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DAY 2

Oh shit.

Opening her eyes, she could see nothing through the glaring fluorescent light.

Oh no.

Closing her eyes she willed the vision away, but the sounds and smells were just how she remembered.

Bus station? Check. Same clothes? Check. Head wound gone? Check. Heaving sigh? Extra big check. The amount of how screwed she was?

Infinite.

Buffy leaped to her feet, and she stormed across the bus terminal to where the clerk sat reading the newspaper. "Can you tell me the date?" she demanded.

The clerk peered over her glasses at the strange young blonde woman. "Yes, ma'am, it's Tuesday, May 2nd." With one last penetrating stare, she went back to her newspaper.

"Should have known it was Tuesday," Buffy grumbled. "Everything bad happens in Sunnydale on a Tuesday." She whirled around to leave, ignoring the looks of fear and confusion she got from the people she passed along the street as she continued her tirade all the way to Giles' apartment. "Why the hell am I doing this day over and over? Couldn't fate have picked a better day? Oh I don't know like maybe a good day? But, no; it has to this day."

Buffy pounded on Giles' door. She wondered if there was anything she could do to convince him that she was in fact reliving this day in a ceaseless, vicious cycle. When Giles opened the door, Buffy marched inside, and went directly to the kitchen where she knew he hid his best bottle of scotch. Amid shouts and threats, she poured the bottle down the sink. Then she sat a still sputtering Giles down to explain what was happening to her.

"So, you're saying you've lived this particular day twice already?" Giles asked. He wished he had been able to stop the girl from dumping his alcohol down the sink, because he was fairly certain he would need a drink very soon.

"Yes, Giles. For the last time. That's exactly what I'm saying." Buffy jumped to her feet, and threw her hands in the air. "Maybe if you didn't spend your days drunk you'd have a better grasp on reality."

"Are you implying I'm an alcoholic, Buffy?" Giles asked indignantly.

"If the shoe fits!" Buffy screamed. "Come on, Giles, get a life. Haven't you heard the saying 'when one door closes, another one opens'? Well, find yourself a god damn door."

"If you're going to take this kind of attitude, I think you should leave me in peace to drink myself silly." Giles marched to the door. He opened it angrily, and pointed outside. "Since you've poured my bottle down the sink. I suppose I'll just have to go buy me a new one."

"Fine. You know what. What ever! It's not like I don't have better things to do." Buffy stalked towards the open door. "I can just go back to the dorm and deal with a jealous Riley. It's not like I haven't done it before." She was storming the courtyard and out the gate before Giles had a chance to respond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike once again woke with that strange feeling of déjà vu, again. The dreams of buxom blonds, wads of cash and plenty of blood to drink obviously hadn't done the trick. Instead he had dreamed of green eyed blond Slayers kicking his ass all over Sunnydale, no cash and only pig's blood to drink. It had been an unsettling dream that left him hovering between intense arousal and abject horror. After going through the familiar motions of warming his blood, Spike sat down in his grungy easy chair, and waited for his guest to arrive.

"Well, mate, what took you so long?" Spike snarled. He smirked at the look of surprise on Adam's face. Wow, the git has a facial expression besides constipated. Puts me in mind of my ole grandsire.

“You failed to make our appointed meeting. I was forced to seek out your presence to see what had detained you,” Adam stated calmly to cover his surprise that the vampire was expecting him.

"Well, I knew you would come to me if I waited long enough," Spike replied. He took a sip of his blood while he waited for the cyborg to respond.

"What is the purpose of such an exercise?" Adam questioned. He searched his databases, but was unable to find an answer.

"No purpose." Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes people ... or demons ... don't have to have reasons for what they do. It's called free will."

"Free will. I must research this thing you call free will," Adam mused. "Now, about this Slayer, she's just a girl."

Spike chuckled, "True, but she's a girl with family and friends. They make her strong. Stronger than any other slayer in history." He took the last sip of his blood, and put his cup down on the floor next to his chair.

"What makes you strong can also make you weak." Adam stared at the vampire with distaste. If he hadn't needed the half breed to get to the Slayer he wouldn't have bothered with recruiting such a wild card. The rumors that this creature worked alongside the Slayer were interesting, to say the least. "Take them away from her."

"Like I haven't tried that before," Spike muttered. Pasting on a completely fake smile, he sarcastically commented, "Of course. Capitol plan, mate. Make the Slayer and her Scoobies brassed off at each other. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself."

"What is that tone of voice you are using? It's quite intriguing."

"It's called sarcasm. Look it up in the dictionary." Spike rose from his chair, crossed the room to the door, and held it open. "’ll get right on it, Mr. Bits. Don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy marched across the campus. She grew madder and crankier with every step she took. Buffy knew she'd find no peace at her dorm room, because Riley was due to arrive. Jealous, strangely dressed Riley. The only person she had ever seen so out of place dressed in Hawaiian print had been Spike. Too bad I can't blame this all on Spike. A few quick thumps on his nose would make me feel so much better.

Reaching her room, she had just turned the key in the lock when she heard someone call her name. Damn, next time I need to walk faster and not open the door when he comes by or wait until he's already been here.

Buffy turned to stare at her 'boyfriend'. Only today she was wondering what she actually saw in the guy. "Hey, Riley. I'm not really feeling up to having company right now. Maybe we can catch up with each other later." She watched as Riley's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yeah, well, I got a little tired of sitting around waiting, so ..." Riley's voice trailed off, and he waited for Buffy to respond. He stepped back in surprise when he saw ire flash in her eyes, and anger tighten her lips.

"I know what happened, Riley. Xander told you all about Angel and the curse." Buffy folded her arms across her chest while she tapped her foot impatiently. "So, you got all jealous and had to rush over here to make sure I didn't get groiny with my ex-boyfriend."

"That's not it at all!" Riley rushed to defend his actions. "Yes; Xander told me about Angel, but I'm here because I was worried. Besides, I was waiting for you to get back from L.A. You've been gone for 24 hours and I've missed you."

"Well, I've been busy, Riley. Patrolling, trying to find Adam, repeating the same day over and over," Buffy muttered the last part under her breath. She turned to open the door of her room. "Look, Riley, seeing Angel brought back old memories and old feelings. I need some time to process it all. It's not all that interesting."

"It got my attention, but you don't want to talk about it. I get that." Riley backed away from Buffy. "Tell you what; why don't I get out of your face? You had a long trip." He turned to stride down the hallway away from his 'girlfriend'.

"You don't know the half of it," Buffy muttered before she slammed her door shut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Spike sauntered into Giles' apartment, he expected to find the Watcher once again singing and drinking. Instead, the vampire was surprised when he found the older man pacing the floor while muttering curses under his breath. Spike's feeling of déjà vu was suddenly replaced by a sense of dread. Something wasn't right with this picture, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The Watcher wasn't doing what he was suppose to be doing or reacting the way he was suppose to be.

"Hey, Watcher, what's got you in such a dither today?" Spike strolled towards the apartment's small kitchen where he knew there was a bag of blood waiting for him.

"What do you want?" Giles growled. He was in no mood to put up with the hyperactive vampire, not after his earlier fight with Buffy.

"Couple of things actually." Spike opened the fridge door. "Ah, there it is. Knew I left a bag here." He took out the bag of blood. "First thing, that little witch of yours has been workin' the mojo again. Been feelin' a bit wonky all day. It's getting bloody annoying." Spike crossed to the microwave, and popped the bag into the machine.

Giles moved to the bar, curious in spite of himself. Maybe Spike had an explanation as to why Buffy had been so touchy earlier. "Wonky, you say? Can you tell me about it?"

Spike narrowed his eyes at the Watcher's curiosity. He decided he'd better get down to the real reason he was here. "It's not that important after all. I need to talk to Buffy. Have you seen her? Got some info for her."

"What kind of information are we talking about?" Giles asked. He watched as the vampire pulled the warmed blood bag from the microwave, ripped it open, and poured it into a cup.

"Highly classified." Spike took a sip of the blood. "I'm talkin' about the good stuff now." He watched as the sober Watcher raised his eyebrow to indicate continuation. "These are Initiative files. I can get in and get them. I expect good compensation for the endeavor."

"That goes without saying, Spike," Giles said sarcastically. "What kind of information are we looking at?"

Spike shrugged, and took another sip of his blood. "Mission statements. Design schematics. All of Maggie Walsh's dirty laundry, which I guess would include lots of tidbits about..."

"Adam." Giles stared off into space for a few minutes. "Fine. I'll pay you $500 for the information."

"What about the Slayer?" Spike hid his surprise at this turn of events. The strange feeling of dread doubled for the blond vampire. This was definitely not how things were suppose to be going. If Spike didn't know any better, he'd say that something had changed elsewhere in this loopy little day.

"We'll just leave Buffy out of this, Spike," Giles announced. There was no way he was going to let the vampire know he was still smarting from the fight he'd had with his charge just a few hours before. "It's just between you and me. I'll send Xander over to your crypt with the fatigues you used when you helped to rescue Oz."

"Slayer's treating you like crap, huh?" Spike asked with faux sympathy. This was going better than before. It was almost like someone was doing his job for him.

"Buffy's treating me just fine, as if it were any of your business. I think seeing Angel just put her a bit on edge is all." Giles crossed the room to the bookcase. He searched through the books in the hopes of finding a bottle of scotch that he had missed before.

"Only comes around when she needs something, huh?" Spike questioned. He felt like rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Just keep up your end of the bargain, Spike. I'll be waiting here with your cash." Giles watched as the vampire slipped out into the night. The Watcher knew he had to get busy. He needed to call Xander, go to the ATM and then hit the liquor store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy stormed up the dirt path where she knew Forrest and subsequently Adam were hiding at. Today there would be no arguing, threatening or begging. Today would be a full out knock 'em out punch to the face. She showed no surprise whatsoever when Forest jumped out into the path behind her. She whirled around to face him, and raised her eyebrow at the blaster he was holding in his hands.

"Shooting humans, now?" Buffy asked. She remembered the commando asking her if she was killing humans now from the first time through this damned loopy day.

"No, not really," Forrest replied, "But I can have a patrol here in less than a minute. So, tell you what; you go your way and I'll go mine."

"Something tells me that I don't quite believe that," Buffy snarked. "Oh yeah, the fact that Adam can kill you in under a minute." She edged towards the wary commando, and continued to talk in an attempt to keep him off guard. "Remember that Polgara demon you guys picked up a few months back? Where do you think the skewer went?"

"Maggie removed it for experimentation," Forrest answered. He backed away from Buffy, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Oh experimentation. I guess that's a fancy word for implantation, because she put it on Adam."

Before he could blink, Buffy was behind him where she gave him a sharp thump to the back of the head. She caught him, and dragged him into some bushes. Buffy grabbed up his blaster rifle and moved cautiously to the entrance of the cave. "Hey, Adam? I know you're in there," she called out.

"Ah, the Slayer. And alone," Adam stated in his calm voice. He rounded the corner, and looked down, blinking in astonishment when the small blond woman blasted him with her gun.

"Fuck," Buffy exclaimed when the blaster had no affect on the huge cyborg. She threw the gun to the ground, and turned to run down the path. A few feet away, she paused to turn and throw a taunting 'Catch me if you can!' back at Adam. Buffy ran through the woods hoping that Adam would follow her and not find the unconscious body of Forrest this time.

Suddenly, she cried out when she tripped over a tree root, and rolled down the incline where she hit her head on a rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Buffy woke up with a blinding headache. So much for avoiding the head wound.

She sat up, touched her forehead, and brought back a hand covered in blood. Buffy sighed deeply, fighting exhaustion. Time to go talk to Angel and Riley. I so don't want to do this again. Maybe I could cut them off at the pass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike waited in his crypt for the Whelp and his bird to arrive. He figured the third time was the charm. Playing the Watcher had been impossibly easy for the blond vampire, so he knew the Whelp would be child's play.

Anya and Xander strolled into the crypt while arguing about Buffy. Xander tossed the bundle of clothing to Spike, otherwise ignoring the vampire as he continued to fight with his girlfriend about the blond slayer. The pair wandered back into the sunlight leaving the peroxide blond vampire staring after them in a state of annoyed shock. Spike was filled once more with the same unsettling dread he'd felt earlier with the Watcher.

At dusk, Spike dressed in the fatigues, preparing himself for the trek to the Watchers and the dramatics of watching them implode on themselves. He wondered if this confrontation would be as easy as the others had been. The vampire still couldn't believe his luck with the Watcher and the boy. Spike strolled casually towards the apartments while he smoked a cigarette. Once he hit the courtyard, he pretended to be out of breath, and flung himself into the apartment.

"I think I lost the buggers," Spike panted. He wasn't at all surprised when he saw Willow sitting at Giles' desk.

"Any luck with the disks?" Willow asked. Spike handed them over and she laid them on the desk. She turned to Tara, who had just come out of the kitchen. "What did Buffy have to say, baby?"

"S-she said that she had to go st-stop Riley and Angel from killing each other." Tara smiled shyly at her girlfriend. "But then she muttered that maybe she should just let them kill each other. T-that it would make things easier for everyone. I-I don’t think Buffy's feeling very well."

"I'm sure she's okay. Just the stress of seeing Angel, like Giles said." Willow turned back to Spike, and asked, "Was this everything?"

"Took what they had. Should be something useful on one of them." Spike smirked at the red-headed woman. "What's this about the Poofter and Captain Cardboard?"

"B-buffy said Angel's in town, and Riley's gunning for him," Tara replied hesitantly. She glanced at the vampire, and then dropped her eyes to the floor. There was something changed in his aura, but she had no idea what it was. The change seemed at this point to be fairly ambiguous, so Tara decided to ignore it.

Spike suddenly found the idea of seeing his grandsire and the soldier boy fight over the Slayer appealing. He sidled over to the dishwater blond witch, and whispered in her ear, “Did the Slayer mention where this fight was going on?"

Tara nodded, and whispered in return, "In the alley behind the grade school." She smiled wryly when the grinning blond vampire bid the group goodnight, and made his escape. Shaking her head at his antics, Tara turned her attention to Willow and the disks that Spike had brought by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike stood on the roof of the Sunnydale Grade School. Below him he could see his grandsire fighting off a group of commandos, and the old fart was actually winning. Of course, they weren't using the tazers on him like they had Spike. The blond vampire shook his head in amusement. Peaches, three. Commandos, zip. Ahhh there's Captain Cardboard.

The man in question rounded the corner, and he raised his flashlight to catch sight of a large male dressed all in black. Spike smirked at the surprise on the toy soldier's face when the poofter called him by name. Spike himself was surprised when Riley quickly identified the dark, broody vampire. He'd been positive that the Slayer would have avoided telling her boyfriend about Peaches. Spike giggled to himself over the pissing contest that the pair got into, not that he expected Finn to win against Angelus.

Spike was just starting to enjoy the fight when the girl herself slipped into the alley. He could tell she was one brassed off little honey when he saw the look on her face. He noticed the cut on her forehead, and wondered to himself what the hell she run into that could hurt her like that.

"I'm going to punch out both of you, and leave you for the commandos if you don't stop this macho bullshit," Buffy growled. She stood with her arms crossed while she tapped her foot. "What are you? Twelve?"

"Protecting another vampire, I see," Riley muttered. "Isn't Hostile 17 enough?" He was so busy glaring at Angel he failed to notice the narrowing of his girlfriend's eyes. However both vampires saw the look and thought simultaneously, uh oh, Buffy's pissed off now!

"You leave Spike alone, Riley," Buffy snarled. "He's my vampire, and if you threaten him again, you'll live to regret it." She knew that if this day played itself over that neither Riley nor Angel would remember this little conversation. Buffy really had gotten used to Spike's presence, and she realized she would be upset if anything happened to him. She was so caught up in the drama that she failed to notice the blond spy.

"Spike's still here in Sunnydale, Buffy?" Angel demanded. "You haven't dusted him?" This whole conversation surprised the brunette vampire.

"Of course I haven't dusted him, Angel," Buffy replied incredulously. "He's almost like one of the gang. You know on the fringes, borderline ...like Mexico ...ohh or Canada ...or one of those other countries that are, you know, on the border." She had no idea how much her words surprised the blond eavesdropper.

"You actually slept with this creature?" Riley spluttered. "I thought Xander was only kidding. Does this mean you're sleeping with Spike, too? You were engaged after all." He glared back and forth between Buffy and Angel.

"I'm not sleeping with Spike." Buffy denied the allegation vehemently. "He's a ... an ally, and I need all of those I can get."

"I think the lady doth protest too much," Riley grumbled.

"I think someone is jealous of the vampires." Buffy snapped irritably. She could feel her headache swelling to monumental proportions, and sighed. "Look, Angel, thanks for coming by. Go home. Riley..." Buffy shook her head slightly. She put her hand wearily to her throbbing forehead. "I need to go talk to Giles and the gang. I'll catch you later. I can't deal with this anymore." The Slayer turned, walking out of the alley, and leaving three very confused males behind.

Riley and Angel continued to glare at each other until Angel spoke up loudly, "What the hell was that all about, Spike?" He had felt the other vampire's signature from the beginning of the fight.

Spike smirked and called down from his perch on the school's roof, "Haven't a bloody clue..." He looked from Angel to Riley. "Sire. But you know the Slayer, always doing the unexpected." He pulled his cigarettes from his duster, tapped one out, and put it to his lips. When the cigarette was lit, Spike took a deep drag off of it.

Angel raised an eyebrow at the title of respect that fell from his grandchilde's lips. He could almost hear the wheels turning in the commando's head and grinned to himself when he realized that Spike was attempting to get a rise out of the human.

"Sire?" Riley glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Oh, that's just great! You're 'family'? Well, that explains everything, doesn't it?" The contempt dripped from his voice. He simply couldn't understand why Buffy would protect the very creatures she was meant to destroy. "I don't know how Buffy has survived this long when she allows you both to live."

Spike tilted his head to study the young man. "You don't really know the Slayer, do you? Oh, you think you do. You think you understand what lies beneath the pretty face, but you don't."

"And you think you do, Hostile 17?"

"Course I do, you git. Buffy Summers is the best Slayer in the history of the Council, and I should know; I've killed two of them," Spike proclaimed proudly. He took the last drag on his cigarette, and then flicked it towards the pair in the alley below him. "Commandos are almost here."

With that, Spike melted into the darkness. He went back to his crypt where he thought over what exactly had happened in the alley, and the odd statements that the Slayer had made.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half way to Giles' apartment, Buffy decided she wasn't up to another confrontation with her friends again so soon and turned her feet towards the dorm. She decided she'd take a hot shower, put on her sushi pajamas, and pray that tomorrow would be a new day instead of the Loopy Day from Hell once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She didn't need to see to know exactly where she was. Eau de bus terminal wafted through the air. Buffy sighed while she thought about having to deal with another round of male posturing. First Riley, then Forrest, then Angel and Riley again. Oh, and let's not forget Giles. She bet if she went out to find Spike, he'd do some incredibly stupid male thing, too.

Damn men.





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