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Day 19 Part C

~*~*~

Willow was hard at work decrypting the disks once again, which was much easier with Riley's number that Giles had memorized. Her shouted, ‘I've got it’ came as no surprise to Buffy. She only hoped that they managed to break the looping day so they didn't have to repeat the 'fixing', it was totally exhausting.

She flopped onto the barstool heavily, the stress of knowing if they didn't succeed they would have to do this all over again bearing down on her. She was startled out of her musings when the phone rang. Reaching around the corner she grabbed the phone off the wall, "Giles residence. Buffy speaking."

"Buffy, hey. It's Angel."

The slayers eyebrows shot up in amusement, "Hi, Angel. What's up?" She could swear she could hear growling from the upper bedroom. Stupid vampire needed to be quiet or everyone would hear.

Angel stood at the deserted gas station outside of Sunnydale. He had been trying for more than two hours to make himself cross the city limits and failed every time. Cursing himself for his irrational fear he decided the best course of action would be just to call his ex on the phone.

"I, uh, I just wanted to say that I was sorry for what I said to you while you were in LA. I left so that you could move on, have a normal life, and the second you did; I lashed out at you for it. So this is me...saying I'm sorry," he finished dejectedly.

"Thank you, Angel. What you said wasn't entirely off, though. I was throwing my happiness in your face, and while my life will never be normal by any means, I am happy. We are in different worlds now, there's no need to deny it. I just hope you can find some happiness in your life, too. Um, but not too much happiness, ‘cause that leads to much badness," she rushed to add.

"Right," he laughed in self derision. "If you ever need anything-"

"I have friends here that I would call first," she answered gently, not wanting to hurt him anymore. "But thanks for the offer. Goodbye Angel," she whispered. Smiling slightly, she hung up the phone.


~*~*~

Xander walked slowly around the table searching for the perfect shot.
Narrowing his choices, he decided on the corner pocket. Leaning over the table, he took a deep breath before he reared back and let the cue ball fly towards its target. When the ball sank cleanly into the hole, he let out the air that he was still holding in his lungs and grinned at his partner.

Since arriving at the Bronze, he had been in a fairly bad mood. First, there was the Buffy and Riley break up, and then the arrival of the nerd duo, complete with the wide eyed Andrew making a speech about the acceptance of his role in the fight against evil everywhere. A headache had developed and quickly grown to full blown proportions.

He had just finished his first beer, the ache in his head lessening slowly when it returned in full force with the appearance of Spike. The brunette had grumbled before turning away to the bar for another drink, wishing that Giles had accompanied them so he would have a normal guy to talk too instead of the geek squad and Snarky the Wonder Vamp.

The preppy college boy stepped in to take his shot and Xander groaned as it slid home. He waited for his cohort to step up, praying to any god that would listen for him to make the shot, eyeing the stack of cash on the side of the pool table. He had been dragged away from the table of drinks with the offer of a friendly game. He had almost refused until Andrew started again with the forces of darkness ranting and he knew he had to get away for a while.

They had just started when the two college brats had shown up. His partner had immediately slipped up on two easy shots and the next thing he knew the frat boys wanted to make a ‘friendly wager’. Money had been exchanged and laid down.

Xander had panicked little when his partner had missed his first shot, since half of the money he had put out was his own, but that was the only shot he missed, and if he made this last ball the money was theirs. Their opponents were grumbling across the table about being hustled but Xander pretended not to hear. After all it was they who had made the initial approach, erroneously thinking they had found some easy marks.

The last ball hit its mark and the bleached vampire sauntered over to collect the winnings, ignoring the angry mutterings of the two college boys as they left the bar. Counting out the loot, he passed half of the cash over to Xander, who was grinning from ear to ear. “There you go Whelp, your half of the bounty.”

“Cool, drinks are on me!” he announced excitedly, patting the vamp on the back, his animosity forgotten for the moment.

The brunette hurried to the bar to get their drinks while the vampire set the table up for another game. They took their time with their shots, both stalling to keep from having to return to the table where Andrew was chatting enthusiastically.

“How's the new job, Whelp?” Spike asked, trying to start the conversation off much like the last time.

“Um, fine, I guess. Why?” Xander replied just a tad less suspicious than the first time around.

“Just makin' conversation.” Spike shrugged, looking around the bar to hide his smirk; the whelp was just too predictable.

“Look, it was fun hustling those guys, but don’t think I’m gonna make a habit of it. I don’t like you, you don’t like me, and the world continues to spin around.”

“Listen, mate. Me and the slayer’s come to an understanding. We’re acting all civil like” Not to mention the sex and mating, he thought to himself. “I just thought we could act like civilized people since we’re obviously going to be working together, for now anyway.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “Since when do demons want to be civil? Or help the good guys for that matter?”

“Your bird’s an ex-demon. Seems odd for you to hate demons so much but still be with one who used to play on the other side,” the blond snarked back.

“Maybe because I've been fighting them for the last four years,” Xander commented sarcastically. “And Anya’s not a demon anymore.”

“So, it’s simple as that is it? Not a demon, so she’s automatically a good guy?” the vampire asked casually.

“At least she’s not running around trying to off the population,” Xander snapped.

“As soon as she was human, she jumped into the good fight then?”

“Well, no. She tried to get Willow to perform a spell to find her power center and then she teamed up with vampire Willow from another dimension to kill us all,” he trailed off softly.

“So, not a good guy right off, then. Needed a little time to work things out for herself. Kinda like I did,” he added speculatively.

“It’s not like your doing it from the kindness of your heart, more like for cigarettes and alcohol money.”

“And what else would you have me do, Whelp; get a day job? ‘Sides, I haven’t asked you lot for money since Rupert’s big demon adventure- which he got back I might add. So, what is it that makes you hate demons so much? One of them eat your puppy or something?” he asked nonchalantly, knowing if he didn’t get to the heart of the matter he would lose his audience quickly.

“None of your business, bleach boy,” Xander snapped angrily.

Spike could hear the echo of the boy’s words from their previous talk. “You know, holding on to your anger will only make you bitter,” he said evenly, trying to keep his tone light.

“It wasn’t a puppy, alright! It was a friend, a good friend, and he got turned. That’s how I found out about the things that go snarl in the night,” he fumed, turning away to sit at the table that they had set their drinks on.

The vampire followed him casually; aware that the slayers eyes had turned in their direction, observing what was going on. He sat down and leaned back in the chair, “I admire you, you know.”

“Wha? Admire me?” Xander looked at Spike, shocked disbelief evident on his face.

"Well yeah. Losing a friend like that and still going out and fighting the baddies every night while most folks would have turned tail and run. Takes balls of steel, that does,” Spike assured him, no less sincere than the last time they had this conversation.

"Thanks. Things changed after we lost Jessie. We always knew Sunnydale was different, but then we knew why," he mused. "Staking Jesse was the hardest thing I ever did."

"Hold it! You staked him?" Spike asked in shock. This hadn't come out in the original talk. He’d just assumed that the slayer had done her duty, he’d never dreamed that the boy had dusted his own friend. His respect and sympathy for the boy grew steadily. Add in what he already knew about the kids home life and it was easy to see that he'd had a shitty life so far.

"Yeah, he got turned right after we met Buffy,” Xander replied sadly. “By the same bitch that sired Angelus,” he spat out hatefully.

“Darla,” Spike said, acting as if he hadn't known. “I should have dusted that diseased whore years ago,” he spat, his own hatred of his great-grandsire coloring his words.

“You hate her too?” Xander asked surprised. Buffy had told them earlier that Spike had made the decision to help them, but he hadn’t believed it.

"There's nothing more on this earth that I hate more. Well, maybe Angelus...nah, I hate her more," he smirked.

"Gotta say; I'm with you there," Xander replied tipping his beer bottle in salute. "I have no love for Angel in any of his incarnations."

"I just wanna say...I'm sorry, that you had to take out your friend. I know how hard it is to see someone you loved taken over like that," he explained, his sincerity shining in his eyes. "And I'm sorry for all the shit I put you and the scoobies through. I my defense I was evil then, it was kinda part of the job description, but that doesn't make me any less sorry for it now."

Xander stopped, his bottle halfway to his mouth, and stared at the vampire in shock. "Huh? Say that again?"

"I'm a demon, always will be." The blond paused, thinking about the prophecy they had found. "I've done a lot of bad things in my day, and in the last few years the bad has been centered around you and your friends." He shook his head. "I should've just gave up after that truce with the slayer."

He took a long pull from his bottle before finishing his speech. "Since being chipped, I've had time to adjust…see things a bit differently. I guess I just needed some time to come to grips with what happened to me. A bit like Anya did, I guess. Maybe like you are now- moving into the real world, finding your place, looking for the thing that fits you and what you want from life."

“Wait.” Xander was a bit overwhelmed so he latched onto one point. “You helped Buffy against Angelus? When?”

"Acathla. I knew I couldn't take him on my own, knew she couldn't either. That was the first night I got invited to her home. We made a deal; I kept the watcher alive and I got to take Dru and leave," he explained. "Of course, that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Ask the slayer, she can give you all the details."

“Why didn’t she ever say anything?” the boy mumbled to himself, not expecting an answer.

"I figured she had more on her mind at the time. From what I understand; she didn't stick around after, right?" he asked, not waiting for the boy to answer. "By the time she got back, it was water under the bridge and she probably had a ton of new issues to deal with, if I know your lot."

"Didn't that break some kind of code of ethics or something? ‘Thou shall not betray your sire,’ and all that?" Xander asked, still trying to wrap his mind around the implications.

"Yeah. Why do you think Dru was so pissed at me that she hooked up with a Chaos demon?" the vampire shuddered.

Xander looked over at the table where his friends sat. Anya was nodding at something that Jonathan had said, her face intent as she listened to everything he was saying. Then he looked at Buffy, smiling slightly when she turned to look in their direction. She smiled back brightly, giving a small wave. They were a highly unusual group, that was for sure. Witches, an ex-demon, magical nerds, a slayer, a watcher, and now a chipped vampire.

He shook his head slightly. Some things just couldn't be explained. He would definitely have to ask Buffy about the truce, though. Something told him there might be a bit more to the story than he was getting.

Looking at the vampire in front of him, he smiled. "So, you up to finishing our game?" he asked nodding toward the pool table.

"Sure thing, maybe we can make some more money before the nights out," the blond joked.

"I'll just go get us another round of drinks," the brunette said, turning down the money that Spike offered to cover the beers. "After all, you helped save the world. That deserves at least one free beer," he joked.

The vampire waited until he was lost among the crowd at the bar before turning around to wink at his mate. The tingles slid down his neck as they had all day, with each factor fixed. He just hoped it was enough.


~*~*~

Buffy ascended the stairs to her room, her steps weary. She missed Spike already and the prospect of an entire night without him didn't sound appealing in the slightest. Opening the door to her room she stopped for a moment, taking in the unchanged appearance. The boy band posters, the soft covers on the bed, the knickknacks and memorabilia. Breathing deep, she could smell the faint trace of her favorite lotion and fabric softener from the recently washed sheets. Home.

Not for the first time, Buffy wished her mom had been in town for the looping day from hell. She was sure her mom could have given her some advice and hot chocolate and made things so much simpler just by being there and knowing all the right things to say.

She rummaged around in her dresser, searching for a pair of pajamas that hadn't been taken to the dorm room. Finally finding a comfortable pair, she changed quickly before pulling back the covers and slid into bed. She moaned softly as she snuggled into the cool sheets. It might not be as comfy as Spike's bed, but it felt good to lie down after the long day...days, she had experienced.

She was just drifting off to sleep, exhaustion getting the best of her, when a tap sounded at the window. Familiar tingles ran down her spine and she knew exactly who was knocking. Throwing back the curtains, she glared at the vampire. Spike was sitting in the tree with a sheepish expression on his face.

"I thought the plan was to split up?" she hissed as she opened the window. She would swear that if vampires could blush, the one in front of her would be bright red.

Spike shifted awkwardly, looking embarrassed. "I didn't want to...I just needed...bugger. I just wanted to see you. We've been so busy running 'round all day, I feel like I've barely gotten to see you."

Buffy felt herself melt under the weight of his words. Softening her expression, she reached out for his hand and guided him inside her room. "I know; I've missed you too, but remember the plan. We want to know if the day really ends. It's the best way."

The blond vampire put on his best pouting expression. "What if I just stay for a bit, just until you fall asleep, then I'll head back to the crypt?"

"Okay, but just until I go to sleep.” She was skeptical, but found she didn't have the heart to turn him away. Besides, the thought of falling asleep without him didn't sound appealing at all. and “How did your talk with Xander go?" she asked as they settled into the bed.

His arms wrapped around her tight as he recounted his conversation with the younger boy.





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