go with manning a desk at a 24/7 gym. Not that all gym attendants were airheads but she worked here full time as he'd noticed once he came to think of it and somehow she seemed to exude an air of vigilance as if she was constantly very aware of evrything going on around her. An attitude Jack figured would drive one batty pretty soon in an environment like this, being full of mirrors.

She seemed genuinely pleased to see him, her smile reaching her hazel eyes easily.

"Hi! How's the head?"

"This is for you." Jack blurted out wanting to get this over with while pushing the envelope across the bar.

"Oh! Gifts! I like those. Come here." She grabbed the envelope and opened it impatiently.

Some perverse sense of male survival instinct made Jack realize, albeit too late that his idea had been a mistake.

"Money? You give me money?" She held out the dollar bills and actually looked quite pissed.

Jack decided that it was too late now anyway and forged ahead, saying something, anything.

"Since you had to take a cab from the hospital and because you called the cops and all. I didn't want you to put out." Jack faltered as she looked about ready to vault over the bar and strangle him.

Ok, this sounded so much better in my head.

Buffy couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. To offer money! She had had any number of responses to her efforts over the years, mostly people just disregarded the evidence of their own two eyes and flat out wouldn't believe that a small blonde had really just kicked the stuffing out of some guys who subsequently turned to dust. But this was different.

It was very few times that she had to deal with mundane muggers instead of the supernatural. Muggers just didn't keep on the Hellmouth for long.

So the few times it had happened, she had gotten rid of the muggers and called the ambulance to let the pros handle the aftercare. And since she never left a name she never heard from the rescuees again.

Buffy didn't know why she actually got on the ambulance with this guy.

Well, he is a regular at the gym. I practically know him.

But being honest with herself Buffy had to admit that it was different and more than that.

She liked him.

He came in at odd hours and intervals, always kept to himself and didn't seem to know any of the other customers. He was polite though, always nodding when coming or leaving and he hadn't leered condescendingly at her even once. Curiously she also liked his salt'n pepper hair, more salt than pepper actually and his economic way of moving, always somehow aware of his surroundings without looking paranoid.

The one time he had actually shown up with pilot's shades, a beat-up leather jacket and cargo pants hadn't hurt either.

Maybe it was loneliness talking. Ever since they had shut down the Sunnydale Hellmouth for good three years ago, things had gone well for the remaining Scoobies, whose influence now spread to 200 slayers with their respective watchers as well as an assortment of white witches, some with apprentices, former freelance demon hunters, neutral demons and the odd plain old, no special powers or supernatural abilities except speed typing human. But Buffy had become more and more diconnected.

Buffy and to a lesser extent Faith had felt like relics of a former area. Neither could really relate to the newly empowered potentials. After the awe of being close to The Longest Living and The Rogue Slayer respectively had faded, most of the new slayers felt a bit cramped in their style. Buffy could relate to that. She herself had felt crowded sometimes. Living the life of someone with a supposedly secret identity didn't make for good mingling skills.

Astonishingly Faith had helped in dealing with Angel's and Spike's ultimate demise. The news had come as a shock to all Scoobies. Although Xander's had been a pleasant one until Faith had shut him up after seeing Buffys reaction.

Nothing Buffy thought could compare to the feelings she had when she found out that Spike had returned after offering himself up as the ultimate sacrifice in the bowels of the Hellmouth only to work with Angel in LA, not even once trying to contact her.

She had been devastated, alternately whailing and ranting while Faith tried to convince her that he must have had a reason. When she had told him she loved him, she had meant it and it had nearly broken her heart to leave him in the Hellmouth without being able to make him believe.

It tore her apart knowing that he had come back and died again thinking her to be so shallow as to only say the words when the world was nearly ending.

Over the weeks after hearing of the LA gangs deaths Buffy had gradually come to terms with everything due in large part to Faith's help. So she had only broken Andrew's clavicle when he told her what he had known all along.

Ironically Illyria had helped with dealing too. The Old One had found the Scoobies of her own accord. All of them had been weary when she had matter of factly stated who and what she was but what convinced Buffy was that she had brought letters.

Angel had written to her. To this day she had never shown the letter to anyone but it had changed her, all of the Scoobies agreed. First she had become quiet and withdrawn but after a few days that stopped and for the first time in too long a while Buffy had actually started living again instead of just going from moment to moment.

Money hadn't been an issue so much since Giles had managed to lay his hands on the Councils loot. It made for a carefree living for all slayers and involved.

Buffy had opted to travel for quite some time. Now that there were so many slayers it was something she was finally able to do. When she felt like it, she worked at odd jobs to keep herself occupied, slaying only when necessary. It had brought her to Colorado Springs in winter time and since as a California girl she had never really experienced winter in all its snowy, frosty glory had decided to stay awhile.

Bringing her to this moron who offered her money because he felt she shouldn't put out! She fixed him with an icy stare that usually had demonic perps shaking in their boots and was quite amused actually when he made a pained face as if he had just realized what he had said.

This is going to be fun.

She smiled, consciously showing a lot of teeth. She had known how to do this, oh about three apocalypses ago.

"I thought throwing money at a woman is supposed to make her put out."

For an eternal moment there Jack had been in serious concern for his continued state of existence but then something unexpected happened.

Did she actually make a joke instead of pulling out my spine with a nail file? Did she actually, you know, flirt with me?

Her smile sure seemed to indicate it. Wait, he had known how to do this, oh about ten thousand years ago.

"Nah, that just scares them off. You gotta be subtle." He tapped his nose in an exaggerated manner.

"Really?" as if genuinely surprised she put her hand to her throat and looked at him with impossibly wide eyes. "And you would know all about that."

"Of course." His conviction couldn't have been shaken by an army, unless they tickled him. But that didn't count anyway. He put both his ellbows on her counter and leaned closer looking left and right furtively.

"See for example, if I asked you whether you'd be willing to have coffee with me, that would be subtle."

"Amazing! If you hadn't told me I never would have known." She grinned, the corners of her eyes crinkling.

Jack grinned back feeling fairly good about the whole thing, apparently flirting was like riding a bicycle.

After a few moments of both of them smiling at each other Jack realized something was missing.

She hasn't said yes yet.

Buffy had to smile at the whole situation.

First I'm intrigued, then I'm angry and now I'm amused? Way to go on the scale of female weirdness.

"You haven't said yes, yet." Jack felt twenty years younger and not in a good way as he waited for her answer.

"No, in fact I haven't." She shuffled some papers on her counter.

"Are you gonna?" He figured in for a penny, in for a pound.

"I might consider it, as soon as you actually, you know, ask."

"Right. So, will ya'?"

"No."

"Hmm. I think that might actually qualify as cheating."

"No, that's 'negotiations'." Jack could fairly hear the inverted commas dropping into place as she said it. "Because at this stage in our relationship it's you who has to put out and coffee is waaayyy too cheap for that." The blonde looked rather smug, re-shuffling her papers again and shoving them away with a final air.

Alarmed Jack braced himself on the counter. "We have a relationship?"

Buffy went on as if he hadn't said anything. "I'm thinking Mexican. Or maybe Italian. Although, come to think of it I don't think we're there yet. Nah, let's stick with Mexican."

"Would Taco Bell's do?" Jack felt a bit like a fish on land.

Buffy just looked in that special way that someone once had christened The Evil Death Ray Of Whatever-You-Think-You're-Doing-Buster-You-Better-Think-Again.

"I'll pick you up then? How does tomorrow evening sound?"

"Wonderful! I get off at seven." Perkiness had a new spokesperson.

"Mam, yes, mam." Defeat too.

tbc