By Heather Martin

Spoilers- Set during and after Smashed. I borrowed a few lines from Wrecked as well. Has spoilers for everything up to that point. Goes AU after that

Summary- B/S T/W A/X Something goes funky with Spike and Buffy after their coupling in the abandoned house. Meanwhile, a demon and a mysterious girl come to Sunnydale from the future.

Chapter Five- New Arrivals

Spike stored the money in the register. He smiled at the woman in front of him. She smiled back. He passed the paper bag over to her.

“Thank you for shopping at the Magic Box. Please come again,” he said.

The woman winked at him. “Oh, I will.”

She walked to the door, glancing back and waving before she exited. Spike shook his head.

Just then Anya came out from the back room. She carried a large box. She noticed her blonde colleague behind the counter.

“Spike, why are you over her? You are supposed to be by the door. Many girls are drawn to your handsomely chiseled cheek-bones and washtub abs,” she told him.

He shrugged, moving away from the register. “Fine. If you don’t want me to do actual work I won’t. Next time a customer comes in when you aren’t around I’ll just stand around and look nice.”

The ex-demon set the box down on the table. Her eyes brightened. “There was a customer?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “A bint with this dreadfully awful perm.”

Eagerly, Anya asked, “What did she buy? How much did it cost?”

“She got one of the incense kits. The thing with the holder, lighter, and assortment of incense sticks.”

Anya rushed over to the register. She opened it to examine the green bills. “We are fifteen dollars richer.”

Having a job at the magic shop sucked. It was the only option, though, considering he had no credentials or experience. Anya offered him a job. She wanted him around to flirt with the female customers, thinking it heightened business. Frankly he couldn’t give a care either way. If that meant he didn’t have to do anything of real importance that was fine with him.

“Next time you are going to gather the replacement merchandise,” Anya informed. “I don’t think you take as much pride and satisfaction as I do when dealing with consumers.”

“Don’t worry, pet, wasn’t meaning to invade your territory. The register’s all yours.”

She grinned. “Thank you. Now go set up the candle display. After that, go stand next to the door.”

The man reluctantly took the box Anya had retrieved from the back room. He went over to a shelf and began to put wax colored candles down on it. When he was through he went over to stand near the entrance like a good lil former vampire.

Hours went by. Spike kept an eye on the wall clock, ready for eight o’clock to arrive. It finally came. Spike went over and grabbed his duster that was draped over the back of a chair.

“Time for me to push off,” he announced.

“It’s eight already?” Anya whined. “I was hoping to sell at least one statue today.”

“Sorry to disappoint, luv.”

“Well, good-bye, Spike. I can close on my own. See you tomorrow for another bright day of satisfactory labor.”

More like a waste of my time, he thought. He rolled his eyes. He slipped into his leather coat and left. It was chilly outside. The duster was no longer only for show, but also helped dispel the cold.

He took the long way home. Not because it went past Revello Drive, but because he felt like walking. Yeah right, his brain threw back. You know you want to catch a glimpse of the slayer.

The white house numbered 1630 was dark except for the living room window. Spike stood next to the tree in their yard. He’d been there so often the oak seemed like an old friend. He squinted his eyes at the window, but couldn’t see a damn thing because of the drapes. With a sigh, he pressed on.

He hadn’t seen Buffy since moving into his new apartment. He invited her and the nibblet over to check the flat out, but they never showed. He was sure that Dawn would love a visit. So it must be the older sister who kept rejecting the idea. She probably was glad to be rid of him. After the night in the basement she basically avoided him. The most she said to him while he had stayed there was one sentence at a time. The majority had been about going on patrol.

Spike moved, clinging to the shadows out of habit. Even though he was human now, he still felt the same. It was possible that he cared a little more about things, but other than that he was the same person. He didn’t feel the need to change the way he acted. That fact had brought up his confusion about Angelus. How his grandsire could be totally different with the soul was something he couldn’t figure out. Made him wonder if the vampire was hiding who he really was. And then he had to ask himself if the demon was hiding his good nature or the soul was hiding his evil tendencies. If he were to answer truthfully he would have to go with the latter. Angelus didn’t have anything but coldness in his heart when he toiled with people’s lives for fun.

Suddenly Spike detected the scene of a fight. A teenage girl was battling a vampire. They were in the yard of a blue house. The vampire was dressed almost entirely in black leather. His hair was long, running to his shoulders. He pinned the girl down to the grass.

Instinct took over. Spike rushed to the aid of the girl, drawing out a sharp stake from his pocket. He came to a halt as he witness the girl buck beneath the vampire. She raised a leg and kneed the blood-sucker in the groin. The vampire jumped off her, hissing in pain.

Spike smirked. Demon or not, a male had one part in common no matter what.

“You are going to pay for that,” the vampire spat.

A grin appeared on the girl’s face. “Aw, did I hurt you?” She kicked the vampire as he lunged at her. “Well, good. Let me do some more damage.”

Where did this girl learn to fight? Spike wondered. He was very impressed. Most people in this town just screamed in fright. But this one had spirit. She had a chance even without his help.

The girl revealed a stake from out of nowhere. She kicked the vampire again, preparing to strike. The weapon never made its target, however, because the vamp managed to knock it out of her hand. The wood flung through the air, landing out of reach.

The girl did a somersault, trying to retrieve the fallen stake. The vampire tackled her before she could reach it. He snatched her by the shoulders, holding her before him. His golden eyes gleamed at her, his teeth eager to pierce through her skin.

Spike knew it was time to intervene. He had given the girl a chance to defeat him on her own, but the odds of that were no longer looking good. He entered the scene, separating prey from predator. With the element of surprise on his side, Spike dusted the vampire in a heartbeat. The dust burst around them, settling to the ground.

Spike turned to the girl. She was dusting herself off.

“Not bad,” Spike complimented. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“My parents,” she replied, not bothering to look at him.

“And what do they do? Teach martial arts?”

“Something like that.”

“Maybe we should be getting you back to them. It is much too late for you to be wondering around alone at your age.”

She lifted her gaze. Her blue eyes met his with annoyance. “My age? I am quite capable. I was about to get the upper hand again before you came to the rescue.”

“What are you fourteen?”

“Fifteen.”

He nodded. “Figures. I know someone your age. She acts the same way. Doesn’t want to be treated like a child. It isn’t that you are too young to take care of yourself. This town isn’t safe for anyone. Even if you can fight you aren‘t safe. All it takes is one good day.”

“You just never stop lecturing me,” the girl muttered.

Spike furrowed his brow.

The girl raised her head. Spike saw that she was smiling. “I didn’t expect to find you so soon.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

The girl reached out her hand to be shook. “Alexis. You don’t know me yet, but I know you.”

“What in the bloody hell are you talking about? You know me?”

“Yeah. Your name is Spike and you used to be a vampire.”

“How do you know that?” he demanded.

Alexis shook her head. “Not right now. We have to get to Buffy.”

“Buffy? You know the slayer?”

“Yeah, she’s the one that sent me here. Well, her and Giles. Now come on. We have to prepare her before he attacks.”

Alexis grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the street.

“Buffy’s in trouble?” Spike inquired.

“Maybe,” Alexis responded.

That was all Spike needed to shut his hole and follow the girl in silence.

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

The demon burst into Judas’s lair. He was a gray creature with wrinkled skin. He surveyed the place. Judas dropped the dead girl to the floor. She was a blond. Stupid and easy to catch. He wiped the red off his mouth.

“Who the hell are you? Don’t you know it is impolite to burst into someone else’s home?” Judas asked.

The demon’s eyes flashed red. He eyed the dead girl. Pointing, he inquired, “You gonna use the rest of that?”

Judas shook his head. He motioned to the body. “Be my guest.”

The demon knelt, snapping off a leg. He brought the limb to his mouth and bit down. There was a loud crunching noise as he met bone. He continued eating until only the head remained. A burp escaped his mouth. Then he straightened, meeting Judas’s gaze.

“Now that I’ve fed, we can chat.”

Judas stared down at the girl’s head. He must have been mighty hungry. It hadn’t taken the beast long to consume it all either.

“Sure. You can start by telling me why you’re here,” the vampire demanded.

“I’m here because you summoned me. You brought me out of a hell dimension to do your bidding. I am at your service.”

Judas blinked. He hadn’t called upon any damn demon. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The demon growled. He reached out and grabbed Judas’s shoulders. His nails ripped through the black t-shirt to dig into the skin beneath.

“Watch it!” Judas yelped.

“You told me to come here.”

“When did I say that?”

Letting go, the demon said, ”Fifteen years from now.”

Judas laughed. “I think you are a little confused.”

“No you are! You sent me here to help you do away with the slayer.”

Judas raised an eyebrow. “Slayer, huh? Not a bad idea.”

“She turns you human. I’m here so you can prevent that.”

“What?” Did he say human?

“It is the slayer’s fault that all the vampires turn human and the demons are sent to hell. You hated it, missed the killing, and still wanted eternal life. So you summoned me to prevent it. So here I am.”

Judas thought for a moment. So this demon claimed to be from the future?

Not likely, but killing the slayer was appealing. If what the demon told him was actually true, it would solve the problem in the future. And if not, he still got the glory. Doing away with a slayer was a big deal. He’d be legendary. Fledglings would grovel at his feet.

“All right,” Judas declared. “We can get to business with killing the slayer.”

The demon grunted in agreement.

“Hey, what should I call you?”

“I don’t have a name,” the demon replied.

Judas studied the creature in front of him. “Well, you’re a Gestalt demon. I’ll

just call you Gestalt.”

The demon didn’t respond.

“Okay then, Ges, this is the beginning of a lovely partnership.”

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If this seems a little familiar to anyone it is because this last part was taken from my unfinished work Eclipse: Day and Night. This actually is a rewritten attempt at that story with some added material and plot changes.