“Oops, sorry,” Buffy said as she bumped into somebody. Looking up, she saw that it was Clem. “Clem! Oh my god!” she exclaimed, hugging the floppy- eared demon.
Spike hung back, watching them with amusement. “Why are you here, mate? Not to be rude, just wonderin’ how you ended up in Rome.”
Clem noticed Spike behind Buffy for the first time, and shook his hand. Somehow, it ended up as another hug, and Spike pulled away, looking embarrassed at Buffy. She just gave him a smile that said, ‘It’s okay. I know you haven’t seen him in a while.’ How he could tell exactly what she was thinking, he had no idea.
Then Clem decided to answer his question. “Well, I’ve been doing some traveling,” he said simply. Then, looking at Buffy, he added, completely randomly, “Still not eating kittens.”
She gave him a small smile, and then chose ignore that comment. Instead, she said unbelievingly, “And you just ended up here?”
Clem looked at the ground guiltily. “Well, I had some help… Like the magazine articles about you and the Immortal,” he said by way of explanation.
Now it was Buffy’s turn to look guilty, and she refused to meet Spike’s gaze. He came over and hugged her, silently telling her it was alright. “We aren’t together anymore… He’s gone… As in, dead gone.” This news shocked both Spike and Clem, but they tried not to let it show. Looking for a way to change the subject, she said, “Hey, we were just heading back to my apartment. Why don’t you come with us?”
Clem happily explained that he would come, and he followed them back.
They were surprised to see Dawn home. Buffy had assumed that she would be staying the night again, since they hadn’t seen her all day. Buffy went back outside the door and motioned for Clem and Spike to stay there. Sure that they would, she went back inside.
“Dawnie? I have a, well, a kind of surprise for you.” Dawn leaped up. She looked at Buffy’s empty hands and frowned.
“Where is it? Oh, I know! It’s something magical isn’t it?”
Buffy gave her a confused look, and then realized her sister was looking for something she had bought for her. “No, not really…” She couldn’t think of how to introduce Spike, but it didn’t matter, because at that exact moment, he got tired of standing guard over the shopping bags and came in.
“Bloody hell, Slayer. What are you doin’ that’s takin’ so long in there?” he called.
Hearing his voice, Dawn reluctantly turned around, very slowly, knowing that as soon as she did, she would just see someone who had the same accent as him. Once she was all the way around, she slowly opened her eyes, and squealed in delight. “Spike! You’re alive! How? Why? How? You know what, I don’t care. You’re here, and that’s all I need to know.” she said firmly. Within moments, Spike was surprised to find himself with his arms full of teenager.
“Hello to you, Nibblet,” he said, unsure of what was going on. Turning to Buffy- or at least trying to, he asked, “Is this why you had us stand out in the hall?” Buffy nodded her head, and Dawn looked up, surprised.
“Wait, us? Who else is out there?” she asked suspiciously. “Is it Angel?”
“No, Peaches left this morning… But he was here, while you were gone.”
“Then who is it?” Dawn demanded with what she hoped was a fierce look.
“Why don’t you go see for yourself?” Spike replied. She stopped hugging him and went out the door. Buffy and Spike couldn’t hear the conversation that followed, but they both covered their ears, knowing what would come first. Just as they had expected, there was another squeal from Dawn.
After they had gotten some sleep, were all settled in in the living room, and stories of how everyone ended up in Rome had been shared, the four of them made a “plan” of sorts.
“Okay, I need to go on patrol,” Buffy said after realizing how late it was. “Spike, you wanna come with me?” she asked. He nodded, and she turned to Clem. “Could you watch Dawn until we come back?”
As everyone ignored Dawn’s whining about being a teenager and not needing a babysitter, Clem replied. “I’d love to! I haven’t talked to her since before that last apocalypse… Or, I guess, the second to last.”
Dawn stopped complaining, knowing it was useless, and started chattering to Clem about what they could do. Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike slipped quietly out the door, and Clem responded to Dawn, just as excited as she was.
Once they got outside, Spike followed Buffy to the nearest cemetery in silence. Of course, the silence didn’t last for long. When they got there, he turned Buffy toward him. Almost growling, he said, “Finally, I have you all to myself,” as he leaned down to kiss her passionately.
“Spiiike,” she said, her voice half serious. “We really are here to patrol.”
“Fine,” he replied with a fake pout. “But I’m planning on continuing that later.”
They didn’t have to walk very far before they came across a couple of fledglings who were dust within seconds. Just moments later, an ugly green demon with a few rusty red spots and two horns stumbled over to them. He was wearing shorts the same color as his leathery skin. Buffy thought of how weird it was that he was actually wearing anything, unlike so many of the other demons she fought, but that thought was quickly replaced with ‘Okay, this will be an easy fight. He’s probably really slow and clumsy, based on the way he’s tripping over his own feet right now.
Buffy and Spike looked to each other, silently agreeing that she should take this one. Even though Spike had nearly died (or dusted, technically) in his last battle, he still loved the violence and the rush from the fight. Buffy knew it, so she decided to take this ugly demon and let Spike fight the next one, so he could have a bigger challenge.
Buffy ran up and punched the demon in the jaw. As she ducked a blow from him, she realized that she had underestimated him. He tried to kick her behind her knees, but she jumped over his leg. The Slayer then kicked him in the middle of the chest, sending the demon stumbling backwards.
As he gained his balance, he launched another blow. She was late to block because she was caught off guard, thinking he would take longer, and she felt the powerful punch hit the side of her face. “That’s it!” she yelled, as she grabbed her sword off a nearby tombstone. Running back to him, she chopped him neatly in half.
As Spike and Buffy walked through the rest of the cemetery talking about the fairly easy fight, they completely ignored the body still lying on the ground. Unnoticed, each half grew back the parts that they were missing, creating two identical demons.
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