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After an intense week of training and numerous grocery shopping trips, Buffy decided that everyone needed some relaxation. She and Willow had bounced happily from room to room announcing that we were all going to the Bronze tonight. I smiled. This outing would certainly take some stress out of the girls.

Then the whole house went insane. Lines for the bathroom were impossibly long as girl after girl applied to her face what make-up she had brought, and borrowed what she had not. Hair was an entirely different story. I'm not even going to get into it.

Spike, Giles, Andrew and I watched in fascinated awe as we all waited in the living room for about an hour. I've never been close to any of them but we were all brought together in a guy moment by the enigma of women.

Well, except one. A tomboy potential named Isabel also hung out with us. Everyone called her Izzy. She was in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and wore no make-up. Her hair was cut short.

She was easily the toughest of the potentials with the exception of Kennedy. You could tell because she was one of the few potentials who actually talked to Spike. She got into a debate with him about rock bands the day before yesterday, about three hours after she arrived.

She lounged upside-down on the couch next to me, bored as the rest of us guys.


--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--


Finally! We're here. Everybody. All 19 potentials, the Scoobies, Spike, Andrew, Faith, and Giles.

Giles and Spike didn't seem enthusiastic about going but Willow told them that they were needed to chaperone, so they reluctantly agreed.

I was concerned about our ability to keep track of 19 teenage girls even with seven chaperones--you couldn't really count Andrew as a chaperone--but Willow wasn't too worried. Then she produced the surplus of protection amulets she had created over the past week.

I was impressed.

We made sure that every girl had one before we left. The rule was that if you didn't take one, you couldn't go. Kennedy tried to object, saying that she would have Willow near her but even she had to tuck one on her somewhere.

Currently, all the potentials except two are dancing. They're sipping their drinks at one of the two tables we managed to snag and chatting amiably to each other. Spike's sitting at the other table. I've seen about three women approach him but he turned them all down. He's still loyal to Buffy. Well, pal, you're never going to get her.

Why she hasn't staked him yet is beyond me but I know that he has a soul now and I have to give him some credit. Buffy told me what he'd gone through to get it and I have to admit, I could never see Angelus or any other vampire I've met seeking out a soul.

He's still not really my friend. But we're not enemies. We get along but mostly we just don't talk to each other much. Honestly, what do we have to talk about?

I'm dancing with Anya to a fast song with a loud beat. We're not together anymore but we've both accepted that we're friends now.

Well, almost accepted. But I guess there's no going back.

After the song ends, Anya says that she's thirsty so we head over to the bar. There's one barstool open so we gravitate toward it and I let her sit down as I lean against the bar. She gets a coke and I get a beer and we talk about random things--music and so on, light topics--and try to spot all the potentials.

"There's another. That's 11."

"Xander, that's not a potential."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not! She must be at least 25."

"Wait...who are you looking at?"

"The one in the red top near the stairs."

"Oh. I'm talking about the brunette near Faith."

"Oh...yeah, that's 11." She pauses for a moment. "This'd be easier if we were on the balcony."

"You want to head up?"

"Why not?"

We grab our drinks and weave around Faith and some guy to get to the stairs. Well, her dancing hasn't changed much.

When we reach the top, we easily spot the remaining potentials, except for one. I was about to panic that we lost one but then Anya saw her coming out of the bathroom.

The Bronze isn't too crowded tonight. I've definitely seen worse. I glance back down at the dance floor and notice that Faith is now with a different guy, Willow and Kennedy are dancing together, Buffy is now talking to Spike and sipping a soda, Andrew is doing his own thing off in that far corner, and Dawn was dancing in a group with Rona, Molly, Amanda, and Vi.

"You want to go dance some more?" Anya says, after she had quenched her thirst.

"Nah. I'm okay. You go ahead."

She shrugs and walks off. I watch her until she disappears down the stairs. And then continue being observant from my bird's eye view.

The song ends and there's scattered clapping before the band begins another melody. This song's sultrier. It's got a good beat to it but it's something you take a partner to. I notice the majority of potentials head to the snack area with the exception of the few who have found partners for this song.

I sigh and take another gulp of my drink, while watching the couples on the dance floor.

Scanning around again, my eyes catch Willow and Kennedy laughing and holding hands as they wander towards where Buffy and Spike are sitting. They both sit down at their own drinks and start drinking thirstily.

Buffy leans over and whispers something into Spike's ear. She smiles at him before slipping her hand into his and they both get up and head toward the dance floor.

I watch in kind of a daze, not really comprehending what I'm seeing.

She raises her arms above her head and he places his hands on her hips. Her eyes never leave his. She settles her arms around his neck and draws him closer, both their bodies moving in a rocking motion that's in tune with the beat of the song.

She turns her body, her back now pressing into his chest as they swing back and forth. His arms are encircling her waist and her hands are wrap around them. She sways her hips seductively, moving more into him.

They're dancing /way/ too close and they know it. I may not be percepto-guy but even I can plainly see that they're both very familiar with the other's body. They each know how the other one moves.

I manage to drag my eyes away from Buffy and Spike to take a look at Willow's reaction. She, like me, can't stop watching them.

Kennedy and a good number of other potentials are also transfixed.

Willow blinks as if she suddenly got an idea. She puts her hand to her forehead in concentration for a moment and then slowly lifts her head up. She's looking at Buffy and Spike again and suddenly blinks in surprise, like she saw something she didn't expect to see, but then smiles.

Oh I got it, she was aura reading. She did that to me once. She said I had a very colourful aura. I'm not sure what that means but I like colours so I'm going to think of it as a good thing.

When I resume staring at Buffy and Spike, she's facing him again, arms around his neck, and his hands on her waist. Their eyes are closed and their foreheads are touching as they rock with the music.

I've only seen her dance that way once before, about five years ago. It was with me actually. She did it to make Angel jealous.

What had Buffy said Angel had said later on?

* 'Danced with' is a pretty loose term. 'Mated with' might be a little closer.*

Well, I think that applies to now as well. Except this time, Buffy isn't dancing like that because she's still freaked about her recent death and trying to make a guy jealous. This time, Buffy looked like she didn't have any thoughts in her head except for the ones about her dance partner. At that moment, I doubt she would have even noticed if Angel had grown blue antlers tap-danced up to her.

The song's coming to a close and by now, Faith, Andrew, Anya, Giles, and Dawn are also paying unwavering attention to the Slayer and her vampire.

Giles, who's been sitting at the bar for most of the night, stands up, his focus still steady on Buffy.

Buffy and Spike’s eyes snap open. Both look at each other and suddenly turn their heads toward the entrance of the Bronze as a confident-looking guy with a girl under his arm come inside.

He swaggers over to the dance floor with his chick and they start dancing to the song that the band has just begun to play.

Buffy and Spike both watch them. I'm confused for a second but then it hits me. He's a vampire. Buffy and Spike probably sensed his presence the moment he set foot inside.

I'm not surprised when, five minutes later, he leads her to a secluded area of the Bronze below the stairs.

Buffy glances at Spike and then skips toward the couple quickly, pulling a stake out of nowhere.

After about 10 seconds, Buffy reemerges, tucking the stake back into wherever it came from, followed by the guy, who looks very pale and unnerved. His girlfriend is nowhere to be seen.

Buffy heads back over to Spike and smiles at him. He smiles back and they continue their dance.





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