The sun had set over an hour ago, but Spike was still sitting in the dusty crypt he now called home. There was just no point, going out. He would probably just run into the Slayer, taking out demons, and along with that all the reason for his existence.

He was more then happy that he could at least hurt something that, well…screamed, but the arguing, the fights, the punches he received without being able to do anything, made him feel smaller everyday.

Not that he could face her anyway, after that dream. That damn dream.

And if there wasn’t the slayer, there would be her boyfriend, or her friends, or her watchers. There was always something.

He hated to admit it, but she could hurt him like none of them could. Not because her punches were stronger, but because her tongue was sharper, and stung him in places she knew would hurt him the most. Because he…he loved her. The little bitch got to him, and he loathed her for it.

Speaking of loathing, Harmony was still hanging around in his crypt as well, and it was one of the mean reasons he had to get out at night. He let her stay, because she came in handy if he needed to work out some…frustrations. But as soon as she opened her mouth, to talk, she drove him completely up the wall.

Signing, he forced himself to get up and out. He was in need of some pigs’ blood, and after that, alcohol sounded really appealing.

He cursed when he opened the door, stepping into a white winter world. Christmas was coming up, his least favorite holyday, and the weather had decided to complete the fairytale. The cold bit into his cheeks, and even though cold did not really bother the undead, it had always made him uncomfortable.

Yes, life was not rose-colored for the neutered big bad, but little did he know that was all going to change, before the holidays had even begun.

************************************************************

On the other side of the graveyard, Buffy was stalking trough the snow. She was wrapped up in a big, warm coat, and holding a pointy stake in her icy hand. Even though she was there to patrol, her eyes were not fixed upon any movements in the darkness that surrounded her, but on the white snow underneath her feet.

She was cold to the bone, but couldn’t force herself to turn around and go home. Her vampire senses told her the graveyard was not deserted, but she could immediately tell it was a certain blond she did not need to worry about biting the harmless.

It was strange how she could always recognize his presence, as other vampires felt no different then a tingle in the back of her neck. Spike, however, made the tingle run over her entire spine.

She was a little disappointed when she felt him heading in the opposite direction, because he was always convenient to use as a punch bag to let out on her frustrations. And she had frustrations.

She wasn’t talking about her sister, or her friends, or even Riley….Well, maybe a little. She was talking about the fear that surrounded her since the vision, the dream she had had.

She had been asleep, wrapped up in Riley’s arms and feeling slightly uncomfortable by of the heat his body radiated. She had felt like she was choking, and then it had hit her.

Dead, and pain, and loss, battles, grief, sickness, mistrust, abuse, rape, and more dead. It had all flashed before her eyes, and she had known it was the truth. This wasn’t just fear, it was happening. It was about to come true. This was her future

The fear that had struck her then, hadn’t left her since. She was afraid for what was coming, and had a hard time trusting anyone with this prediction. She felt like, if she would say it out loud, it would become real.

And as if this wasn’t enough, Christmas was also coming up. Not that she hated Christmas, but her mood was just not very…Christmas-y.

She let out a long sign, feeling slightly sick of the worries she carried with her, no matter where she went, or what she did. Always worried about her family and friends, for what might happen. It was exhausting.

She sat down on a bench in the back of the graveyard, still not ready to go home, but also not feeling the need to keep patrolling, since there was nothing to slay.

She felt so alone, even when she was at home with her friends, pretending everything was going to be just fine, and a tear slid down her icy cheek.

And all of a sudden, she felt the need to do something she hadn’t done in a very long time. She prayed. Looking up to the dark, star filled sky, she started to talk, to anyone how would listen.

“God, or whoever it is up there, please listen to me. You know I don’t do this often, so forgive me if this is all wrong, but…I just want to ask you something. I know, I turn to you now things are going bad, and I didn’t do it before, but for Christmas sake, please listen. If you can somehow, someway make it happen that all of those awful things I saw, are not coming true, I’ll…”

Yeah, that was a good question. What could she possibly offer The Almighty in return?

“I’ll do almost anything you ask me.” Yeah, that sounded safe enough.

“Greets, Buffy Summers. Amen.”

Feeling a little better, and slightly calmer. She got up, and started walking to the entrance of the graveyard.

She had no fate that this would work, but at least she got it of her chest.

************************************************************

“Well well, that is quite a request, isn’t it.” Abusis sneered, looking at Buffy’s form leaving the holy ground.

“Oh stop it, can’t you see the poor dear is in pain?” Regnya said, also looking at Buffy, before turning around at watching Spike sitting at a bar, drinking away his pain with Scots.

“And look at William. The poor boy is hurting as well.”

“Boy?”

“Her request isn’t that weird if you look at all this, think about it Abusis.”

“You are actually thinking about granting it?”

“Why not?”

“If we have to help every person that…”

“But it’s Christmas.”

“But it’s not fair.”

“Look at what is going to happen. These are not the problems of an everyday girl. It is a reasonable request. It will save so many lives.”

“You are really going to do it, aren’t you?”

“Not without his permission.”

“Oh shut up, you always get his permission.”

Regnya smiled at her companion. They were like day and night, but inseparable. Something about them reminded her of Buffy and Spike, and that is why she felt so much compassion for the two of them.

“Do you even know how you are going to make it happen?” Abusis asked her, still a bit sarcastic.

“Yes, I have the perfect plan.” She smiled, and disappeared. Obviously meeting their creator.

Not an hour later, a young woman appeared out of thin air.

“See Abusis, she is here. Things will be fine.”

“We’ll see Regnya, We’ll see.”

*Chapter 1, hope you liked it so far =D*

Feeling drunk, bored and miserable, Spike left his favorite pub Willy’s, and stepped into the chilly night for the second time that evening. He still had hours and hours left, before the sun would come up, and not wanting to waste time by going home, he decided to go to the bronze.

Stepping outside, the atmosphere had suddenly changed. He couldn’t explain it, but the air seemed less thick, easier to breath in if that would have been necessary. He felt something stirring deep inside him, and looked up at the sky, as if the answers to his questions were written in the stars.

But there were no answers, just stars. Feeling slightly stupid, he starting walking again, entering the nightclub.

He was relived it was just an ordinary Tuesday night, which mend it wasn’t crowded in the club. Stalking towards the bar, and ordering a beer, he glanced around to see who he could robe to get money for smokes and blood.

To his surprise, he shared the bar with a petit blond that looked awfully familiar; Buffy.

She had decided not to home to her lovers arms, just for the fear of the feeling that could come to her again. She just wanted to be alone, and the bar in her favorite place; the Bronze, seemed just the place for some quiet time.

That was, until a familiar tingle started in her neck, and run all the way down over her spine. All the way down, until it almost made her gasp. Good god, how she hated him for that.

“Spike, I am going to ask you this one time, and I will give you one chance to do as I tell you, so listen carefully: Leave.me.alone.”

But as expected, he paid no attention to her treat, and took the seat next to hers. And as expected, she did nothing to stop him.

“Shouldn’t you be at home, shagging captain cardboard’s brains out?” He sneered, but trying to bring his chair as close to hers as he could without making it look too obvious.

“You’re a pig Spike.” She snapped, throwing him a disgusting look, but still not doing anything to get rid of him, or his knee that was now touching hers.

“Yeah, well. That’s the least bloody thing I can do.”

“You want me to feel sorry for you?”

“Is that what you heard me saying, luv?”

“I am not your love, Spike.”

Rolling his eyes, the bartender collected their, now empty glasses. He had heard the couple bickering like this before, as it wasn’t the first time they met at his bar, and it were always the same childish comments they exchanged. He figured it must be some sort of foreplay, before they would get it on in some deserted ally.

“It is nice to see there is still hope for love.” He commented with a warm smile, putting a stop to the bitching between the two blonds.

“Excuse me?” He realized that was not a smart move when they looked at him with the same fury they had been letting out on each other.

“I just mean that, it is good to see that even though you fight every time I see you guys, you always end up together.”

He saw the bleached man stealing a glance in the woman’s direction, obviously hoping for her to loosen up and well…perhaps throw herself into his arms.

The opposite was true. Buffy took a few seconds to stare at the barman; yaw dropped, and then threw her arms in the air, getting of her chair.

“Wonderful, that is just wonderful Spike. Just because you seem to follow me around like a pathetic harmless puppy, everyone thinks that we are a couple.” She shouted, walking towards the entrance with Spike following, and walking just fast enough to hold open the door for her.

“Oh save it Slayer, you are the one coming to me for help, almost every bloody day.”

“You have on hell of an imagination Spike, honestly.”

If she only knew, he couldn’t help thinking.

“I am leaving now, and don’t you dare following me.”

“Like I want to stay any longer around you, you stupid arrogant bitch.”

“Fine, see you... never.”

“Yeah, until you show up at my crypt again, begging for help, because your boyfriends fell over trying to tie his own shoos.”

They were now shouting, because Buffy was already half way across the street.

“Fuck you.”

“Whatever, you have stupid hair anyway.”

She had now turned around the corner, leaving him standing in front of the Bronze, and he let out a long sign to calm his nerves. What was she doing to him?

“Wow, that was mature.”
A voice behind him suddenly commented, almost making him jump. He hadn’t sensed anyone, which was very unusual.

Standing on the balls of his feet, he turned around.

************************************************************

Buffy heard his last comment trough the cold night, and then there was nothing. The sound of her steps echoed trough the street, as she felt forced to go home.

‘There is nothing wrong with my hair.’ She pouted, and stroked it a little insecure with her fingers.

The house that contained her family and boyfriend came in sight. She still didn’t want to go inside, and sat down on the cold porch, looking up at the stars.

Somehow, the atmosphere seemed different. She could not have explained it, but the surrounding seemed lighter, less treating. She was also feeling better then before, like she believed that now the sky had heard her concern, someone or something was already making things right.

She felt silly even thinking that anything had changed, but even Spike’s harsh words hadn’t spoiled her mood.
Being near him, bickering like the always did, had felt familiar, and not even that unpleasant to her.

Why was she even thinking about him, she wondered, and pushed him out of her thoughts, like she always did.

But she did feel a spark of unexplainable hope, and turned towards the dark sky for the second time that night.

“What did you do? What changed?” She wondered out loud.

Spike had felt embarrassed and angry when he had heard the comment, made by the stranger standing behind him. That person did not have the right to judge his conversation with Buffy. Even though the comment had been childish.

But the moment he had turned around, all of the feelings had changed into surprise, curiosity and shock.

Standing before him in the dark alley, was a girl. A girl he could not have known, but seemed awfully familiar.

He took a moment to take in her appearance, trying to figure out if she was human, or demon. He sensed nothing.

She was only slightly shorter then he was, and her golden hair rested upon her shoulders. Her deep, green eyes seemed to look right trough his head, as her gaze was strong, confident and never left his.

She was a pretty thing, he noticed, with a sweet face that expressed her every feeling. Red lips, pink cheeks, smooth skin, and a straight, nicely shaped nose. Strangely enough, he was not attracted to her in the least. Only curious, and fascinated.

Her body was in good shape, but the view was taken from him by the leather coat she wore. A coat that reminded him of his own.

He noticed she carried herself as a warrior, a slayer, which made him wonder. She couldn’t be one, a slayer that was. He would have known. But what was she then? She sure wasn’t just an ordinary girl either.

She couldn’t be older then 18 years old, but her eyes were the eyes of a girl that had seen far too much. It made her look older tired.

Other then her coat, she wore an old, filthy pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt that clung to her curves. It was completed with a pair of black boots with low-heels, covered in dirt, like she had run trough a forest.

“What are you?” He blurted out, and the moment he said it, he knew that he shouldn’t have. He just couldn’t help being frightened by not being able to sense her.

“You are not very polite today, are you?” She smiled, walking past him, and looking at him with equal interest.

“What do you want?” He took a step back, as she came closer. Trapping himself against the wall.

“You can’t sense me, can you?” She asked, her tone changing from sarcasm into wonder, still walking around him like a tiger.

“No.”

“It’s fine, I’m human, I swear. I’m not dead or anything, I’m just…I’m human, ok?”
It almost humored him to see her attitude change from a confident woman, to a teenage girl.

Funny enough, he believed her. He never trusted people that easily, but now, with her, he knew it was ok to do so.

“Ok.”

She smiled again, looking around as if she was searching for something.

“But again, what do you want?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to see you. Before I’ll do what I came here for.” She said, still looking at him with great interest. Rising up her hand, it looked like she was going to touch his face, but then withdraw her arm just in time, as if she had burned herself.

He had no idea what she was talking about, and assumed she must be crazy, like Dru. Thank god he had learned how to deal with that.

“Ok, thanks. Nice to see you. Now go do what you came here for.”
He said, pretending he knew what she was talking about, and hoping she would go away. She frightened him a little.

She stared at him for a few seconds, blinking and frowning, before a smile appeared on her face.

Before he knew it, she had thrown her head in her neck, and laughed out loud, clutching her stomach as if it pained her to laugh like this. As if it was something she hadn’t done in a long time, and surprised her muscles with her action.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” She giggled, while catching her breath.

“Well, yeah.…” He admitted, not knowing what else to do or say.

She kept grinning, grabbing his arm, which startled him, but he did not have the hart to push her away.

“Let’s go to your crypt. Give me a quick chance to explain this, and I’ll be on my way.”

“It’s not that far…wait a second. How do you know about my crypt?” He asked, being pulled along by his arm, as she stepped firmly trough the snow.

“Just come on, I’m cold.”

************************************************************

Stepping inside the dusty crypt, she had no idea why she had wanted to go here in the first place. It was not warmer inside then outside, only the cold wind didn’t blow trough the stone walls. Other then that is was disgusting and dark, and she wondered why her mum had told her she had found it cozy when they had been dating.

“This is it?”

“Well, I’m sorry it isn’t to your liking, princess. “ He sneered, throwing his coat on the tomb, and then sat upon it, making himself comfortable, but never taking his eyes of the strange girl.

She flinched when she heard him say that. Princess.

He had called her that over a million times. She had always been his princess.
Only now, it was more of an insult.

“Right, well…”

“What’s your name?” His question had appeared out of nowhere, and she took a few seconds before answering.

“Chris.”

“Chris? That’s a guys name.” He stated, as if that had said it all.

“It’s short for Christan.”

“Look sweet bit, I don’t know who you are or what you want, but you better tell me why I can’t sense you, cause it’s freaking me out.” Spike spat, irritated he needed to keep looking at her to see where she was going.

“I’m…This will sound crazy, but I’m not from this time.” She signed. She had almost forgotten how impatient he could be.

“What do you mean, not from this time? Please don’t tell me you are the ghost from Christmas past, and here to change me into a loving and caring bloke. Cause, let me warn you, I will puke.”

She laughed again, loving to hear his familiar sarcasm. “Well, please don’t puke, but it’s something like that. I’m kinda…from the future.”

“The ghost of Christmas yet to come? Shouldn’t you look scarier?”

He laughed as she smacked him playfully on his arm, and he surprised himself with his attitude towards this stranger.

“I’m not a ghost, I’m from the future.”

The future? Oh now it was official, this girl had completely lost it.

“Oh really? And why should I believe you?”

“Oh come on, I don’t have time for games. Just believe me.”
She was a feisty one, and he was trilled to realize he could treat her like an equal. She was not taking any crap from him.

“What year are we talking about?”

“2030.”

“That’s where you’re from?”

“Yeah, I was born in 2012, and I am 18 now.” She signed, walking over to the tomb where Spike had been sitting, and sat upon the coat that still laid on it.

“I’m here because; everything will be going to hell. 28 years from now, you will all be dead, and I’m the only one left. And before that, there is a lot that will cause pain and suffering.”

“So, pretty much the usual.” He stated with a smirk, not noticing the pained look on her face as she spoke about her time.

“Worse.”

“So you’re here to change your future, that’s it?”

“No, I’m here to change yours.”

When she saw the confused look on his face, she smiled a little.

“My mum made a Christmas wish tonight. She wished things would turn out fine. And the only way to make that happen is to come to this time and change a couple of things. This is where it all will go wrong. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“But you said your mum was dead. Sorry for your lost, but how can she possibly make a wish?” Spike was stunned by her story, but understood now what she had been rambling about. What he didn’t get was what he had to do with this all. Wait, had she said he would be dead too?

“But my mum is still alive in this year. You might know her.”

“I don’t think so pet; I am not really the social kind of guy.”

“Oh, But you know her. You know her very, very well.”
She jumped off the tomb, stalking towards him, looking at him with those piercing green eyes, and her golden locks that shone in the candlelight.

Golden hair and bright green eyes he finally recognized.

“Buffy.” He whispered, so soft, he did not think she would have heard him.

“That’s right. Buffy is my mum.”

“You look exactly like her, bit.” He said, still whispering, and stroking a strand of her hair, as if he hadn’t seen her before.

“Not exactly.” She said, but her eyes wondered uncertain trough the room. Avoiding his gaze, as if she would get too emotional if she didn’t.

“And your dad?” He asked, after a short silence.

“Please don’t tell me it’s soldier boy.” And suddenly stepped away from her, as if touching her would burn him. He almost looked disgusted at the thought of it, and she wondered who he was talking about.

“Well, he did participate in World War two, I believe.”

“Peaches?!” She jumped up when he yelled the name in a high, almost girly-like voice, and threw his arm up in the air. “No, no, no…Don’t tell me it’s him.”

Before she could respond, his head shot up, as if he had realized something.

“No, he can’t be your dad, you look nothing like him. I haven’t seen you brooding yet, and we have hung out for a good half hour.” He cried out in desperation, as if he was trying to convince himself.

“You’re right, he’s not. Geez, relax.” She grinned, finding it anything but surprising he was already having this reaction towards his grandsire.

Spike eyes widened at that, and a smile appeared on his face. “I knew it! Buffy is not that stupid. HA, wish I could have seen the look on his face when he heard Buffy was having a baby with an other man.”

“You did.” Unable to keep it in any longer, she gave him an intense look that was full of hints, hoping he would get it now.

“I did? Must have been the happiest bloody day in my un-life.”

“Well, I sure hope not.” She said, knowing other things had topped that moment, big.

“Why not?”

Now it was getting annoying.

“Bloody Hell. Because you are my father. Christ dad.”

She expected him to laugh, or to get angry. She even wished he would, because right now, he was giving her nothing. He was just stunned.

She was lying to him, there was no other explanation. But this had stirred something deep inside him, and the feeling of hope that had been lit up, made him feel weak, annoyed, but oh so very good. If she was being dishonest right now, he knew it would shatter his dream in one smooth movement.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying Dad, and if you took one moment to look at me, you would know.” Tears were forming in her eyes now, desperate to make him believe. She was so tired, and had a long night ahead of her.

“I’m a vampire. It’s impossible.”

“Living here in Sunnydale and saying those words…you are a brave man.”

“With Buffy? She hates me?”

“She does? Oh lord, haven’t you guys passed that stage yet. I have so much to do.” Chris signed, buttoning her coat, and preparing to leave.

“Look, why don’t you sit down, and think about all this, before I’m going to give you a stroke. I know it’s a lot, but I needed to tell you this to make things change. Ok?”

“Ok. But…”

“No, no buts, I need to go.”

He was still unable to believe her words, but knowing it was true by just looking at the way she looked, moved, talked, and dressed. She had to be one of him.

“I will come back, to explain some things, and trying to convince you, I guess. In the main time, you can try to make mum like you by being kind for a change. That would be very helpful.”

And with a quick peck on his cheek, and without an other word, she walked towards the door and disappeared into the night.

Feeling slightly lightheaded, he laid down on his tomb, clutching his head and breathing in unnecessary oxygen. He was going to be a father. He was going to have children with the slayer. With Buffy. Which mend he was going to make love to her.

The disturbing part was…..He wanted it more than anything.

He was so lost in his thoughts; the sound of the door opening again did not reach his ears.

“Ehm, one more thing dad. Can you show me the way to the hospital?”



Please Review!! =P

Chris listened to her own footsteps while humming a Christmas song under her breath. She had asked permission to go home, year 2029 home that was, to check upon Aunt Dawn and get some sleep. Dreaming of her parents, she had struggled with mixed feelings. It made her feel happy that she could see them again, but knowing that this wasn’t going to bring them back to her. It was hard. She was not going to give up, though.

The fluorescent tubes that lighted the hospital halls gave it an unfriendly vibe, and the walls glaring even whiter than they actually were.

‘God, I hate hospitals’, Chris thought as she picked up the pace.


She had spent way too much time in hospitals in her short life, and being here made her remember all the grief, the loss. But she had a mission. She had come to do what she had to and there was nothing that could stop her. Nobody who could stop her.

A young man with brown hair came in sight as she walked around the corner. He was wearing hospital scrubs and eyed her as she walked towards him. The appreciative look, and the feel of his eyes slighting over her body made her roll her eyes.
Men.

She was used to the looks and comments, since she knew she had her parents good looks, but with an easily annoyed vampire and a slayer watching her like a hawk, nobody had ever dared to make a move without her permission.

“Hi there.” She faked a seductive smile and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Hello, pretty lady. Can I help you?” he asked in an attempt to be charming. It made her want to heave.

Eying his nametag, she realized she had the right man.

“As a matter of fact, I think you can, Ben.”

************************************************************

The sun was setting again, but Spike was still in his crypt, staring at the ceiling. He had been too confused and physically paralyzed to even sleep, and now felt too tired to move a muscle.

He couldn’t even try to make sense of it all, since his brain had given up on him and completely shut down. There was only one word that kept playing over and over in his head, like a broken record.

Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad.

It was too bizarre to be true, but he did not even try to think that the girl had been lying. She hadn’t, and that made it all impossible to understand.

He jolted right up when he heard the door slamming open and the sound of powerful footsteps over his head. He knew who was there and felt a rush of fear going through him. What the hell was he going to say?

He did nothing and stood next to his bed, as she climbed down the ladder and brought her luscious backside in view. Unfortunately, he also received an icy glare as she turned around.

“Spike, I found a lair of vampires nearby. And you’re gonna help me take them out,” she announced a little bored, expecting him to make an insult or demand money. Per usual

When he remained oddly silent, she shrugged and turned around to leave, fully expecting him to follow. But when she didn't hear him behind her, Buffy rolled her eyes and turned to looked at him.

Expecting his usual indifference she was a little startled, to find him staring intently at her. His whole being exposed to her searching eyes. He was afraid. Confused.

“S-spike?”

“Buffy...” He whispered her name so soft, and so carefully, it made her shiver. Goosebumps appeared on her entire body and she was shocked by her reaction to him.

“What is it, Spike?” she asked, concerned. He reminded her of a puppy like this, and she couldn't bring herself to hurt him with her typical sharp words and dirty looks. Something had happened, and it was big.

The concerned tone of her voice only made him more confused. Why was she being kind to him? She loathed him and didn’t care whether he lived or died. Did she know?

“It can’t be true,” he mumbled shakily.

Buffy frowned. Was he messing with her? “What?”

“You could never love me. Have babies with me.” He shook his head, looking at the ground while he sat on the edge of a tomb.

She had no idea what to say or what to think of this, but she knew one thing: He had obviously lost his mind. Well, what mind he had.

“Spike, I’m the slayer, remember? Your mortal enemy and stuff. What is this?”

“She said she wasn’t lying.” Spike uttered softly.

“Who said?” She was getting irritated now, he was rambling. Who was this ‘she’ person he was talking about? What had she done to him?

‘Not that I care that much,’ she quickly reminded herself.

“She said you would be with me.” He pointed with a trembling finger towards her, and she was starting to feel very disturbed by his behavior. The things he was saying and the way he was saying them... the way his voice trembled with….what? Confusion? Anger? Pain?

“Spike, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but whoever it is that told you these things, they are probably insane or evil. Now, tell me what happened.”

“No, she wasn’t lying. I know she wasn’t,.” he rambled, getting up to pace through the room.

“Spike, stop it.” She was getting angry, feeling so powerless to this situation. He was talking about love and being with her... and god, babies? She was starting with the major freak out.. Did he want to be with her?

“No, I need to think. Get out.” Reality had finally hit him, as his brains had started to work again. Buffy was starting to get on his nerves. She didn’t understand, and he couldn’t possibly explain. She needed to go, just for a little while, so he could think this through, and decide how to behave around her. She was the mother of his child, after all. Or would be. And he had just made an ass out of himself.

“Spike...”

“GET OUT!”

He didn’t mean to yell like that, but he was in no mood to play nice.
Without another word, she glared at him and left.
And when the cold wind welcomed her outside again, a tear rolled down her cheek.

She hated herself for feeling this way, especially about Spike, but he had hurt her with his outburst. He hadn’t been this much of an ass to her in a long time. At least not where he really meant it.
She thought they had had an understanding, dammit. She was 'bitchy Buffy' and he was always a wiseass, but both knew neither really meant it. It made them a perfect team on the battlefield. That was something she could not share with anyone else.

“Why are you crying?”

************************************************************

“Stop, stop, stop it! Get off!” Ben gasped, struggling to get away, and trying to grab the crazed girl wherever he could.

He had been more than surprised when the girl he'd been checking out had suddenly attacked him, wrapping her very strong hands around his throat and squeezing, so no air could get into his lungs.

Her beauty and innocence had made him weak in the knees, remove comma and when she had asked him if they could talk in private, he had been more than happy to pick out one of the empty doctors offices for them, eager to get her alone.

But the moment he had turned around to lock the door, he had felt her strong grip forcing him down on the desk, squeezing his throat shut.

He tried to scream, but found himself unable to draw any air in. The girl was too strong. When he tried to speak, she covered his mouth and pinched his nose. It seemed like she had no trouble at all keeping him in place, her face void of emotion as she stared into space, not looking at him.

Suddenly, he heard her speak, even though it was hard to make out the words as his body desperately sought the oxygen it needed.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do this. Glory needs to die,” she said, still not looking at him, missing the despair in his eyes

As Chris kept her hands firmly in place, she could feel him getting stiller, his heartbeat finally slowing down. It did not take long before life left his body.

She let go of him after making sure he was truly dead, and stood up straight, wiping off her hands and looking at his lifeless face. The face that still carried an expression of panic and shock.

“I’m sorry, Ben, but you just were not worth it,” Chris told the corpse impassively.

Closing the door behind her, she left him in the office and walked outside. Luckily, she was still alone.

‘Good thing I took care of the camera security first.’, She thought, feeling a little queasy.

Walking outside, a clock showed her the time and she smiled.

“Seems there is still time to pay mum a little visit.”

“Why are you crying?”

Buffy wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her coat before turning around. Embarrassed to be seen like this, and ready to snap at the girl standing behind her. To tell her to leave her alone.

But turning around, and facing the person who couldn’t mind her own business, she fell silent. It was just a girl. Just a girl.

A girl with wavy gold hair, and big green eyes that looked at her with concern. She was quite a bit taller then she was, and obviously cold to the bone. She stood only a few feet away from her, next to the entrance of Spike’s crypt, and hugged her coat close to her body.

The girl smiled when she came face to face with Buffy, and her concern disappeared for a moment as she felt the girls’ eyes looking right trough her. Like she already knew everything there was to know about her.

Freaky.

“Wow, you are so pretty.” Chris whispered, but her words were carried away by the gusting wind, and Buffy did not hear them.

“Why are you here?” Buffy asked in a grating voice from her previous crying. She could not imagine why this girl was here in a graveyard in the middle of the night, standing next to a crypt all the way in the back. Had she been waiting here for her?

“What happened? Did he say something?” The girl asked, ignoring her question, and carefully approaching Buffy, who took a step in the opposite direction.

“What? Who? And who are you?”

“Look…” Chris signed, walking towards the entrance and guiding Buffy with her.

“Do I know you?”

“Well….This is probably one of the long and complicated story’s that need to be told over some hot cocoa. What do you say?”

Buffy didn’t know why she nodded, or took a complete stranger to her home, but found herself standing in the kitchen making coco a good 10 minutes later.

“I love the house. It’s very homely. By the way, do have those little marshmallows?” Chris asked with a smile, sipping her cocoa and throwing in a handful of little marshmallows out of the bag Buffy had gave her. She sure loved the little marshmallows.

“Thanks….ehm…”

“Chris. My name is Chris”

“Thanks Chris. I like your name.” Buffy said, swallowing the warm liquid and not noticing the little smile that played around Chris lip when she said that.

“I’m sure you do. Are you home alone?”

“My sister is upstairs, and mum is at the gallery: She works there.”

Buffy had no idea why she was telling her all of this, but her instincts told her to trust this girl that reminded her so much of herself. She looked strong, but fragile at the same time. Kind, but tough. Lonely and sad, but trying to make the best of every situation. By appreciating little things like cocoa with marshmallows.

“Cool.”

There was a silence. Neither of them knew what to say next, but it was also comfortable, and familiar. Buffy noticed Chris glancing her way while drinking, with a look of what almost seemed disbelieve on her face.

Just when Buffy was about to get to the point, and ask her what she was really doing here, she realized she had forgotten to mention one other person that was in the house, and had just entered the room: Riley.

“Hi baby.” He greeted Buffy, yawning and stretching, dressed in army green clothes and with neatly combed hair.

Buffy tried to signal him with her eyes, but as usual, he did not get it. It cost Chris an ‘ahum’ and a hand wave to get his attention, as he was so fixated on his girlfriend.

“Oh excuse me; I did not know we had company. My name is Riley Finn.”

Chris ignored the hand he offered her to shake, and gave Buffy a questioning look.

“Great, and you are here…why?”

“Chris, this is my boyfriend, Riley.” Buffy quickly explained, before Riley could give a much less polite answer.

Not that it made the situation better in any way, because after the word boyfriend, Chris had jumped up, got of her chair, and looked at him like he was something that had just been puked out and stepped in.

“Bloody fucking hell! You are fucking kidding me here right?” She spat, using word her mother, and father would have forbid her to say. Even though her dad hadn’t been an angel in that department either.

“I don’t have time for this! If you guys don’t work with me, there is no way I’m going to get this done.”

“Uhm… Riley, it might be better of you would leave. I need to talk to Chris.” Buffy spoke in a shocked, but stern voice.

Riley looked offended by Buffy’s order, or maybe it was the outburst of the strange girl, but he did as he was told without saying another word.

When he was gone, Buffy turned around, ready to snap at the girl who had just gone completely mad in her kitchen. But looking at her, she did not have the heart to do so.

Fat tears were rolling down Chris her cheeks, as she sat herself down again, pressing her hands to her face.

“I’m sorry.” She said, shaking her head, and looking at the sealing while the tears disappeared in the corner of her mouth.

“It is all just too much. Coming here, seeing you again, which is so hard, and the killing thing, and now it turns out I have to be a match maker.” She mumbled, more to herself then anyone else.

Buffy lay a hand on the leather covered shoulder of the sobbing girl, trying to comfort her, without getting too close.

“I can explain, really, I do. Can we go to your room to have some privacy? It’s going to be a little shocking.” Chris pleaded, looking into Buffy’s eyes which had the exact same color as her own.

“Ehm…Ok, sure.”

************************************************************

Spike saw them going into Buffy’s room, as the light was suddenly turned on. He was standing underneath his favorite tree, and was smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves.

The second Buffy had left his crypt, he had not been able to hold back his true feelings, and tears had rolled down his pale cheeks.

He did not want her to leave. He wanted to explain her everything: To tell her about Chris, and how they must be mend to be together if such a girl would come from them being together. He wanted to understand this, and figure this out together with her.

If he could only tell her how she made him feel, and how he had changed the moment he had laid eyes on her in the Bronze.

But the looks she had been giving him, the things she had said: It made him feel hopeless, powerless and even more confused. So he had sent her away, feeling even worse then before.

But she hadn’t left. At least not right away.
He had sensed her standing outside, in front of his crypt, alone. Just standing there, not moving, in the freezing cold.

She had left after a little while, and he couldn’t help but taking a peek outside, to get a clue what she had been doing.

Seeing the other pair of footsteps in the snow made it all a lot easier to figure out what had happened. There was only one person in the world he knew he could not sense, even though she had been there: His baby girl.

She must have met up with Buffy, and was probably telling her the whole story right now. He did not want to miss this. After grabbing his coat, he ran out, and followed the footsteps that led to Buffy’s front door.

He sensed she was in the kitchen, and sneaked around the house to get to the back, wanting to hear their conversation.

His vampire hearing came in handy, because he could hear every word that was said inside the house. Surprisingly, it wasn’t much.

He could smell the hot chocolate Joyce had made him once, and his mouth started to water at the smell.

“By the way, do have those little marshmallows?”

Spike couldn’t help but snicker at that. The more he got to know her, the more he realized how much they were alike.

They didn’t really talk that much. Buffy did not ask, nor did Chris explain anything.
It wasn’t like Buffy to trust someone she had just met, and he realized she was feeling the same thing he had felt with her.

When Buffy finally opened her mouth to say something, the moment was ruined by soldier boy. What a surprise. He growled under his breath, hearing him calling Buffy pet names that sounded ridiculous and fake in his ears.

Chris her reaction towards him was so amusing it made him laugh out loud, but when he heard her cry he felt his heart break. She was struggling. His little girl was in pain, and he was just standing here, doing nothing to help her: Because he couldn’t.

He did not know what she had to do to change the future, but it sounded like a lot of difficult tasks, and Spike knew her hardest task was Buffy and himself. He decided there and then he would do anything in his power to help her. To take some of that pressure away.

When he heard they were going upstairs, he sneaked to where Buffy bedroom was, and smoked a cigarette underneath the three. The downside was, he could not hear a damn thing from here, because now they were too far away.

Luckily for him, his favorite tree also turned out to be the tree that let to her bedroom window.

“Don’t you break on me.” He muttered before grabbing a branch and climbing his way up.

“Here we are.” Buffy opened the door for Chris and letting her walk into her bedroom.

Chris her sadness seemed to switch to excitement as she took in the room with a smile.

“I like it, it’s very girly.”

“Thanks…I think.”

Outside, the three that reached Buffy’s bedroom window made a cracking noise, but Chris distracted her by sitting on the edge of her bed, and cutting to the chase.

She knew who was out there, and letting her mother know was not the best idea if she wanted to have a normal conversation. Especially the conversation they were about to have.

“I was waiting for you outside Spike his crypt, yeah.” Answering the question Buffy had been about to ask.

“You know Spike?”

“Ehhmmmmm….well…..I’ll get to that later.” No way was she ready for that part yet.

“I’ll just give it to you straight: I’m here because of the wish you made last night.”

Buffy cocked an eyebrow, not quite recalling her little depression from the previous night.

“Let me give you a hint: If you can somehow, someway make it happen that all of those awful things I saw are not coming true, I’ll do almost anything you ask me.” She imitated Buffy’s voice in a very convincing way.

Buffy’s eyes widened. Those were the exact same words she had spoken in the graveyard.
“Were you spying on me?” She asked a little shaky.

“No, I was send to you. To help you make that wish come true. I’m the only one that can make that happen, since I’m the only one left.”

“You’re from the future, then?” Buffy stated, sitting next to Chris on the bed.

Now it was Chris her turn to look surprised. Buffy seemed to make this conversation a little easier then the one she had with Spike.”

“No, I’m an angel.” She joked, making Buffy gasp, and then gave her a playful push to show her she was kidding.

“You’re right, I am from the future. But send to you by higher beings, if that is how you want to call it.”

“Like….god?”

“I have no clue; they were not very clear on that part.”

Buffy was confused, but she was still thinking clear. And there was just one thing she needed to know. One thing she was dying to know.

“And we are related? In the future, I mean.

“Yes we are. How did you know?”

“You look like me. And somewhat like mum. Are we…”

But she did not finish her sentence. What could they be?

She did not dare to think something too close, because she was after all, a slayer. She did not dare to hope she would live long enough to start a family.

“You know what we are.”

“But that’s not possible, I mean...”

Chris snorted at that, realizing it was not going to get any easier then with dad.

“You sound just like dad.”

“You are my daughter.”

Buffy seemed just as stunned as Spike had been, but she had not lost her ability to speak. She was dieing to hear more from Chris, and making the puzzle in her head complete.

If this was true, it would mean that she was going to be normal, have a family. It was almost too good to be true.

“Hi.” Chris waved at her at that, giving her mum some time to let it sink in.

“My god, that is just….incredible.”

“Well…”

“You are incredible! You are my future child.” Buffy said in amazement, as if she hadn’t notice Chris before.

“Ehm…” Chris couldn’t help but blushing. She felt did not feel at easy under her mothers loving gaze. After all, it was something she had missed so much it hurt.

“I’m gonna have a baby.”

“Baby’s, if I don’t mess up and change the whole future, of course.

“More then one?” Buffy face lit up even more, as she paced restless trough her room.

“I’m going to be a mother of several children?” She was as shocked as she was exited hearing that she could get what she had held impossible.

“I had a brother, Will, or William actually. He was about 5 years older then me.”

Talking about her brother made Chris her shoulders slump a little, and Buffy realized a lot of bad things had happened in the poor girls’ life.

“What happened to him?”

“I…I don’t want to talk about it right now. Maybe later.” Chris mumbled, walking over to the window, and flashing her dad a smile to let him know she knew he was there.

“I live with Aunt Dawn, in a small house in Rome.”

“Rome, why do you live in Rome?”

“Because I was born in Rome. You moved there, and so did dad.”

“Oh, ok. Ehm…About that…Who is your father. I know it’s not Riley because you don’t seem to know him. But who is it then? Did you say you already paid him a visit?”

Chris turned around to face her mother, and giggled before answering.

“No, it is not your captain Cardboard. You know him, yeah. And you also know who he is.” Sensing that her mother had picked up some sort of signal.

“No, I…”

“Come on, give it a shot. I think you have.”

And she had. She had already figured it out. She had reminded her of someone other then herself form the moment she had laid eyes on her.

The coat, the accent, the comments, those piercing eyes. There was no way she could be wrong about this.

And still she could, and would not believe it.

“No. No, that is imposable.” She stuttered, shaking her head, and placing her fingers against her temples.

“No, it really is not.” Chris signed, dropping herself on the bed and lying herself down.

“Yes it is.” Buffy was staring to sound hysterical, making Chris laugh out loud.

“Spike is my daddy.”

“Stop it.”

“And you are my mommy.” Chris singsong, enjoying herself teasing her mum.

“He is dead!”

“What else is new?”

“That is not possible.”

“Would you give it a rest? You know it’s true.”

Buffy didn’t give up, but laid herself down next to Chris, staring at the ceiling.

“And you told him this?”

“Yeah, he knows.”

“That is why he was acting so strange.”

“He is dealing. Just like you.”

“I don’t love him.”

“You will.”

“He doesn’t love me.”

“Hmmm…”

“What hmmmm?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t understand. Does he have a soul?”

“He does, but you actually got together before the soul thing.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask me, I wasn’t born yet.”

“When is that?”

“One, maybe two years from now.”

“And he still has the chip?”

“What chip?”

“He doesn’t have the chip?” Buffy felt so confused. What had happened between her and Spike that made them start a family? That made then be partners

“I love to stay and chat all night, really I do. But I need to go. Search out some monk guys.” Chris signed, getting off the bed.

“No, don’t go. You need to explain.” Buffy said, grabbing her arm to stop her. She needed to understand.

“I will be back, soon. Perhaps I can talk to the both of you at the same time.”

“But...”

“In the mean time, you go socialize with dad. That would really help me a lot. Oh, and tomorrow morning, you should take your mum to the hospital for a cat scan.”

“What? Is something wrong with my mum?”

“It will be fine, just do as I tell you, ok?”

“When will you be back?”

“Soon. Don’t bother. I’ll let myself out.” And after a quick peck on Buffy’s cheek, Chris left the room, walked downstairs, and stepped outside, wrapping her coat around her body.

“You can come down now dad. The show is over.” She grinned, looking up to the tree Spike had climbed like a cat.

“Ok, pet. Wait up. I’ll walk with you.”

“No, I think you’re needed somewhere else.”

Spike watched her walk away from his spot in the tree. She turned around one last time and waved at him before she walked around the corner and disappeared into the night.

He remained where he was, thinking about everything he had heard. Buffy’s reactions, the new things he had discovered. The fact that he would have a son…a son who would obviously die at a young age. He didn’t know how to feel. It was all….so confusing.

So confusing he did not notice Buffy, who was now walking towards the bedroom window.

She had been just as shocked. Paralyzed by the truth about the future. Her future. It seemed so unreal and ridiculous. Absurd!

The fact that living evidence had stood in her room made it hard to deny any of it. Especially since this girl was a living image of the both of them.

She could not think clear, or feel anything other then the battle going on inside her own head. She just needed some fresh air to clear her mind.

Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the solution to this problem. After opening her window, she came face to face with the man who apparently was the cause of her problem. The father of her future children.

“Spike!” She yelled. The shock almost made her lose her balance.

“Ehmm...Hi.” He said a little lame, leaning on windowsill with his elbows to keep him from slipping.

“What…Why…?” Buffy stammered, not really knowing what to ask him.

“Are you alright?”

“No…I don’t know.” The concern in his voice made her want to cry, and she turned her back to him, unable to look into his eyes.

“You want to come in?”

She knew they had to talk about this soon or later. And since he was here and in a not-so-freaked-out-anymore mood, she felt this was the moment to have a mature talk about all this.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, climbing over the windowsill and landing on the rug.

She felt uncomfortable being in this situation, but it was pretty obvious that he was just as nervous as she was. He wasn’t going to treat it like it was a big joke, and it made her feel a little better. She wasn’t the only one who was so confused.

“It is not possible.” She broke the silence, looking at him in desperation. As if saying it out loud would make it real.

“I know, luv.” He signed, shaking his head, and looking at his feet.

“But it is.”

“I know, luv.”

These last words were spoken in a more gentle way, and he looked up to face her.

“And she is so….”

“Perfect.” Spike completed her sentence, without any hesitation. She looked at him, and noticed his unsure, but love filled eyes that made her feel warm inside. A little hot even.

“Yes.”

“And she looks just like you, so beautiful.” He added, before realizing what he had said, and biting his lower lip in embarrassment.

Buffy hid her surprise by turning away from him, fumbling with strands of her hair. ‘What was he implying?’

“Buffy, I know this is all going very fast, and I am just as confused as you are. But I was thinking: If something so good could come out of the two of us, then how could that be bad?”

She was too terrified to see the look on his face, because his voice sounded so kind. She had never heard it like this before. This was all so much for her to process, and Spike was already trying to get together with her.

The painful thing was: It wasn’t about her. Spike wanted Chris as his daughter, obviously, and the only way to make that happen was to hook up with her. That was all that it was, and it hurt her feelings. Ridiculous as that might was.

Not that she was going to get together with him anyway. Not that she wanted to, she told herself. It was just rude to imply something like that, that was what it was...Rude.

“Because you are evil Spike, that is why.”

************************************************************

“Oh, crazy monk people. Come out come out wherever you are.” Chris sang, walking trough the halls of what had once been Glory’s house.

“I know you are here, and I’m going to find you.” She was glad that aunt Dawn had told her where this place was located, and that the monks would probably still be there.

She heard a sound coming from upstairs, and tiptoed towards the staircase. Sneaking around was something she had become very good at during all those years of training with mum and dad.

She stopped in front of the bedroom, and pressed her ear against the wood. Inside was a conversation going on, and she knew she had found what she was looking for.

“Hush, they might hear us.”
“I think they are gone, I don’t hear anything anymore.”
“Are they the same people that killed our most silky and effervescent Glorificus.”
“There must be over a hundred men down there.”
“Be still, please.”
“I told you they were gone.”

It was the perfect moment to open the door, so she did. It was one of the playful, dramatic, big entrance moments she was always trying to create.

“No, no they are still here.” She announced, opening the door with an elegant sweep of her arm and entering the room.

The monks flew apart like a herd of sheep’s, and that was what they were in her eyes: Poor, poor sheep’s.

“We won’t tell you anything.”A female monk screamed, as she tried to get away. The thing was, there was no other way out then the door Chris was no blocking. They were trapped.

“Thank you, that makes the slaughtering less noisy.” She groaned, pulling out a big, beautiful sword she had been hiding under her coat, and waved it trough the air.

“Now, let’s see. Who wants to go first?” Chris knew she shouldn’t be enjoying it like she was, but all the pain, grief and anger that was tucked away deep inside of her, made her wanting to hurt all the people that were responsible for making her feel this way. And these ‘things’ were just that.

Not that they didn’t need to die, because they had been her minions. But taking them out was not nearly as bad as killing Ben. He hadn’t been directly responsible, and he had been human.

But the monks…Nope, no problem at all. She was enjoyed this spot of violence, being completely in control of the situation for once in her life.

She played with them, scaring them with her words and treats. Before slicing and cutting into their body’s until there was nothing that gave away what they once were. She did make it quick though. She wasn’t a monster.

“Why, why do you kill us?” The last monks cried, struggling to get away, but not able too because of her strong grip on him.

“Why, you want to know why, monkboy? I’ll tell you why.” She spat, looking at him with furious eyes.

“Your ‘Glory’ killed my mum, in a way. Your ‘Glory’ hurt my dad and my aunt, and a lot more along with them. You have no idea what kind of fucked up world it turns out to be when that happens. So she needed to die. And you? You know why you die? Because you are one of her minions. You like her. You worship her. And just for that, and want to see you squirm and bleed. And die.”

“No, please.” He begged, holding up his hand when she raised her sword, but she had no mercy.

“What are you worried about? You are a monk; you’ll go to heaven anyway.” She sneered, and cut of his head with one, clean sweep.

“Oh wait; those are different kind of monks, my bad.” Chris shrugged, wiping of her hands on her jeans and leaving the house. She did not fight the silent stream of tears that rolled down her cheeks.

This was lying to herself, so she would be able to continue. In her heart, there was nothing to like about this, and nothing to like about the girl she had become. When she came out of the house, she was greeted by the sun that was now coming up, and she smiled trough her tears.

“Looks like dad in stuck with mum now.”

“Not anymore Buffy. I’ve changed.”

“No. You’ve got a chip, that’s all.”

“That is not bloody all, damnit.” He yelled, knowing she would never understand. That dream, that damn dream.

“Then what Spike? Tell me. What happened that made you a different…thing? I don’t start about Drusilla because then…”

“It’s not...about Dru.” He interrupted, looking at his feet again.
“It’s you Buffy, you did something…I don’t know. I had this dream about you and…”

“What kind of dream.” Buffy backed away a little, not sure if she wanted to hear this, but awfully curious.

“Forget it, I just…”

“What dream, Spike?”

He would have blushed if he could, but knew he would have to tell her now.
Making sure the window was still a bit open so he could run if things would turn out the way he predicted them to, and he took a breath before he started to talk.

“I had a dream about us, the night after I tried to get the chip out.” She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up his hand to silence her.

”You tried to stake me, but you couldn’t do it…and then I kissed you.”

“Spike...”

“And then you pulled away, but realized you wanted it and kissed me again.”

“Spike…”

“And you told me you loved me. And I told you I loved you.”

“My god…”

“And then I woke up, feeling all kinds of things.”

He remembered the things he had felt, waking up in the late afternoon next to the girl he was using so bad, and not even liking it.

He had had the most raging hard on, and a whole lot on his mind. He had been so frightened by the realization that he in fact felt something for her: The Slayer. That he wanted to kiss her and touch her, and make love to her.

He wanted to cover her with his whole being to take away all the pain, and the burden. And it was absolutely terrifying. She was his mortal enemy for god sake. He was suppose to kill her. Or at least hate her.

She was also the reason Dru had left him, because she had been the only thing on his mind since the night he had laid eyes on her in the Bronze. He had fought it, and tried everything to forget, but there was no use. And Dru had known.

So he had picked out a blond girl to take out his sexual frustrations on. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine it was Buffy, looking up at him with her big green eyes. But it had never been enough to take away his need, or his….love. Thinking about that last one always made him feel a bit queasy: Damn, he had changed so much. Or perhaps not enough.

“It was just a dream.”

“But the feeling behind it: It’s real Buffy.”

“You’re a vampire, you can’t…” But she couldn’t finish that sentence. Christ had told her that she had loved him before, and after the soul.

That would mean he could love her, could feel for her, without his soul. Comparing him with Angelus was imposable.

That was too weird, and too confusing to get into right now. She needed to sort things out in her own head first.

“Why don’t we sit down, and try to figure out what to do next.”

He considered her proposal extremely nice, especially since he had just spilled how he really felt about her. He had hoped she would at least get into it, and wouldn’t be tossing it aside the way she did, but he already felt blessed that she wasn’t kicking him out, head first.

“What happens between us in the near future that will make us…..a couple? I mean, it sound so crazy.”

They sat together on the bed. Close, but not touching.

“Well, I can’t pretend I am not surprised, but you know…We do live in a crazy world.”

She smiled a little at that, and he felt something stir inside of him.
“Yes, yes we do.”

“Don’t you think you have to talk to your soldier boy about this?”

“Spike, please don’t….”

But he was right. My god, what was she going to tell Riley. What was she going to tell everybody?

“I’m sorry pet, that was inappropriate. But you’re going to tell him right?”

“Well yeah, I can’t pretend nothing happened.”

She looked at him from her side on the bed, but when she stared right into his kind eyes, she turned away.

“Chris didn’t seem to like him very much.”

That comment made her laugh out loud, as she remembered the look of horror on her daughters face, and the way she had refuse to shake his hand.

“She sure has your manners.” She grinned, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I guess. But…”

“I’ll talk to Riley, Spike. But that is none of your business.”

“Right.”

He realized that pushing her was going to drive her away, so he decided to shut his mouth for the first time in his life. If he played his card right, this could turn out to become something really good.

“So, what’s with your mum?”

Suddenly the mood changed, and Buffy jumped of the bed, facing him.

“I have no idea, but it really worries me. What do you think she meant?”

She spoke to him like she would have to one of her friends, and he knew that it was just because she was scared, and in the same situation. And, liked by her mother. Still he couldn’t help feeling another one of those stirs.

“I don’t know pet. But Chris does, and she is here to make it ok, remember? She will not let anything happen, I’m sure.”

His words seemed to work, because she relaxed a little and leaned back against the wall across him.

“And what about…our other child. Our son.”

“I know. We are going to have a son too. It’s like…to good to be true.” He smiled, not getting her point.

“I know, I know….But he will die. He will die at an early age, and by the way Chris reacted….It was bad. It was really bad.”

Her voice shook a little, and he flinched. She was right. His baby’s had gone trough a hell they couldn’t even begin to imagine. And he hadn’t been able to protect them. He had failed.

“That’s not going to happen again. I don’t know if you are in or out, Buffy. But I can’t do this to her ….them again. If things are going to be so fucked up, and we are able to stop it, than you are insane if you think I am just going to sit here and do nothing. It was your wish Buffy, and it came true. I’ll say we help her with this and make a change.”

He stood up to underline his words, and she looked up in surprise, before worrying her bottom lip and staring outside her widow.

“It is all going so fast. I don’t know Spike. I don’t know how much I like this.”

“That’s not really the issue here, now is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

The sky had turned to a shade of pink, orange and purple and Buffy wondered where the night had run off to. Spike suddenly felt a burning sensation on his skin, and rolled of the bed to get out of the light. Was it morning already?

The alarm clock on the nightstand told them it was indeed 7.00 A.M.

“Could you close the curtains pet, I’m burning up here.” She heard him yelp, as he tried to cover up as much as exposed flesh as he could with his coat.

“Right.” And the room was once again covered in shade, as she closed them with a sigh.
“You better go, since the night is over and I have things to do. We’ll talk later.” She mumbled, making a list of the things she had to do in her head.

1. Talk to Riley.
2. Figuring out what to tell Riley
3. Call Giles, and tell him you can’t do research today.
4. Take mum to the hospital for a cat scan

That last one was very important, even though she did not have a clue why it was.
She had also decided not to tell Giles right away, because she knew he would turn it into one big experimental dimension thing and that hey had to figure out reversing spell or something like that. And after all she had seen and heard, she could, and would not handle it like it was just another Tuesday night.

“Don’t think so, slayer. The sun is already up. You can’t expect me to run all the way to the cemetery with just a blanket. I will be dust two blocs from here, if I’m lucky.”

“What, it’s not like you haven’t done that before?”

“That was always a ten minutes before the sunrise: The first 3 minutes are still bearable, and the last few I always have to sprint. And it is a 15 minute walk. It’s already too late.” He assured her with a cocked eyebrow and a grin. He was stuck here…..and he liked it.

“Fine, then stay. I’ve got to go. You stay in here, and don’t touch anything.”

“Can I at least go downstairs? I want to watch TV.” He whined to push her buttons. He couldn’t help it, it was just so amusing.

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’m going out to deal with some stuff anyway, so you will be alone. If I catch you doing something bad or evil, you will be extremely sorry, ok?”

“I will be good, promise.” He smiled sweetly, trying to look innocent. He caught her smiling briefly, just before she turned around.

“I’m going to have some breakfast and a shower.”

“I’ll join you.”

“What?!”

“Well, I know you don’t have blood, but some texture won’t hurt me.”

“Oh, ehm….right.”

A blush crept up her face, and he grinned as he followed her into the kitchen. He had seen the shocked look on her face when she had though he wanted to join her in the shower. Not that he would have said no.

As he said his first step into the beige kitchen, a familiar voice greeted him from behind.

“Spike, what are you doing here?”

“Mum, you’re up early. Did you sleep well?” Buffy greeted her mother a little too excited, and trying to distract her from the vampire who was now eating cereal right out of the box, while sitting on the counter.

“Very well honey, thank you. Spike, how nice to see you again dear.”
Buffy signed, knowing she would have to explain this, and she was desperately trying to think of an explanation for him being here. Anything but the truth would do. Luckily for her, her mother liked Spike, and they were soon engaged in a conversation about art, Passions and the weather.

“Yes, very painful for you, I imagine. But this is California dear, so what do you expect?”

“Good point, Joyce, good point.” Spike was still eating cereal, and glanced at Buffy from time to time, who was trying to look at ease, and ate her breakfast in silence.

“But what brings you to our house, this very sunny morning?” Joyce asked again, and before Buffy could pick out one of the poor excuses she had made up in her head, Spike opened his mouth.

“Buffy and I bummed into each other last night, and we hung out in her room until the sun came up. So I couldn’t go back to my crypt.”

Joyce eyes widened, but before she could respond, there was a loud thump coming from behind her.

Buffy had almost dropped her bowl of yogurt when she had heard him telling her mother the truth. Well, more or less. How could he? Now her mother would suspect things and ask questions. She had put down the bowl on the table, and walked over to the couple with an accusing finger towards him.

“ That is so not….We didn’t….That didn’t….That is not true….I wouldn’t hang out with you the whole night. Why would I do that, I don’t even like you.”

Her face and neck were angry red, and he cocked an eyebrow. What was her problem?

“ Ehm, ok Buffy, honey. Are you alright?”

The questioning looks they were both giving her, made her feel even more uncomfortable.

“Fine, mum. Can I talk to you in private?” Before Joyce could respond, Buffy grabbed her arm and led her into the hallway.

“I just ran into him while I was patrolling, and he followed me back here. The sun came up just before I could kick him out.”

She started to explain, slightly hysterical. Joyce just smiled at her daughter, and nodded her head.

“Of course dear.”

She knew it was a lie, by the way she was acting. And they way Spike had been acting toward her daughter. There was something going on between those two. Her suspicion was confirmed by Buffy who was sweating and coloring, and fumbling with her hands. She was definitely hiding something.

But she decided she didn’t even want to know, since denial was sometimes necessary if your daughter was the slayer. Or a teenager for that matter.

But there was still something else that Buffy needed to discuss with her mother. Something she wasn’t looking forward to, but needed to be done.

“Ok mum, since we are talking now anyway…..”

‘Yes?”

“And you are here listening….”

“Yes?”

“And you’re not busy…”

“Spit it out honey, I want to go eat my breakfast.”

“Right, ehm…I need you to go to the hospital for a cat scan today.”

“Oh….eh…Why is that dear?

Buffy could see her mother was trying to hide her surprise, but it was obvious she was startled by this announcement. The thing was….She couldn’t even explain. She didn’t even know why.

“It’s just…..My slayer senses tell me you need to be checked. Not that there is anything wrong, I just want to make sure you are ok, ok?”

Yeah, that sounded convincing. Even though her mother gave her the ‘you have completely lost it’ look. Despite that, she didn’t make it harder then it was.

“Ok, honey. If you say so, I’ll go and get a cat scan. Perhaps I can get an appointment for next week, if I call today.”

“No….no, no you need to go today. She…I feel you need to go today.” Buffy corrected herself. She had some sort of feeling that today was the day they could make it stop. That everything would be fine, if they could just go today.

“You want me to call em luv, I can be very convincing.” Spike voice came from behind.
He had heard the conversation, and agreed with Buffy. They had to go today. Chris had told them to do so, so they had to.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Buffy said, smiling a little. She knew exactly what he was going to say, and it wasn’t going to help them. But she did appreciate his offer, and his concern.

He smiled back, feeling that they were sharing a very powerful secret, and therefore connected in a way. It was kind of exciting.

“I’ll call. I can be very convincing as well, you know.” Buffy said with a wink, before picking up the phone an dialing the number.

“Spike, do you know what this is about?” He heard Joyce whisper, while Buffy was talking into the phone.

“Just trust her Joyce, she knows what she is doing.” Was all he gave her, and he watched her walk into the kitchen to finally eat her breakfast. It was going to be a long day.

************************************************************


“Bloody hell, what is this crap?”

Buffy had proved she could be very convincing, and succeeded in getting an appointment for Joyce today. They had left around 9.30 a.m.

And since Dawn had left for school about an hour ago, Spike was now alone in Buffy’s big house. He had Buffy’s room…all to himself.

Bored out of his mind, he decided to go trough Buffy’s CD collection, which contained a lot of Spike’s least favourite genres: Pop and R&B.

Wait a minute. He was all alone in Buffy’s room, and he was checking out her CD collection? What was he thinking?

He quickly found what he was looking for when he opened the top drawer of a cupboard: Lingerie.

The different colours, materials and shapes had him fascinated and slightly aroused, especially since the whole drawer was drowning in her smell: It was intoxicating.

He almost dropped the black laced thong he was holding up to his nose, when someone knocked on the bedroom window, and startled him half to death. Even if that was impossible.

He knew who was on the other side, and despite the sunlight touching his hand as he opened the window, and let her in.

“Bloody hell, that hurts.”
He groaned, blowing on his hand until the skin stopped smoking, and staying away from the window until she was inside, and had closed the curtains shut.

“Sorry about that, dad. It was the least flammable way to get in. Of course I could have just broke into the front door, but since it’s my mum’s house and all…it didn’t seem right.” Chris smiled, while taking of her coat and throwing it on the bed. Making herself at home right away.

“How are you doing sweetheart? Are you ok?” He asked a little worried, remembering the emotional meeting she had had with Buffy, and spotting a bloody scratch on her arm.

“Fine dad, I’m just fine.” She assured him with another smile, before noticing his gaze lingering on her arm.

“Oh that…. It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

“Really, It’s…”

“Chris.”

“What?”

“Come on now.”

“Oh alright: I fell out of that damn tree, if you must know. It took me quiet some time to get up here.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t laugh!”

“I’m not, I swear!”

She gave him a wink when she saw the humorous glister in his eyes, and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room.

“Guess mum is taking grandma to the hospital, then?”

“That’s right. She was pretty freaked out after you told her she needed a cat scan. Is it…is it bad?”

“Not as long as we keep an eye on her condition. Timing really is everything.” Chris said with a nod. Spike was now sitting in front of her on the bed. Staring at her with deep interest, and sucking in every word she spoke.

“Do you know a guy named Warren?” Chris asked out her nowhere, frowning as if she was trying to remember something.

“No…no I don’t think I do. Sorry pet, why do you need to know?”

“Oh just….how about an Andrew, or Jonathan?”

“Again, nope. Sorry kid, I am not the kind of guy who socialises with every bloke.”

“Don’t I know. I just need to find them.”

“Because they will change the future?”

“Exactly.”

There was silence between them. Not uncomfortable, but with a lot of unanswered questions hanging over them like thick clouds.

“She died because of a brain tumour.”
Chris suddenly said, knowing he was dying to know.

“Joyce?”

“Yes. She gets surgery, and they think they removed all of it, but they didn’t, and just when she starts to get better, mum finds her dead on the couch.”

“That is absolutely horrible.”
And that was what he was: horrified. Not just by the way Joyce would die, but also by the way fate would rip her out of Buffy’s life. He could easily imagine how things would go down the hill from there.

“Yeah, it is, or was. But mum is strong, you know. She takes care of aunt Dawn, and goes on with her life. You were so proud of her strength.”

Chris smiled, fumbling with her hands and hiding her eyes behind her hair.

“I’m proud of your strength too, pet.” She heard him say, and felt a tear sliding down her cheek. He had told her this all the time, when he had been alive. He would tell her before he would kiss her goodnight, or when she would leave for school, and it had boosted her confidence and self a steam in so many ways.

And after all this time, it felt so good to hear those words.

“I can’t imagine what you are going trough right now, but just know I will do anything in my power to help you with this, alright? You are not alone.”

“I don’t feel alone.”

“Well….good. Because you’re not.” He stated a little awkward, trying to figure out what she was feeling.

“Not anymore anyway.”

“Are you ok, pet. Can I do something?” He started to get a little worried by the way her eyes had become blank, and how she was now frowning, as if she was in pain.

“You know how much you’ve hurt me?”

What? He words sliced trough him like the hot blade of a knife. Had he really hurt her? Had he been a bad father. He knew he could not live with himself if she would tell him that. He was too afraid to ask, but now he had to know.

“You were my world, dad. The only man I could really trust, along with Will. And you knew. You knew what you mend to me, and still you left me. I never forgave you for that. That might me my mistake, but my world came crashing down is 9 months. I’m so scared of what comes next.”

He looked at her form in the bed. So fragile looking and sad. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were still puffy from the previous tears. It was almost like she wanted to cry, but had no more tears left to shed over this. And the way her teeth clenched together, and her mouth was now forming a thin line, he could tell she was closer to being pissed off. If he only knew what she mend. If she would only tell him what would happen in the future.

“I’m sure I did not left you on purpose, sweetheart. I would never do that.”

“But you did.” She spat, looking at him with angry eyes. She had some serious emotions tucked away inside her, and they threatened to come out. She knew he wasn’t the man that he would become, and she couldn’t blame him for anything. But as he hadn’t aged a day, she almost felt like it was her old dad.

“You got out, and got yourself killed by a demon. I saw it myself. You didn’t even put up a real fight, and I know how you fight. The only one who’s is stronger then you is you is mum.”

“I’m sure it was an accident, or something like that. It must have been. I’m not the kind of guy who just gives up.”

He tried to comfort her with meaningless words. Had he really died like that. That would really suck. He was so much better then that.

Chris let out a sign, glancing at her father and picking her words very carefully. She didn’t want to take this any further down the accusing lane. It wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry, it is not your fault, I know that. Let me explain what happened.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. Asking him for permission with her eyes, as if she was ashamed of the words she was going to say. As if she wondered if he even wanted to know.

“Take your time pet, I’m not going anywhere.” He encouraged her, and she flashed him a sad smile before picking up where she had left off.

“As you know I was born in Rome, in 2012, 5 years after your firstborn: My brother William. Mum always assumed that leading a life as a slayer and having a vampire as your partner wouldn’t allow her to become a mother. But after one of the final big battles, Willow preformed a spell that made all the potential slayers, real slayers. So she pretty much quit, except for some important stuff, and patrol sessions. After that, and other issues I will not get into right now, you guys started to live together in Rome, and Willow did some sort of spell to make you….productive for a day. She invented that spell herself, you know. I always liked her.”

“Is she…?”

“Yes, she is dead. Black magic issues.”

“Magic? God, I hate magic. There are always consequences.” Spike signed, shaking his head and frowning. He had always liked red as well.

“Don’t I know.”

“So, I get productive huh?”

“Yeah….But I rather not talk, or even think about that, thanks.” Chris shuddered, looking away from the proud look on his face. Her parents and sex…Yuck!

Spike chuckled, waiting for her to continue her story with a patience he had never experienced since he was human. She brought some sort of calmness over him that he could not explain. Not at all how her mother made him feel: Restless…and aroused.

“Everything was actually pretty ok. Will was a perfect son: Very handsome and ambitioned. He actually looked a lot like you, only with brown hair. He studied history, and you guys would be up all night, talking about world wars and whatnot. It was always fun to watch. For a human he was one of the best hunters, because he trained a lot with you and mum; and me when I was a little older. I was, of course, the little sister which made him very protective of me, and a little annoying sometimes.”

“So you didn’t get along?”

“Yes we did, I loved him very much. He was just worried about me, like mum worries about Aunt Dawn. He got irritated with me because I was a little bit more rebellious and got in trouble quit often, but he always stood up for me and took care of me. He was great guy, really.” Chris explained with a shake of her head to underline her words.

“And I was doing ok at school, but not great, you know. I was just average and some kids though I was a freak. I trained a lot: I still do. But I’m not as strong as any of you were.”

“Physical strength isn’t everything kitten. I think you are the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
To Spike it felt unreal, hearing all this stuff about his future children. But he couldn’t wait for her to continue.

“You and mum were like this big united front. You were always together and in love and icky stuff like that. You fought sometimes, but when it came to the whole parenting thing you always agreed with each other. Kind of annoying for me that was.

“Were we now?”

“Of course we had some demon issues over the years, but things were kind of ok. Until Will turned 21.”

She could hear her dad suck in his breath, but concentrated on her hands. It was hard enough for her to tell him this, and the look on his face would only make her weak.

“Did some demon kill him? Was there another apocalypse, or a spell that went wrong?” Spike started guessing when she did not continued, with a hollow feeling in his stomach. Even thinking about a possible way that his unborn child would die made him feel sick.

“Something killed him aright, but it was no demon.” She signed, standing up and walking over to the windowsill, resting her hands upon it.

“He had been complaining about these headaches, and sometimes had these weird or very strong reactions towards little accidents and such. Mum got very concerned and brought him to the doctor, but he said it was nothing to worry about, and that is was only a migraine. The weird reactions were caused by the pain of the migraine that made him irritated or confused: That was what he said. Mum didn’t really trust it, and called the hospital after one of his ‘attacks’.”

A small tear dropped on the windowsill, but her voice was steady. A waterfall of gold shielded her face from his view, while her back was still towards him.
Spike wasn’t sure he wanted her to continue, but could find the words to tell her to stop. He felt like he needed to vomit.

“They told her she could bring him over the next day. Only then, he didn’t wake up anymore.”

“Was he…?” Spikes voice trembled a bit, and died away after this attempted to ask her a horrible question. She understood, but had to steady herself before she could answer him. The silence lay heavy upon the room.

“He had slipped into a coma. Brain tumour, just like grandma had. Mum got depressed after that. And you got very quiet. He died after 2 months and 1 surgery. It was already too late.”

Spike couldn’t speak. He could not comfort his daughter or tell her how he felt, because if he would open his mouth, he was positive he was going to be sick.

“You were both with him everyday, and I stayed with Aunt Dawn for the time being. It was a horrible time.” Chris continued, determent to finish her story before falling apart.

“After his death, I went home to live with you two again. I think I was about 16 years old. But it wasn’t the same. You both were not the same. Things were really fucked up, and I hated Will because of it. And that made me feel guilty, of course: Because nothing is ever easy.” Her voice was now cold, and a little sarcastic, and it made Spike wonder how much anger there was tucked away inside of her. She was damaged, and he hadn’t been able to stop it.

“One night, you went out to slay some demons. It must have been about 3 months after Will died. When I realized you forgot your coat, I realized something was wrong: You never forgot your coat.”

“Not in the future, and not now.”

Chris gave him a sad smile, and fumbled with a button of the coat in question: Her coat.

“So what happened, sweetheart? Tell me.” Spike asked her, while running his fingers trough his platinum blond hair. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this.

“I took a sprint to the nearest cemetery, the one you and mum always went too if you needed to blow off some steam. When I arrived, you were already dead. Killed by a Keeylarf demon; Nasty bastards. I was too late to save you.” She was angry. He could hear it by the way she hissed the words, and made a fist with both her hands.

“I let some weird named demon finish me off? That is how it ends?”

“Not for me. But no, I don’t think that is what happened. You didn’t want to die, you just…you were not focused.”

“What kind of lame ass excuse is that, I wasn’t focused? I got killed and left my wife and daughter because I wasn’t focused, my god! No wonder you hate me: I’m starting to hate myself now.” And he was pissed; she could hear it in his voice. He was so terribly disappointed in himself.

“No, please don’t. It wasn’t your fault, and I don’t hate you: I never would. I was just….sad and angry. It was all just a little too much at the time.”

“What happened to Buffy? Same as me?”

“No….no. She died a little 7 months after you. She couldn’t take it anymore, she just…..she got so sick. Her grief made her sick, and I couldn’t do anything to make her better. I tried and tried but nothing worked.”

“You’re not saying….She didn’t…..”

“She died out of grief. It made her too sick and her body just gave up on her. She didn’t kill herself, but she couldn’t fight anymore. She was too tired.”

Spike felt his face getting wet and realized tears were silently streaming down his face. He didn’t know what he was crying for: Buffy, Chris, William….himself.

The silence between them was disturbed by a heartbreaking sob that came from the hallway. Spike jumped up, but Chris silenced him with a gesture, and walked out the door. Only to find her mother leaning against the wall, covering her face with her hand, but obviously crying.

“Buffy, oh god.” Spike voice came behind Chris. “What….what did you hear?”

Buffy let go of her hand, showing of her puffy red eyes and tear streaked cheeks. “Pretty much everything.” She whispered, and took her daughters’ face in her hands. “My god Chris, I feel so…..” But Chris silence her by pulling her arms around her mother and saying things like: “It’s ok mum. It will be fine. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I’m fine.”

Buffy took this opportunity to wrap Chris into a tight embrace and cry into her shoulder. “I’m not going to let this happen again Chris; I will do anything to make a difference.” She glanced up, looking into Spike’s watery blue eyes. “We will do anything.”

Chris had left shortly afterwards. She had let her parents hold her, and cry into her shoulder before pulling back. She had smiled at them, telling them she had to leave, but that she would be back soon. After brushing a strand of Buffy’s hair behind her ear, and receiving a gently squeeze in the shoulder from Spike, she had vanished before their eyes. As if she had never been there.

Now they were alone again, but it did not feel like before. There was an understanding…..there was no way back. They had an agreement that they would stick together to work this out, no matter what. It was Buffy who broke the silence, staring at Spike with a new kind of emotion in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Spike. I said horrible things to you, and I’m really sorry. You were right. We have to work this out together. Please forgive me.”

“Buffy….”

“Please.”

The tone of her voice broke his heart. She was looking at him with pleading eyes, full of unshed tears. He knew this was about so much more then her silly question: She was terrified she would be left alone in this. That he would walk away so she would be left behind with all these doubt and fears. She did not trust him whatsoever, and he knew this was his chance to earn that trust.

She stood there, in front of him: Looking so fragile, vulnerable and scared; that there was only one thing he felt he could do to assure her she wasn’t alone.

He walked towards her and rapped his strong arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder and burying his face in her hair.

To his surprise, Buffy responded by rapping her arms around his shoulders. He had surprised her with this action, but it made her feel so supported and cared for. She started to realize why they had made such a good couple, and parents: They would be a team. They were already becoming one.

“Silly girl, I’m not going anywhere.” He whispered in her neck, holding her close to him, but not pressing.

She pulled back, smiling at him and mounding ‘Thank you’ before letting him go to sit on the bed. She grabbed his hand to guide him with her, so he would sit next to her.

“I had a pretty rough day as it is, but this topped it all.” She signed, running her hands trough her hair.

“Oh that’s right, you went to the hospital. How did it go?”

“Weird…I guess. I convinced them my mum had these headaches, and that they really had to make a scan. And when they finally did, it turned out she had this minuscule tumour in her head. I was in total shock of course, but they told us that this was such an early stage, it was no problem at all to remove it completely.”

“Wow….”

“Yeah, I was so relieve. She will only have to come back once for the removal and after that she needs to go there for check ups once in a while, but she is going to be fine.”

“That’s great, luv.” He signed, glad that she wasn’t crying anymore. He hated to see her cry.

“Yeah. It was the bright spot in this dark day.” She smiled, moving a bit closer so their arms were touching, and making him feel warm inside. He liked this change of her attitude.

“But my bad day isn’t over yet, though.”

He noticed her making a face, and tried to remember what else there was on her list to do.

“Riley?”

“Right, I have to explain this to him.”

“Yeah right, good luck. What are you going to say?”

“You mean, what am I going to say without sounding like a complete idiot?”

“Well, I didn’t…well yeah.”

“If I only knew.”

“Can’t you just….well….brake up with him?”
He asked with an innocent voice, closing the space between their hips.

“N…N…No, I can’t. You know that.”

“I do?”

His voice was hushed; almost a whisper and Goosebumps appeared on the skin of her arms.

“I love him Spike.” She blushed, and noticed the desire in his eyes when he looked at her. Oh god…

Her breathing was becoming heavier and her heartbeat was speeding up. He could hear, see and feel all the chances in her body, and it encouraged him to move even closer. He wanted her.

“Do you now?” The sound of his voice was getting rougher, deeper, and she felt it vibrate on her skin as he got closer.

“Y….yes…..He makes me feel secure.”

Yes, he wanted her, and it was not because of the whole daughter-from-the-future thing: he had always wanted her. Because she was beautiful, and strong, independent and funny….and sometimes even smart. They were just in the same wavelength, and she was the only person he could really say that about, along with his mother.

“And that is what you want?”

“I don’t know…Spike please, don’t do this.” She stood up and walked to the centre of her room, not looking at him. She could, and would not let him show what effect he had on her. She was still involved with Riley, so she shouldn’t even be thinking about Spike at all. ‘God, and especially not in the way she was thinking about h?’

“You need more Buffy. Admit it, he is you rebound guy.”

“No, he is not.”

“But he is not the one for you either.”

“…….No.”

“You need something more….you need what we could have, Buffy. Chris told you herself.”

“It’s not that….”

“There is something between us Buffy, there always been something.”

“I don’t….”

“And it’s much more pure and real that anything you can possibly feel for Captain cardboard. I might be out of place here, but you know it Buffy, you feel it too. We could be great together, if you would give us a chance.”

“It’s too fast.”

“No, it’s not. We have been twisting and turning around each other for years.”

“Well, this is the first time I’m even allowing myself to think about it.”

“You can lie to yourself Buffy, but not to me. I can smell lies.” He grinned when he saw the shocked look on her face. He could almost hear her thinking, ‘Can he?’
He had moved away from the bed and was facing her now, closing the gap between them a little bit more with every sentence that was spoken. She didn’t back away.

“You know it was meant to be. You have proof of that now.”

“Give me some time to get used to the idea.”

“How about I make you feel it.” His breath tickled the skin of her neck, and she couldn’t help closing her eyes at the feeling. His hands were caressing her arms, and she grabbed on to his back for support. His lips lingered so close to hers, and she pressed herself against him gently, feeling his hard muscles trough his shirt.

“Buffy…”She heard his whisper. He wasn’t moving anymore. She knew he wouldn’t to anything she didn’t want to, and the next move was left for her to make. It was her decision.

When he felt her lips brushing gently against his, he wasn’t able to hide his surprise, and remained still for what seemed minuets, hours…but were hardly a few seconds. Time stopped, and all he could feel was her warm, sweet, soft body in his arms.

After he had recovered, he kissing her back: sweet and gentle at first, but soon the kiss was deepened, and passion took over.

His tongue ran along her bottom lip, and she opened up to him with moan. His hands found their way to her back, running his fingers along her spine and the golden locks that waved over her shoulders. They explored each other, wrapped in a warm embrace and body’s pressed flushed against each other.

She felt, heard and saw nothing more then him, and she was overwhelmed by a sensations she had never felt before. It felt like they were bonding in a way. Like there was this primal, magical connection, which made her able to understand and feel his every though and feeling.

She nibbled on his lower lip, and he growled in a very animal like way. He felt like he was going to burst, and the way she was pressing against him wasn’t helping him to regain any self-control.

Her fingers stroked his hair, messing it up so it stood up straight, and making him look like he had just came out of bed. He held her face with both his hands now, trying to pull her as close as she could possibly get, and feeling her skin burn underneath his fingertips.

His vampire hearing picked up footsteps approaching out in the hall, but Buffy’s caresses and moans made him forgot about anything else but her, and the way she made him feel.

They didn’t brake away from each other until a high pitched voice echoed trough the room and startled them so much their heads bumped.

“Oh my god Buffy!”

“Bloody Hell!”

“Ouch, oh my god, Dawn!”

Buffy looked at her kid sister, who was standing in the door opening with huge eyes and a jaw that almost touched the ground.

“Spike…And you…and Spike…Oh my god.”

“Dawn what the hell are you doing here.”

Buffy’s face had been flushed from the previous kiss, but was now turning into a shade of purple. She had never been more furious with the timing of her sister. And by the feeling of her forehead, she was sure there would be a bump on it in less then half an hour.

“Are you and Spike together?”

“No, I…”

“I though you were with Riley.”

“I am….I don’t know. Would you just go?”

She exchanged a nervous look with Spike, who was rubbing his forehead. She had no answers to her sister questions. She didn’t have a clue of what just happened herself. The only thing she felt was the burning sensation that lingered on her lips, and the heat that had build up deep inside of her.

“But….”

“We’ll talk later Dawn.”

She knew she would have to explain, or else Dawn would tell her mum, or even worse…..her friends. She didn’t want to deal with that right know.

Spike was starting to feel really uncomfortable, and was relieved when Dawn finally left the room. He liked the youngest Summer girl, but this was not something he had wanted to share with her.

When the door closed behind Dawn’s brown hair, Spike noticed the sun was already going down, so it would be safe for him to leave. He did not want to stay here and hear Buffy say that what they had done was wrong, and how they could never be. He wanted to capture this moment for as long it would last, and he sure did not wanted to know that she belonged to Riley and not to him.

Buffy eyed him while she was chewing on her lower lip. Should she kiss him again? She really wanted to. No...She didn’t. Yes she did…..Oh god.

“Spike….” But she wasn’t sure what to say to him. Fortunately he solved that issue for her.

“I should go, the sun is down.”

“I…”

“It’s cool, I’ll see you around.”

He was ready climb out of the window when she called his name. He would have ignored her, not wanting to hear all the things…..he did not want to hear. But she used his real name, and by just doing that, his heart swelled. She saw him as more then a monster….she saw the real him.

“William.”

She was relieved he stopped and turned around. He looked at her like he saw her for the first time, and she knew she had touched his heart.

“Thank you.”

He smiled. Not a grin, but a real smile.

“I’ll be back soon Buffy. Don’t worry about anything, we’ll work it out.” Was all he said, before he jumped out the window and disappeared.

‘I really shouldn’t be doing this’ Chris reminded herself for the fiftieth time as she tiptoed around in Willow’s bedroom.

‘If I could just find that stupid rat, then I could get out of here.’

Luckily for her, it did not take long before she had found the white cage with the big brown rat inside.

‘I hate rats…eww…gross, gross, gross…..’ Chris squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to look at what she was reaching for. Nevertheless, when she felt the rough hairs against her fingertips, her hand shot out and grabbed the squeaking rat with one quick movement.

“Oh gross, Oh gross.” She was now hopping around the room on one leg, while holding Amy the rat as far away from her as she could, and trying not to look at her. To think this rat was actually human.

With her free hand, Chris reached for a little box with air holes in her pocket, and slipped Amy inside it as quickly as possible before closing it with both hands to secure it shut.

Chris feared almost nothing, but rats…*burr* she shuddered. They were just filthy, even if this one was human. They were just too big to be cute, and too rough to be petable.

“Now Amy, let’s find a nice home for you. There must be some kid that wants a new pet.” Taking the rat might seem ridiculous to change the future, but Chris knew by what her mother had told her once that Amy had been partly responsible for Willow’s magic issues, and she did not want to make that part even more difficult. She had to make sure that would not happen again, and preventing was better then curing.

“Don’t worry Amy; I’m not going to hurt you.” She assured the squeaking rat in the box, and walked to the cage, making sure the little door was open, so it would look like Amy had escaped on her own. Then she opened the bedroom door, so Willow would know that Amy was not in her room anymore. She did not want to upset the red-haired girl, but giving Amy to a child, so she would stay a rat, was the best for all of them.

“How about I take you to the pet store? I’ll bet they would love to have you.” Chris said to the box, feeling a little bad for Amy, and of course for Willow, who would not be happy once she would notice her pet was gone.

It was getting late, and hours had past since she had left her mothers home. She only had stuck around for a half an hour in her real home, because Aunt Dawn had not been there.

Dawn had left a note she was out with her friends, which she did very often since her last bad break-up. After that she had remember the rat her mum had told her about once, and returned to deal with it. She had been lucky to find the room empty; because she had no idea what she would have told Willow if she caught her.

Thank god the stores were still open, because it was Friday night, which meant the stores wouldn’t close until 10:00 p.m.

Her watch told her it was only 9:37, so she still had time to drop of Amy in the pet store because she wanted to get rid of the hairy, squeaking, disgusting rodent as soon as possible.

Finding the pet store, wasn’t very hard after asking for directions, and she gave Amy to the confused shop owner.

“What do you want me to do with this rat, miss?”

”You sell these things don’t you?”

“Yes, but…”

“So what do you think? Sell it!”

“Miss, you can’t expect me to…”

”Please, for me. I’m so scared.”

“I….”

“I know a guy like you can handle a big scary rat like this.”

“Oh alright….I’ll take her.”

“Thank you very much sir.”

Oh yeah, the pouting and the big eyes, along with some meaningless flirting always worked. Men were so easy.

She walked trough the streets, not knowing where to go. It had started snowing again, and it covered the old snow with a new layer.

Without even thinking about it, her feet dragged her back to the place she had felt the love and acceptance she so desperately needed only hours ago.

As her mother’s house came in sight, she felt a warm feeling spreading inside her body. It almost felt like coming home, even though she had only been there twice.

As she reached the house, she was hoping to find her mum and dad still together in Buffy’s room. She wouldn’t disturb them, but if she could just sneak a peak, just to know if they were making progress it would ease her mind. She needed to know, although, she hoped not to see anything too gross, of course.

However, they were not in Buffy’s room anymore. She figured that out as soon as she saw her mother standing on the porch of her house. She was not alone, but she was not with her dad either.

************************************************************

“You want to take a break?”

“I don’t even know if that’s the right word.”

“You just want to break up then, just like that?”

“No, it’s not just like that. Riley, I’m sorry, but it’s…it’s complicated.”

“That’s not good enough.”

”There’s nothing else I can say.”

“Don’t you love me, Buffy? Because I do, you know.”

“It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Buffy…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is there someone else?”

“………”

“Buffy?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you…”

Chris could not take it anymore. She was glad to see her mother doing the right thing, but she was obviously fighting the tears in her eyes. Moreover, he was making it so hard for her. She could not explain this to him.

“Buffy, I was looking for you.” She interrupted Riley, and walked out of the darkness towards the porch.

“Chris, thank god.” Buffy sighed, reaching out for her with open arms.

“It was you! You did this didn’t you? You put some kind of spell on Buffy, or told her lies.”

“I was hoping you would patrol tonight, because I would love to come with you. You know, blow of some steam.” Chris ignored Riley, hugging her mother with both arms before letting go, and seeing Buffy smiling up at her.

“Of course, we can go right now.”

“Great.”

Buffy turned to Riley, who felt completely left out, with both parties ignoring him.

“Buffy…”

“I’m sorry Riley; we’ve been over this for more than an hour. Accept it. It’s over. I’m sorry.” Buffy then paused for a beat. “Goodbye.”

Chris grabbed her mother’s hand as they walked away, towards the cemetery. Her mother trembled a bit, and she tightened her grip on her. They could hear Riley curse and walk away behind them, shouting something about being back.

“Just try it, you wuss. And I’ll make you be sorry you were ever born.” Chris mumbled.

“Chris!”

“Sorry, mum, but I just don’t like him.”

“This was very hard for me you know. Even though the relationship was not what I wanted or even meant to be, for that matter. I did like him.” Buffy sighed with a frown. After the kiss she had shared with Spike, she had known that Riley and she were finished. The passion, the heat and the emotions that that one kiss had given her, were so much more then Riley had ever given her, even in bed. Hell, Spike could turn her on in ways Riley never could just by looking into her eyes. It wasn’t fair to Riley, or to herself to keep this up.

“He would have cheated on you with some vampire whore and run off for a mission in the jungle with the military. Then he would show up a year later, married to a colleague. Something like that.”

“What?”

“So you did the right thing.”

“He did what?”

“You want me to tell you again?”

“Uh, never mind.”

Chris smiled at her mother, and surprisingly, she smiled back. Even though breaking up with Riley had been hard, it also felt like a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders. She had been having doubts about them even before this happened.

The feeling like she was suffocating in his arm at night, the always holding back, and always trying to make herself feel the passions she was missing, and needing.

Walking here with her daughter, with the fresh snow crunching under her boots, she felt free. Not to mention the tingling feeling that still lingered on her lips from Spike’s kiss.

“So, are you and dad getting along?”

“What do you mean?” Buffy sounded a little jumpy, and Chris’ eyes narrowed as she smiled at her mother again. Only this time, it was a grin.

“Okaaaay, what happened?”

Buffy knew that there would be no point in lying, as she felt a blush creeping up her face. Chris was already getting on to her.

“Well, let’s say we’ve gotten closer.”

“Really? How? Wait! I don’t want to know.”

“Chris, we didn’t…”

“Finish that sentence and I will be in therapy for the rest of my life.”

Buffy laughed and stroked her daughters blond hair. She reminded her of herself in so many ways.

“I love the colour of your hair, do you dye it?”

“Nope, this is my real colour.”

“Well, I dye it, so who gave you those genes?”

They were nearing the cemetery, and both girls could already feel Spike’s presence.

“Daddy.”

“Spike, but his hair…”

“Mum, I love you and all, but if you are going to say that the platinum blond is his real hair colour I will have to call you an air-head.

“Wow, I never knew his hair was like honey.”

Chris squeezed her mothers arm playfully and smiled. “I don’t blame you.”

Like honey, damn, her mum was really falling for him. At least Chris hoped she was.

They opened the gate that lead to the graveyard, and walked on the untouched snow. Enjoying the beauty of it.

“Well, it seems like it’s going to be a quiet night.” Chris signed, not picking up any vampires.

“How do you know?” Buffy asked, while wiping off the snow of some of the gravestones.

“Well, I am the child of a vampire and a slayer, so I guess some stuff rubbed off on me. I can do some things normal people can’t.”

Buffy was about to ask her what it was that she could do, but turned around when she felt the familiar tingle down her spine. Good lord, it was him.

“Daddy!”

“Hello gorgeous, how are you?” Spike hugged his daughter, even though it only had been a couple of hours since he had last seen her.

“Great dad and look who I brought with me.”

“Hi Buffy.”

Both girls noticed the shy look on his face, and the way he softly spoke her name. Since their kiss had only accrued a couple of hours ago he was still as confused, light-headed and well…aroused as Buffy.

“Hi Spike.”

Chris tried, but could not hide the smile creeping up her face; her parents were so weird. As she had known them, they had not been awkward about their relationship at all, or the least bit shy.

They way they were acting now was just…funny! They so wanted each other…wait…eeeew.

“Sheesh, the cemetery is kind of empty, must be the snow.” Spike stated when he saw the stake Buffy had clenched in her hand, ready to fight.

“I thought vampires didn’t feel the cold?” Buffy frowned.

“Yeah they do mum, but they’re not bothered by it that much. It doesn’t mean they like it, right dad?”

“Right, kitten.” He winked, sharing a smile with Buffy. It was so great to see his daughter radiating this happiness he had not seen before. She was smiling and glowing, and it warmed his entire being. Her happiness, together with Buffy’s; even though that was still very early and unsure, was everything to him.

Buffy blushed when he smiled, and she wondered what he would do if she told him that Riley was out of the picture. What he would do if they were alone again. She felt her hand getting sweaty around the stake and her daughter’s hand.

“Great, then we have plenty of time to make a snowman.”

“What?”

“It snows. I want to make a snowman.”

Buffy giggled at the giddiness of her daughter. It was amazing how most of the time she could act decades older then she was, or years younger. She recognised this in herself too. Hell, she even recognised it in Spike.

“Come on, to make up for my lost youth.”

“Lost youth…”

“Ok, ok, I just like snowmen! Let’s make one.” She wined, wanting to force her parents to have fun together, and with her, too.

“Ok princess. If it’s a snowman you want, then it’s a snowman you get.”

“It looks good, don’t you think?” Chris took a step back to admire their work. Well, more like 3 snowballs, a stick and some stones.

“Ehmm…maybe if we had more supplies….” Buffy frowned, not knowing what to think.

“Yeah, it looks like it had a stroke.” Spike commented, tilting his head and cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, what is wrong with you people? It looks just fine.”

“Right, just fine.”

“Just fine.”

Chris saw her parents exchange a look, and giggled.

“Ok, maybe it’s not perfect. But we made it, so that makes it a perfect snowman.” She faked a very dreamy look and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, stop it.” Buffy stuck out her tongue.

“Well, it is nice to spend time with you again, sweetheart.” Chris smiled and looked up when she felt her fathers arm around her. “You were scared I wasn’t going to come back?”

“Every time you leave.”

“Yeah Chris, did the higher powers gave you promising to travel trough time for like….always?”

The hopeful looks made her feel a little tight in her own skin. If only that was true.

“Until my ehm…mission is finished.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah.”

“So, how is that going?” Spike asked.

“Still got a lot to do.”

“Good, keep that up.”

“Dad…”

“Chris, we just got you in our lives. We don’t want you to leave now.”

“Well, don’t get too attached, because I’m hoping to be done before Christmas.”

“Chris…”

“I’m sorry mum, dad. I can’t stay. I would love too, but I simply can’t. It’s not healthy for the future, or me, or you. I will have to go back. If you want me in your lives, have children.”

Chris voice was shaky, but not harsh. She spoke softly and with a small smile on her lips. She didn’t want to go back there, ever. Just as much as her parents wanted her to stay. But that wasn’t going to happen, and it was for the best. She wouldn’t lie to her parents or herself.

“And if you want us back?”

“………..”

She hadn’t expected that comment from her father. However, it always surprised her how his mind seemed to go places were others stopped. He knew it was not that easy for her.

“I speak to you in my prayers.”

“Screw that, stay with us. I don’t care what happens to the future.”

“Mum, come on now. You’re the slayer.”

“You are my daughter. I want you to stay.”

“And I will. For now.”

Chris checked her watch, and realized there was still something on her to do list. If she wanted to deal with it today, she would have to leave now.

“Or ehmm, some other time. There is something I need to do. Thanks for hanging out with me.” She checked out her snow angel on the ground and smiled.

“I will be alright mum, dad. Trust me, it will be just fine. I love you.” She kissed their cheeks, and walked away with a wave.

“Xanders house….mmmmm, were could that be.” She mumbled under her breath, before opening the gate of the graveyard.

“Why does she always leave?” Buffy signed, staring in the directing Chris had left.

“Well pet, she is not here to entertain us. She is here to help us.”

“I know, I just don’t want her to leave again.”

“Me neither pet…..me neither. But she is right about the children part. If…when she goes away, we can always get her back by having her, as our baby.”

His voice dropped to his rich, low voice, and his thumb reached out to caress her cheek. The moment they had shared in Buffy’s room seemed recreated in the white landscape in front of Spike crypt. Until he saw her body tense, and dropped his hand before even touching her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...”

“I broke up with Riley.”

“What?”

“Yeah…”

“You did?”

“Yeah….It was the right thing to do.”

“Oh….”

“Uhuh…..”

“Well….”

“So…..”

“Well, I would lie if I told you I wasn’t happy. But you did not have to do it so soon. I mean, I know it must be hard for you, and all.”

“No, you were right, it wasn’t meant to be….even before this whole thing.”

“I didn’t mean to…”

“You didn’t. It’s fine.”

“Ok. Ehm… you want to come in? It’s kinda cold out here.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He smiled when he opened the door for her, not believing she actually said yes. Even though he did not know how they could get past the awkward stage again. He wanted to kiss her, touch her and love like before.

Well, she did brake up with Riley.

He had been polite and had given her the sad smile, but inwardly he was doing the happy dance. She wasn’t his, yet. But she wasn’t soldier boy’s anymore either.

Stepping into his crypt, she noticed his attempts to decorate it. She had been here before, but never noticed who much it had changed since he first moved in; she hadn’t want to look.

“You are really trying to fix this place, aren’t you?” She smiled, making conversation while sitting on the tombstone. Spike found it funny how she looked so casual in his space. So much had changed on only 2 days.

“Yeah, I am. I try to find some decent stuff to fill this dump.”

“This is nice.” Buffy picked up an antic candlestick.

“Found it on some garbage heap.”

“Oh…..ew.” She quickly put the candlestick down with a face.

“Don’t worry, I did clean it. I’m not that gross.” He laughed, opening the fridge to fetch himself a beer. “Drink?”

‘Oh I never though you were gross. As a matter of fact….Oh Stop it Buffy. Bad mind, bad mind.’

“If you have something with no alcohol, I might.”

“Coke?”

“You have coke?”

“The drink, not the drug.”

“Sure, I’ll have one.”

“They’re for my human visitors, you know.” He smiled, handing her the can.

“Like who?”

“Well….you and Dawn, I guess, and maybe Chris.”

She looked at him in wonder, but he glanced away to avoid her gaze.
He actually had soda in his fridge in the hope that she would come over to hang one day and would want one? That was so weird……..that was so adorable.

“I also have a bed now.” He announced out of nowhere, taking a step towards her.

“Pfffttt…”Buffy almost chocked in her coke, spraying the dark, sweet fluent all over the dusty floor.

“Sorry, that didn’t come out right.” He gave her apologising look, and she felt her face burning. God, she was bright red, she knew it.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t take it the right way.”

He didn’t mean to, but her embarrassment turned him on, she looked so venerable right now, and he took another step in her directing, cocking an eyebrow.

“What way did you take it, Buffy?”

“Spike…”

“Buffy.”

“You know what way.”

Her voice dropped, feeling shivers going trough her body as she took a step towards him. She needed to fight her feelings and needs, but the look he was giving her…his voice….their future….she didn’t want to fight it.

She took a step and met him halfway, needing to feel his mouth again, his touch.

“Kiss me.”

************************************************************

Xander, it was him. He looked so much younger then how she remembered him. And Giles was there too. And oh god Willow, with some strange blond girl she didn’t know. And some other blond girl that was possibly Anya, who had died years before Chris was even been born.

She stood in front of the Magixbox, not feeling very well. What the hell was she going to say?

“Sorry young missy, we are closed.” Was spoken to her the moment she stepped over the threshold, greeted by the bell that hung above the door.

Giles of course, he always called her young missy.

“Unless you have money that you are going to spend, then you can stay.” The blond girl behind the counter said with a nod of her head. Anya, no doubt.

The rest of the group just turned to look at her, and she started to feel a little self-conscious.

“I know, and no I don’t.” Chris used the don’t-fuck-with me voice, and look, in the hope they would not treat her like a child. She could really use some respect right about now.

“Okeeeey, and you are?”

Xander of course. She smiled at him an approached the table most of the guys were sitting at.

“Chris, nice to meet you all.”

“Ok, and what do you want?” Willow was clenching the hand of the blond girl beside her, and Chris smiled. That was Tara. She met her eyes, and saw the shy girl blush under her gaze.

“I need to talk to Xander.”

“How do you…”

“Come on.”

She grabbed his arm before he could say another word, and dragged him outside, in front of the magixbox, so the others could still see them trough the window.

“Hey!”

“I just want to borrow him for a minute. He will be right back.”

Closing the door, Chris and Xander stood in front of the window, talking. She was obviously trying to calm him down, and it looked like it was working.

“What are they talking about?”

“Do you think she is here to have sex with him?”

“Anya!”

“What! He is attractive.”

“It looks like a serious talk.”

“Why didn’t we stop her?” Giles was amazed that he had let this girl walk right past him without doing a thing. He lived on the Hell mouth. He was always so careful.
What was it about this girl that had made him stand there and do nothing? What was it that made his know she wouldn’t hurt any of them?

“She reminds me of someone.” Willow said, knitting her eyebrows.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Anya nodded.

“Yes, she does.” Tara somehow knew this was not just a normal girl. The way she had looked at them. She knew them.

“Yes, she reminds me of Buffy.” Giles said, walking closer to the window without being notice by the two outside.

“Oh, I was going to say Spike.” Anya shrugged, wiping of the counter, not looking up.

“What?”

“Well, I was going to say Buffy too Giles, so don’t worry. It’s two against one.” Willow smiled, petting the back of Tara’s hand, who gave her a smile. ….

She had been about to say Spike too.

He obeyed by kissing her softly, feeling slightly dizzy from just feeling her again. Tasting her again. It was sweeter then the last kiss they shared. More gentle but still passionate. She felt him embracing her body like it was the air he breathed, and leaned into his touch with a gasp.

“Buffy.” He panted when they pulled away, and he took the opportunity to kiss her throat and neck, and to be rewarded with a moan.

“Spike, should we even been doing this?” She whispered against his hair, and he smiled. The way she was clinging to his shoulders showed him she wasn’t as doubtful as she wanted to be about this.

“Yes, I think we should.”

“Ok.” He chuckled against her skin when she threw her head back and let her fingers run trough his hair.

The little voice in her head told her this was just too fast. That she was being reckless and that this was wrong. That she was going to get hurt. Even if they would end up together in the future. But she ignored it and pushed it further away so she couldn’t hear it anymore.

It felt too right to be wrong. His hands, his mouth…God. It wasn’t too soon if you knew each other for 4 years, was it? It wasn’t too soon if you knew you would end up together anyway, right?

Oh what the hell, she didn’t care anymore. The controlling, the logic, she was so sick of it. So tired. She didn’t care what she though. Also she was certain of was how she felt. How he made her feel.

“Spike, oh god. That feels so good.”

“Slayer.”

“Buffy.”

“What?”

“Call me Buffy.”

“Oh, of course Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.” He panted in her hair and she smiled.

“William.” She replied, and she felt a shiver running over his back as he was in her embrace.

He pulled back slowly, and she saw him looking at her with sparkling eyes and a boyish smile.

“Remember the first time we kissed?” He asked her, and Buffy giggled.

“Of course, that was like, a year ago.”

“And we were under a spell.”

“Yeah.”

“A very good spell.”

He stroked her arm with his fingers and she leaned in to kiss him again.

“I wanted to shag you so bad, back then.” He whispered in her air, and felt her body temperature rising.

“Me too.” She admitted with a blush.

“And after the spell. And before the spell. And every other second I exist.”

“Spike…”

“And kiss you, and hold you, and feel you….love you.”

‘Crap.’

“What did you say?”

************************************************************

“Xander, look…”

“Who the hell are you?”

“………”

“Well?”

“That’s a little hard to explain.”

“Why?”

“Because!”

“Ok, Chris. Let go of my arm this very instant.”
Xander was so frustrated and embarrassed he had just been dragged out on his arm by a girl, he started to hiss his words trough his teeth. Who the hell did she think she was?

“Naaaaah, I don’t think so.”

“My best friend is the slayer, and if she hears about this she is going to kick your ass.”
He threatened, but unfortunately, that had not the effect wanted it to have.

Chris just giggled and gave him a wink. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Look, I am….a friend of Buffy.”

“A friend? Right, how come I haven’t heard of you before?”

“I’m a new friend.”

“A new friend?”

“Look Xander, I don’t have time for this. I’m here to warn you about something. To prevent a big mistake you are going to make in the future from happening.”

“What, huh…what?”

“Look I…..I can see the future.”

“Like in visions?”

“Exactly.”

“So that is how you know Buffy?”

“Sort of.”

“Right. You told her things like these too, to prevent bad things from happening.”

“Right.” Wow, the first time in the conversation I did not lie. Well, except for my name.

“So listen up Xander. It is like this….”

************************************************************

“What?”

“You’re in love with me?

“….Yes.”

“What….”

“So what Buffy? Yeah, I am in love with you, whatever that means. From the moment I laid my bloody eyes on you, ok.”

“I….”

“And you don’t have to be in love with me. I’m not asking you for that. I just wanted you to know.” He planted a gentle kiss on the palm of her hand while he looked at her with his ocean blue eyes. A little gasp escaped her when his lips touched the skin on her hand and a strange feeling overwhelmed her.

He loved her. He was in love with her. Why did it feel so damn good to hear him say that? Why did it gave her so much hope? So much comfort? Could she say it back? Would it be ok to love him too?

She pushed the toughs from her mind, not wanting to deal with something so complicated at the moment. She had other things she needed to focus on. Like his lips that travelled their way down her neck, and the hand that started to slide under her shirt.

“Say it again.” She demanded, not caring how…complicated things might were. They would have a beautiful child together, he loved her, and she liked it. Right now, it was a simple as that.

“Love you Buffy, always. Love you love you love you.” He moaned in her ear, as her hands started to caress his torso under his shirt.
“You do?” His hand was running up and cupped one of her lace-covered breast. He smiled at her question.

“Weird huh?”

“Yes….but nice.”

His thumb brushed over her cover nipple and she gasped against his neck.

“So, what about that bed of yours?” She whispered in his ear, and he almost groaned from the heat of her breath against his skin.

“Downstairs.”

“Let’s go.”

Buffy didn’t know why she was asking him for this, like some teenager with a hormone explosion. She wanted him so bad, she didn’t even care it was considered wrong.

She wanted to feel what they would have. What kind of partners they would become. How he could love her, and how she could love him. Even though she couldn’t make herself say it, the love for their child, and the feeling that developed for him in such a short time by the way he had comfort her and taken care of her when she needed it, they way he had smiled and caressed her cheek, they way he had looked at her and spoken to her….they way he had kissed her…..she was slowly falling for him. And all she wanted right now was him.

“Buffy, Buffy are you sure?”

“Yes please, I want to feel you. I want to feel your love.”

“Oh god, Buffy.”


“Anya, why don’t we go out tonight huh?” Xander asked while he rubbed his girlfriend’ shoulders.

“If you take me to some good restaurant, I’m up for it.”

“Good.”

“And give me multiple orgasms when we get back.”

“Consider it done.”

He didn’t know why, but the strange girl had spoken the truth. He knew she had. She knew what was coming, and he needed to listen to her advice. It was almost ridiculous how he trusted this stranger and believed her every word.

But he did.

He was going to propose tonight.

The bed squeaked when they fell back on it and Buffy giggled against Spike’s chest when she heard it. It was the naughty teenagers having sex when they shouldn’t but it was kinda obvious that they were sound.

She also noticed how big and soft it was, as she lay on her back in the centre of it. The sheets were white silk, which surprised her, and it looked clean. It even smelled clean.

Spike took her mind away from the bed when his face appear only an inch from hers and smiled down upon her.

“God, you are gorgeous.” He whispered and he saw her cheeks flushing.

“Not too bad yourself.” she smiled a little shy. Even if she had always denied any other kind of feeling then hate and disgust towards him, she had never considered him anything other then good looking. She had been in denial, maybe.

After that whole engage thing, and Willows let my will be done spell, she definitely had been in denial, but she wasn’t blind. He was beautiful, and that was not something she could say about a lot of man. Men were handsome, or hot, but not beautiful. Not gorgeous. Not breath taking or angelic like he was.

He dipped his head to capture her lips with his and she arched her back to get him closer as she moaned into his mouth.

“God Buffy, keep doing that and I’ll tear off your clothes and have my wicked way with you right now.”

“Why don’t you?”

The way she wickedly smiled at him, and the teasing tone in her voice almost made his eyes roll back. Her hands were searching for the bottom of his shirt, and he helped her by pulling it over his head, bearing his nicely-shaped chest before her eyes.

He was lean and muscular at the same time, so different from what she was used to. His skin was soft, but his muscles were rock hard underneath it. It felt so good to touch him, and she let her hands run over his entire upper body. She was rewarded by groans and moans from his side, and the low sound in her ear made her shiver.

He loved her hands, and how they made him feel. It made him so warm he almost felt alive.
He tried to undo the buttons of her blouse, but the system was a little strange, and he groaned in frustration when they didn’t do what he wanted them to.

“Is there a freaking child lock on these thing?” He asked her, and he felt her shake when she started laughing.

“They’re not real buttons; they have tiny hooks you have to unlink. Let me help you.”

She slowly opened her shirt, while keeping her eyes on his, and revealed her midnight blue silk bra to him when it slipped of her shoulders. Then smiled in satisfaction when she saw him swallow, hard, and looking at her with wide eyes. She had never been able to make a man look at her like she was the water in the dessert, like he was looking at her right now.

She had no idea it could make her feel so feminine. So much like real woman.

When he reached out for her to kiss her again, she gave in to the feelings he was making her feel and let him undress her. She moaned when he unclasped her bra a stroked the sensitive skin of her breast and nipples with both hands. He was so very gentle it was almost painful, en it amazed how much he took his time with her. She had never imagined him the gentle kind of guy.

She knew he was afraid she would push him away with one wrong movement, and she arched into his touch to show him what she really wanted.

“Spike, please.” She begged, when he didn’t move any further, and he grinned.

“And you didn’t strike me as the begging kind.”

“You were wrong.”

At that, her hands travelled down to his jeans and undid the button, while he nuzzled her neck and placed tiny kisses on her skin.

She wanted to unzip him, but was stopped as his fingers slid down her stomach and slipped under the waistband of her black pants. She gasped loudly when his he slipped his hand in to her panties and stroked her with his fingers. Tracing the outlines of her folds and making her gasp. He stroked her gently, and she buckled forward to meet his fingers, and her slick entrance was already moistening his fingers.

Then he pushed them inside of her, first one, followed by the second one. His eyes almost rolled back along with hers. She felt so hot en wet around his fingers, and fit them like a tight glove. He could not imagine what it was like when it was him inside of her.

She couldn’t believe he could slip his long talented fingers in so easily, and realized how wet she already was. He hadn’t done any thing much yet, and she was already soaking his hand with her juice. That had never happened to her before, and if she wasn’t already flushed from excitement, he would have seen her blushing.

She moaned, as his fingers touched the right spot, over and over, and she clung to his shoulders for support. “Please Spike…” She gasped again. He was teasing her to the point of insanity.

“Tell me what you want, Buffy.”

“More.”

“More? I can give you more.”

She screamed when he plugged in an other finger and slid them in deeper and deeper into her heat. His thumb rubbed her clit faster and faster, and his mouth found hers again.

She moaned into his mouth and he smiled when the vibration tickled his tongue. He felt her inner walls tense around him and increased his movements to bring her over the edge.

He kissed her mouth, and then moved down to her neck and to her breast. Kissed, sucked and bit till she couldn’t take it anymore, and then followed his way back up to kiss her lips again.

It felt so good, and she moaned and gasped his name over and over. She had never been loud in the bedroom before, but she just couldn’t hold it back. It was only minutes when she felt the intense heat inside of her starting to explode.

“Spike, I’m gonna…”

“Come for me Buffy, please. Let me do this for you.” He groaned in her air, getting more and more turned on by every move and sound she made.
The low growl of his voice pushed her over the edge, and she got hit hard by her orgasm. She soundlessly screamed as her whole body tensed, and her inner walls strangled Spike’s soaked fingers.

Thanks god he hold her up, because she felt she would just collapse if he let go of her.

“That was….god Spike…”She panted, and felt him laying her back on the bed, kissing her belly and breast lovingly.

She knew he wouldn’t believe her if she told him it was the first time someone had got her off by using just their fingers, but it was true. Except for herself maybe. It had felt so good; she wanted to beg him to do it again. To make love to her with his fingers, mouth and body, and to touch all the right spots inside of her. But she knew she would just die if he would do it another time.

“I love you Buffy, wanne make you feel good.” He purred, and nuzzled his face against her.

“Well, you did. That was amazing.”

Spike crawled up her body and slowly kissed her mouth again.
“And that was only my hand love.” He grinned a bit cocky, and she shivered and laughed at the same time. When she spoke, her voice was a little shaky and thick, but also determent.

“Well, can’t wait to see what else you’ve got, but I think it’s time to return the favour.”
And she let her hands run down his hard chest to his jeans.

“Buffy, god I would never ask. I don’t deserve that. I know how you see me.”

She looked up and in his confused eyes, and shook her head. “No you don’t.”

“Do you know?”

Damn, why did he always ask the wrong questions? Or the fair ones.

“No. But I’m willing to find that out. I know I want what we will have. Or could have.”

“And this?”

“I want this, because…..You care about me. And that makes me…no matter how ridiculous that sounds…feel very good. Being with you had been very nice these last couple of days, and so does this. And I realize I care about you too. I don’t know why, or what it means, but give me some time to figure that out.”

He looked at her with a little smile, and nodded. “Of course.”

“And let me do this for you.”
She reached down again a pushed him down on the bed, were she had been.

“Oh god.”

She felt his erection pushing against the zipper and freed him by pulling it down slowly. Her eyes were locked with his again when her hands slipped beneath the waistband and grabbed a hold of him.

“Bloody hell, please...Buffy.” He whimpered when her hand run over the soft skin of his cock, up and down.

“I guess you are the begging kind as well.” She teased, and pulled down his jeans further to have more excise.

“Guess we make a good pair.” He giggled, and it turned into a moan when she squeezed the base of his cock with her hands and rubber the moist head with her fingers.

Her eyes were glued to his face as she worked his hands over him. His eyelids fluttered like the wing of a butterfly, and his lips were slightly parted. He seemed so lost in the feeling of her hands, and she couldn’t look away. He looked so vulnerable. She was so pleased that he could surrender himself to her completely, like this.

He occasionally opened his eyes to look at her and kiss her, and smile. She was only touching and kissing him, but it was already so intense she couldn’t stop shivering. The looks, the connection….the sweet things he whispered, while she explored him with her hands in ways no other man had given her excess.

She loved the way he moaned her name when she rubbed him harder and more determent, and she knew he was close.

“Buffy, stop, I’m gonna…”

“Do it.”

“I’m gonna make a mess.”

“For me, please.”

Her hot breath tickled his cheek and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Let go William.”

“Oh god, Buffy.”
His whole body tightened when he climaxed into the sheets of his bed, and Buffy’s hands. Her encouraging words, her warm, delicious touch and sweet scent send him over the edge. She did things to him, made him feel things he didn’t know he could feel. And that said something when you were as old as he was.

He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut until he could spend no more, and Buffy stilled her movements.

When he opened his eyes and found her green orbs staring directly at him, he smiled at her while panting hard. Even though he did not need to breathe, a little oxygen never hurt during times like these.

“That was…..god”

“No, it was me.” She smiled a little shy, and he sat up to take a good look at her.

“Buffy…oh….You are bloody wonderful.”

She blushed when he rubbed her cheek with his thumb, but didn’t back away.

It felt so good to be touched by him, or to touch him. To give him pleasure. But she had gotten so caught up in the moment. It wasn’t like her to do something like this without thinking it trough. She had done that once, and it had been a huge mistake.

But she couldn’t walk away. She didn’t want to. She didn’t know what she wanted, but he was definitely involved in it now.

“Look, you’re all messy.”

He pointed at her hands and arms, that were sticky with sweat, his release, and her own, and she couldn’t hold back a small grin.

“Little bit, yeah.”

“There’s a sink in the there, if you want to clean up.” He pointed towards his small bathroom, and saw her getting up, to wash her hands.

He didn’t know what to say, but buttoned his pants to make him a little less exposed. She seemed a little shy, all of a sudden, and he didn’t want to scare her away.

“Spike, about this…” Buffy began. She had come back from the bathroom. All clean and fresh again, and wanted to break the silence. Wanted to tell him what it meant, and what it could lead to. What they could become.

Yes, that is what she would have said, if they were not disturbed by the bagging of Spike front door, and the childish voice of his very annoying vampire ex.

“Blondie Bear, are you here?”

************************************************************

“Chris.”

Chris had walked down the street, wondering what to do next after she had convinced Xander to marry Anya, instead of leaving her in front of the altar.

It wasn’t just a noble act either, considering Anya and Xander would have mayor issues after that, causing Anya to kill people and eventually die in the final battle. After that, Xander had moved to Africa were he had shut himself off from the real word completely, grieving and eventually dying.

Then she had heard a voice calling her name, and turned around.

There was that blond woman again. The shy one. The one she didn’t know.

“Heey. Tara right?”

“Y-yes. I’m sorry to bother you but…”

“Oh, that’s totally fine.” Chris smiled, waving her apologies away with a hand gesture.

“I need to talk to you.” Tara spoke in a stern voice; And Chris cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head. The same way Spike would have done it.

“I-I know who you are.”