Now and Then

Five Years Later……..

"I don’t believe we’ve been introduced."

Spike blinked at the hand that was blocking his path to the bar. Following the hand up the arm, he arrived at the smiling face of a woman in her early twenties. Maybe. It was so hard to tell with vampires. Taking the offered hand, he smiled into her eyes.

"No I don’t believe we have. I’m-"

"Taken."

Spike bit back a grin as he felt Buffy’s presence behind him. He just never got tired of her jealous streak.

"Well, that’s an interesting name. Taken, is it?"

Spike almost bit through his tongue to stop the laughter. This girl had no idea who she was messing with. Buffy stepped around Spike to meet the female vampire head on. She flipped the girl’s hand out of Spike’s and pushed between them.

"Yes, taken. As in, mine. As in, if you don’t get your dime store hair extensions to the other side of the room in the next twenty seconds…"

Buffy trailed off as the girl had turned heel and ran shortly after ‘as in mine’. Spike watched the back of Buffy’s head and prayed she wouldn’t turn around until he could wipe the stupid grin off his face.

"Don’t you even dream about letting that laugh out, Spike."

Spike sobered quickly. He hated when she did that. There were huge benefits to sharing your entire existence with someone. Having them know your every move without so much as looking, was not one of them. Buffy turned to face him, her annoyed expression was still in place.

"Can we go already?"

"You had a choice, luv."

Buffy’s gaze roamed over the occupants of the room and she sighed. Demons of every size, shape, skin type and color crowded under a bright spinning disco ball. They were crammed like sardines in the ballroom of a hotel. Buffy slowly wiped a line of green slime off the side of her arm as a Chaos demon brushed to close. Shooting a glance of disgust at Spike, she began rooting through her purse for a tissue.

"Yeah Spike, a demon free-for-all or watching Angel sing Mandy again. Some choice."

"Well, still a choice. And would you quit calling it that. This is the most prestigious ball of the year for our kind. Show a little respect."

Buffy waved the slimed tissue in his face. "Is anyone respecting my personal space? I think not. God, do I hate LA."

"We’re leaving tomorrow. Besides, admit it, you had fun catching up with your chums."

"We spent the last week chasing a half snake, half rat thing through the sewers. Not a lot of time to get together for a chat."

"I saw you get the cheerleader’s email addresses. And don’t think I didn’t hear about that little spell you got Red to teach you."

"Spell? What spell? I don’t know nothing about no spell."

"You drive me bloody nuts, you know that." Spike glanced at the crowded dance floor and took her hand, pulling gently. "Dance?"

"That’s all we’ve ever done."

Spike rolled his eyes. "You know you can stop that anytime now."

"You started it. Come on, the Big Bad can dish it out but he can’t take it?"

" Can too." Spike realized just how childish that sounded. "I’m still the Big Bad, you know."

"Yes baby, you’re the baddest."

"Why don’t I believe you?"

"It might be because I have difficulty imagining your capable of world domination after listening to you rant for two hour on fabric softener."

"Hey, the bottle said twenty percent softer. You were there, did my socks feel any softer to you?"

"No, but they definitely seemed pinker. Ooohh hey, is that the evil plan? Brainwash everyone into not separating their colors, thereby destroying the world’s sock collection."

"I hate you. I truly hate you."

"No, you don’t. You’ve tried."

"Hardly. I just keep you around for the convenience of a shag partner."

"Bastard!"

"Buffy! I was kidding, you know I love-"

"Not you…..him."

"Him? What him? Who?"

"Him." Buffy said, pointing across the dance floor.

Spike squinted thorough the crowd. "I don’t see who you’re……Buffy?"

Spike stared down into the open space before him that used to contain Buffy. Whipping around, he started after a blonde head bobbing through the crowd, heading for the far edge of the dance floor.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Buffy slid a stake out of her garter.

<A promise is a promise>

Palming the wood, she moved into position and raised her arm to the unsuspecting back of her prey. Bringing it down in a wide arc, she aimed with unfailing precision at her target, only to be brought up short by the discovery that her hand was now empty. Buffy stared stupidly at her hand.

<I could have sworn I had a…..>

It took her a moment to notice that she was being dragged out onto a patio.

"Bloody hell, Buffy. Are you trying to get us killed? You can’t just run around slaying the guests. Sure, he’s a right poncy bastard, but that’s no excuse-"

Buffy shook her head to clear the confusion and glared at Spike. "Excuse! I thought you would be first in line to dust him."

"Bygones be bygones and all that rot."

"Bygones!!! Do I even know you?" Buffy stared at him suspiciously." You go ballistic if Angel so much as smiles in the same room as me, but you’re gonna let that guy go."

"What? You’re losing me, luv. What does Angel have to do anything."

"Nothing. Well maybe a little, but not as much as you have to do with it."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Buffy was ignoring him and had started to pace the room as another idea occurred to her.

"You’re right. I could get in big trouble for this. I mean, I don’t think it’s allowed. You’ll have to do it."

Spike threw his hands in the air and decided to play along. "Do what?"

"Dust my sire. That’s bad if I do it, right?"

"Your…….your …..your…."

Buffy began to get a bit alarmed when Spike’s face started turning turquoise. "What? You said you talked to him."

"That’s not your sire. I dusted your sire. Skinny little shit, bad breath……."

Buffy raised an annoyed eyebrow. "I think I know who killed me Spike. That’s not something I’m gonna confuse."

"He lied? Wait a minute, then how did he come up with the story about-’

"Probably the same reason all men lie: really big egos. You guys are all so pathetic and-"

"Buffy."

"What? You brought it up." At his skeptical look, she continued in a rush. "Okay, so here’s what we’ll do, I’ll distract him, then you can-"

"Were you having sex?"

"Spike, that is so not what we are talking about right now. Like I was saying-"

"Were. You. Having. Sex?"

"Technically, I wouldn’t even call it that. I mean, he has a really small-"

"BUFFY!!"

"What? Okay, yes, there may have been some horizontal action at the time, but I so didn’t expect the whole bitey part. I mean, you never bit me. Well, before I was, you know, grrr, you never bit me."

Spike looked ready to explode when suddenly his face smoothed out and his body relaxed. "Thrall." He stated calmly.

"Huh?"

"Thrall, he had you in thrall. That’s why you slept with him. I mean, why else would you let a poncy bugger like that touch you?"

"Errr…..Right…thrall. Thrall all the way. Oodles and oodles of thrall. Good. All settled. Let’s go."

Buffy pressed the recovered stake into Spike’s hand and started to pull him towards the dance floor.

She reached up and tapped the man on the shoulder. When he turned around, she smiled brightly into his face.

"Hey! Miss me?"

The man barley managed to choke out her name before Spike had him by the throat. Lifting the stake, he took no time plunging it into the shocked vamps chest.

"Better have been thrall" he grumbled to Draculas ashes.

 
The end

(Oh what? You really believed it we Carl? Once again, thanks for reading.)