I do not own Bufffy or Transformers. Betaed by Cylon One

Sunnydale Temporary School

"Miss Summers, you're up."

Dawn nodded, hurrying to the front of the class, a paper sack clutched in her hand. Making a spot on the teacher's desk, Dawn stood in front of the chalkboard, the words 'Cultural Study Presentations- TODAY' printed in white chalk.

"Ok." Dawn said with a grin, racing right into her presentation. "As you all know, we were asked to research a time period and discuss what life was like back then. I've decided to do much better...I'm going to show you." Reaching into the bag, she pulled out a leather bound journal. "I selected to discuss life in England, circus..."

"Circa...Miss Summers." The teacher corrected, several students chuckling. "Circa."

"Right. Circa 1850-1880." Dawn flashed another grin. "Back then, they didn't have electricity or TVs or computers or a mall...it was really pathetic." She flipped her long brown hair to one side. "But they still managed to have fun, in their...own sad little ways." She held up the journal. "Back then, if you had money, you were lucky, as you could afford to buy things like...this." She waved it about, the class already beginning to grow bored. "Now, it wasn't just teenage girls that would write in these...a lot of guys did too. It was real important to keep records of your great feats, that way your children could read up on you...as you most likely would die of a plague...or something."

Dawn grinned as she looked down at the A- she'd gotten on her report. She couldn't believe she had done that well...'Wait till Buffy sees this...show her who got the brains.'

Of course, Dawn wouldn't mention that the only reason she got the A- was because she had borrowed several items that belonged to someone that had actually LIVED in the 1880s.

Someone...that was currently seated in his beat up car, glaring at her through the one hole in the painted up windows.

"Uh..." Dawn stammered as the door swung open.

"Bit...in...now." Spike snarled

Dawn reluctantly did as he asked, just managing to get her seat belt on before Spike floored it. Pressed back into the seat, her stomach slammed against her spine, Dawn glanced over at her friend, gulping as she noticed his eyes flash gold as he stared straight ahead.

"I'm going to ask this once..." Spike ground out, "Did you steal my stuff?"

"Uh...what stuff?" Dawn asked innocently.

"Don't give me that, Dawn!"

'Uh oh...given name...going to die.' Dawn thought.

"There is only one person who knows where I put my journal...and one person that was begging me to tell her about life back in the Mother Land." Spike turned towards her slowly, eyes boring into her soul. "So...the truth?"

Dawn blurted out the entire story as quickly as she could. Spike felt like his brain was going to pop as Dawn went on and on about trying to upstage some girl named Cathy and how the library was closed and how Buffy had been on her to do better and how if she hadn't stolen the items Social Services would have dragged her away...

Finally, Spike held up a hand. "Stop...answer this, and try not to do your impression of Red and her rambling...did it help ya out?"

Dawn nodded meekly.

Spike smirked. "Then next time ask me, bite-size." Dawn let out a sigh of relief as they continued to drive along. "So, how'd ya manage it?"

Dawn grinned at that. "Gave Clem 15 bucks to distract you."

Spike grumbled to himself. "Lousy wrinkly bastard..."

Rummaging through the sack, Dawn began to pull items out. "My teacher really liked all this stuff. Your journal...this little box thing..."

"Cigarette case, bit."

"Whatever." She pulled out some glasses. "Surprised you kept these...know I wouldn't want to keep a pair of nerd specs..."

Spike's hand struck like a viper, batting the glasses back into the back. "Weren't mine." He said, gripping the wheel tighter. "Don't take my stuff again."

Startled by his mood swing, all Dawn could do was nod her head weakly. "S...sorry."

Spike just kept driving.

"Where...where are we going?"

Reaching down, Spike pulled a coupon from his pocket. "New car wash...figure the Desoto could use a scrub down."

Dawn crinkled her nose. "Indoor car wash?"

Spike shrugged. "Sunnydale, bit, they're stupid like that."

The two of them continued to drive in silence, Dawn still marveling over the fact that Spike clipped coupons. Soon, the vampire turned off into the parking lot of the gaudy, overly bright car cleaners. Blue and silver fringe hung from wires, neon lights pointed the way to the waiting station, and worst of all, a poorly dressed clown held up a sign advertising the place.

"How the mighty have fallen." Spike muttered, pulling under the canopy in front of the building. Only when he managed to dart inside, entering the ill-lit lobby/showroom did Spike finally glance back, Dawn on his heels, the paper bag and her backpack in hand. Spike raised an eyebrow.

"I get the feeling anything we leave inside will be 'misplaced' when we get the car back." Dawn hissed.

"Smart thinking." Spike said as he walked over to the owner of the place, who was almost as loud as his yellow shirt was.

"MANNY! GET YOUR DAMN COUSIN OUT OF THE CLOWN SUIT! HE'S HAVING A HEAT STROKE AGAIN. SCARING THE WHITE FOLKS."

"I'm hot! Makeup's melting. It hurts my eyes." The clown complained.

The loud man turned to Spike. "And they don't come any whiter than you, huh pale face." Before Spike could even get off a comment, the man was shaking his hand. "Bobby Bolivia. Like the country without the runs. How can I help ya?"

Spike shoved the coupon into Bobby's hands. "Clean the paint, clear out the trash, leave everything else, especially the windows." He snarled.

Bobby nodded. "A man that knows what he wants. I like that, I like that. Don't worry, our special secret cleaning gear will have it shining in no time!" He glanced at the Desoto as Manny the mechanic hopped in and drove it towards the back to be sprayed off with a garden hose and waxed with whatever Bobby had managed to buy at the dollar store on clearance. "Tell me, future heart breaker..." he pointed at Dawn, "You gonna learn how to drive soon?" Before she could answer, Bobby broke into his tale. "Remember only this: person don't pick the car...the car picks them. It's a mystical bond between man and machine."

"Uh huh." Dawn muttered.

Out back, Manny parked the car and went to grab his soap bucket. If he had stayed, he would have noticed a strange sight...even for Sunnydale: An exact replica of the Desoto, down to the same dents and painted windows, pulled up behind Spike's car and gently pushing it away, past the small shed that housed the cleaning supplies and into the tangled mess of overgrown brush and trash left by the workers during their lunch breaks. Spike's car completely hidden, the second Desoto backed up into place, just as Manny emerged from the back with an old orange sponge.

Back inside, Bobby was still sweet-talking Dawn. "I tell ya, when you get your first car, you come here...I'm gonna start selling cars..."

"I know." Dawn gripped. "You told me 5 times now."

"And you can trust me. I ain't a liar...not in front of my mammy." He pointed towards a closed door. "My mammy works here...don't like her seeing me do anything sinful. MAMMY! Come out and say hello to our guests!"

The door cracked out, Mammy sticking her head out, Spike covering Dawn's eyes when it was clear the 81 year old was buck-naked. "Leave me alone you idiot...and go buy me some more Trojans!"

"Big ones!" Manny's other cousin shouted.

"Oh yea..." Mammy laughed, slamming the door.

"Oh, such a kidder...when I get done I'll beat you like Ike beat Tina." Bobby laughed with glee, clapping his hands. "Now, why don't we take a look at some accessories I got for sale..."

"Just the car, mate." Spike snapped.

As if on cue, Manny pulled out, the Desoto sparkling...or sparkling as much as it could with a coat of cheap wax. Patting the door, he stepped out, handing Spike the keys. "There ya go, senor."

"What I tell ya about that senor stuff?" Bobby complained as Dawn and Spike inspected the car.. "You want to just wave a flag to the INS..."

"OI!" Spike snarled. "Where's my booze!"

"Booze?" Bobby asked.

"I left two full bottles of Jack Daniels back there, and now they're gone." He pointed a finger at Manny, eyes flashing yellow. "You have yourself a little celebration?"

Bobby glared at Manny. "You steal his booze?"

"No senor!"

"Quit with that senor stuff!" Bobby bellowed. "You made the customer mad...how dare you rile him up...if you think I'm going to stand by you..."

"I ain't paying." Spike stated.

Bobby whipped around, eyes blazing with fury. "Not paying! What do you think this is, Russia? We did a job, you pay!"

"You stole from us!" Dawn exclaimed.

"On second thought, I don't think I want you to come buy a car from me when you're 16." Bobby said, before turning on Spike. "Now listen here, you're paying, end of story!"

As the two argued, the car's radio turned on its own, flipping through stations. "...greater than man..." The radio squawked, before every window in the entire place shattered. Spike just managed to throw himself on top of Dawn, shielding her from the glass, bits flying about and cutting into everything they could find.

After a few moments, Bobby pulled himself from the desk he'd dove behind, staring at the carnage before him.

"NO CHARGE!"

The Magic Box

Giles watched as Willow typed away at her computer, face contorted in such a way that he wondered if she was trying to make her head explode or if she was preparing to soil herself.

To his left, Anya was trying to convince a customer to buy two more sets of candles, as it was "a great deal"...though Anya failed to tell said customer the candles would be on sale tomorrow.

Next to Anya, trying to talk to her even as she chatted with the overwhelmed customer, Xander was pleading his case that she should buy a pinball machine for the shop...and allow him to have free plays, of course.

Wondering exactly which route would best insure his sanity, Giles chose option four: Tara.

"How are you doing, my dear?" Giles asked politely.

Tara shifted uneasily. "Fine, Mr. Giles." She said softly, watching Willow work. "You?"

"Fine." Giles answered, striking down any chance for small talk. More than once, he wished he wasn't the only person over 25 in his group that wasn't a bloodsucking monster or a sex crazed former demon. "So tell me Tara...what are your plans for tonight?"

"Nothing." Tara answered simply.

'As the Americans would say, strike two.' Giles thought before deciding to just bite the bullet. "What is Willow working on?"

"You remember the Initiative?" Tara asked, realizing too late that of course he would...it had only happened a year ago. "Willow has been hacking into the government's database, keeping tabs on the military and their recent activities."

"Well, that is rather clever." Giles admitted. "Has she found anything?"

"I have." Willow said, having listened in the whole time. She turned around to face Giles and her girlfriend. "7 o'clock last night, a base the military had set up in Brazil to study demons was attacked."

"Wait...was Riley staying at that base?" Xander asked, entering the conversation.

"I'm not sure...if he was, it isn't good." Willow admitted sadly. "There were no survivors." She paused. "But that isn't the weird thing."

"There is something weirder than a demon base in Brazil being attacked?" Xander quipped.

"Whatever attacked tried to hack into the government's computer...they cut it off in time...but it scared them bad."

Giles frowned. "That is strange. I don't know of many demons that would take interest in a military computer...and none at all found in Brazil."

Anya nodded. "I know I wouldn't. Easier just to warp in and start killing. I did that back during the Civil War." She sighed. "Such a beautiful wish, "I wish my husband would have something else in his head other than this war." Easy enough to get John Wilkes Booth..."

"An...please?" Xander pleaded.

Willow clicked a few keys. "Here's something interesting..."

"What is it, sweetie?" Tara asked.

"They got a sound file of what attacked the base..." Willow hit a few keys, and a strange, shrieking noise filled the shop, sending tremors up everyone's spine.

Giles licked his lips. "That is very strange...I've never heard of a creature like that."

Anya nodded. "Can't be a demon."

"What else could it be?" Xander asked.

"Wild pig?" Anya guessed. At their stares, she shrugged. "I just know it wasn't a demon."

Giles ignored her, going to his books. "I must research this...if whatever made that sound could take out a military base, it would be wise to prepare for it to come here."

"Why would it c-come here?" Tara asked.

"Because everything evil comes to Sunnydale." Xander answered.