Buffy let the heavy iron ring fall on the wood once more. A loud knock penetrated the oak gates. Whoever was on the other side clearly wasn't listening. Or maybe there was no one there. "Damn," she cursed under her breath. Shouldn't there be a doorman or something? She sighed and leaned her head against the rough wood. She was really, really tired. First the events in the cemetery with that demon that just wouldn't die fast enough, then the tornado that had shook her up and to top it all Spike's ridiculous idea that they were in Italy. The annoying thing about the latter was that some part of her was starting to believe it. It gnawed at her. Buffy shook her head and returned her attention to the city's gate. Maybe she should find another way in. Maybe there were more gates. Yes of course, this was a fairly big city; it couldn't just have one gate. And, of course, they wouldn't keep every gate open at night.

A little more optimistically, Buffy started to walk along the wall. She didn't get thirty feet far before she heard voices. A group of four aggressive- looking men came running out of the woods on the other side of the grass field. They were yelling and obviously coming for her. Buffy assumed a fighting position and waited for them. The men were closing in on her fast. From up close she could see they were very dirty, with long hair and ragged beards full of something yucky she couldn't identify. They were dressed in strange clothes of some crude brownish-colored fabric, and they looked quite menacing. Still, they seemed human. One of them was plowing the air with a huge axe and another carried a dagger. Once they reached her they stood still for a second or so, as if waiting for some sort of sign to attack. It came in the form of a battle cry by what seemed to be their leader, the guy with the axe. He went for her and tried to grab her with his one hand, while threatening her with the axe with his other. Buffy dodged both the hand and the axe and before he could try again, she kicked him hard in his stomach. Yup, definitely human. The man screamed and flew back, nearly hitting one of his fellow attackers with the axe. A second guy charged her now and tried to hit her. She jumped back and then hit the guy hard on the nose. She could almost hear the bone break. The men yelped and stumbled backwards as well. Now the other two came for her at the same time. Buffy spun, kicked and hit them, sending both of them sailing back on the field too. Mere humans, the men were absolutely no match for the Slayer. Her strength seemed to frighten them, and one of them started screaming, "Maga! Maga!"

Spike had just made himself comfortable, as far as that was possible, under the roof of a cave-like room in the ancient Roman ruins when he heard the sound of screams and fighting nearby. That had to be the Slayer, he figured. She'd gone that way just minutes ago. "Oh bloody hell!" he groaned. They had just got here and she was already picking a fight. Or getting herself into trouble. He smiled at the thought, but then another idea popped up in his mind. Maybe it wouldn't be such a good thing if the Slayer was done in by someone. First of all, he wanted to be the one to kill her, and wouldn't much like it if someone else managed to snatch away his good day. Secondly, if something happened to the Summers girl, he'd be stuck here all by himself. And he would have to figure out how to get home by himself too. Might not be that great. Might be good to have some help with that, even if it was from that bitch. He sighed and got up. Sure the girl could handle herself, but the fight with the Tenari earlier tonight had almost proved fatal to her. If it hadn't been for him, he scolded himself. If it hadn't been for him going completely against his nature and his feelings by saving the Slayer, he might not have been in this godforsaken place right now. Soddin' tornado.

Spike saw the scene quickly as he came down the hill. The Slayer was taking on four men, who seemed to be quite human, and she was kicking their ass. He couldn't help but admire her fighting style. She was swift, energetic, and at times quite creative. She didn't need any help now, but seeing the action, Spike felt like taking part in it too. He stormed forwards, game face on, and ran for the two men that were standing back a bit, trying to catch their breath before joining in the fight again. He growled, and at the sound, the men looked up. One look at the vampire's face send them running back into the woods. They were screaming in fear which made a third man look up. He too ran to escape, while Buffy was still fighting the fourth guy. Damn humans, Spike thought. He knew their escape had saved him a headache from the chip going off, but he had still hoped to get in a punch or two. The fourth guy paused his rather pathetic attempts to hit the Slayer to check out the newcomer. Immediately he cried out like his mates had and turned to run. Spike set in the chase and caught the man by the neck within a few seconds. He proceeded to drag him back to the Slayer. The girl was panting, but otherwise seemed to be fine. "You ok?" Spike asked, to make sure.

She looked up at him, surprised. Probably hadn't expected him to care. Well he didn't, not really, he told himself. He just needed her to be alright now because it was in his own self interest. "Yeah." She said. She pointed at the human. "Why did you bring him back?"

"Thought the bugger might be able to give us some information. As to where exactly we are, for one thing." Spike replied, letting go off the man's neck. The bloke sank to his knees, closed his eyes and immediately started to pray in a language that indeed sounded like Italian. Or it could be Latin.

"Stop that you idiot." Spike growled. He kicked the man's folded hands apart and grabbed his own head in pain as the chip went off. It had the effect he'd hoped though, for the guy stopped his praying and just looked up at the both of them, a deadly fear in his expression.

"I thought you were so sure we were in Italy." Buffy started. "Then why-"

"Slayer, do me a favor and shut up." Spike cut her off.

"Hey! I-"

"Look." Spike pointed at the city. "Walls. A gate."

"Yeah, so?"

"That's not normal. See this guy?"

"Uh-huh." Buffy shrugged.

"See his clothes. Not normal either."

"Spike, what are you saying?"

Just then Buffy's attacker started praying again. He was very quiet, mumbling and whispering. He thought they didn't hear, but Spike with his preternatural hearing did. He kicked the guy again. "I said stop it!"

Buffy put her hands on her sides. "Do you have to keep kicking him?"

Rolling his eyes, Spike replied, "Buffy, do you have any idea what those fellers would've done to you if it hadn't been for the girl power deal?"

Buffy winced, and Spike didn't know if it was from the realization of what they would have done to her or from him speaking her name. He didn't know why he had called her by her name. It had just rolled off his tongue, sort of naturally, and the name hadn't tasted foreign like he had expected it to. And what did it matter anyway? This was a weird situation, so weird things like him calling her 'Buffy' were bound to happen.

"I know." Buffy replied, staring at the guy at her feet. "Believe me I know. And if I think about it, I'll kill him. Which is not good. Killing him. Because we need information, right?"

Spike nodded and proceeded to light a cigarette. Good, at least she seemed to understand now what he was getting at. He shook off his game face and continued. "That wall, not the ruins. They're from the days of ancient Rome. That's where the old city begins. But around that there's supposed to be the, well, newer city. Not a wall. Wasn't like that when I was last here."

"And when was that?"

"Not sure. 'Bout a year or two after the Great War I think."

"The Great War." Buffy said quizzically. "Help me out."

"First World War."

"What? Well it could've changed since then, right? I mean, that's a... a really long time ago. They could've put up the wall." Buffy didn't want to admit that this seemed a bit unlikely. And that those walls didn't look particularly 20th century-like.

"And what, done away with the whole newer part of the city? Not bloody likely." Why was he wasting time trying to explain to her what he feared had happened to them? Spike turned to their prisoner and forced the man to look up. He pointed at the city behind them. "Roma?" he asked.

The man nodded nervously. "Si, si, Roma."

Spike gave Buffy an I-told-you-so look. Then he continued his questioning. "What year is it?"

The man looked at him with a blank expression on his face. He didn't say anything.

"He doesn't understand you." Buffy said to Spike.

"I can see that," replied the vampire. "C'est quel an?"

"What?" Buffy blurted out.

"I'm talking to him."

"You speak French?" She looked unbelieving.

"Live a hundred and twenty years Slayer, you learn a few things. 'Sides, Dru and I spend some time in Paris, 'round the turn of the century. Montmarte disctrict." Spike's eyes got a bit misty at the thought. He had drifted off into his good memories, Buffy supposed. He snapped back into the present moment within a fraction of a second. "Now can I get on with it?"

"Sure, whatever."

"C'est quel an?"

The man still didn't say anything. He just stared at them. "Bloody twit can't speak French either," said Spike.

"Why don't you try Italian?" Buffy said sarcastically. "This being Italy and all."

"I don't speak it. Not much anyway, I never bothered." Still, Spike figured, he could give it a try. Latin maybe. He'd had learned Latin in school when he was human and was bound to remember some of it through the fog that surrounded his human memories. "Anno dominica?"

"Si, si," the man replied, looking at them as if they had gone nuts now.

"Anno Dominica? Che? Write it. Scrivere." Spike said, gesturing at the sand. The once again blank expression on the man's face only confirmed Spike's growing fear. The bloke couldn't write. The city wall, the man's clothes, his inability to write. it all added up. But how? They couldn't really have gone back into time, could they?

Buffy in the meantime experienced much the same course of thought. This man couldn't write. His outfit looked like it came straight from the set of Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. A part of Rome as Spike knew it was missing. It couldn't be, could it? But then, they lived on a hellmouth. If a tornado could blow them across all of the USA and the Atlantic, then why not haul them back into time as well? Buffy started to feel very fidgety. Nervousness was building up quickly inside her and a cold feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. What if it was true? Oh god. Then she was stuck here. With Spike. No chance of simply catching a plane or even a boat to go back home. If she ever got to go home. She shook her head and looked at Spike again.

The vampire was studying her intently. "You thinking what I think, Slayer?"

She spoke slowly, weighing each word. "We've… gone back into time?"

He nodded. Meant to say something, but she suddenly jumped a little. "No, wait, we can't be sure of that. I mean, we could be in another dimension, right? That could be right, too." She seemed almost happy with this idea.

Spike shrugged. "It's possible. I don't know what's worse."

"Me neither." Buffy's shoulders slumped. He was right, another dimension was just as bad. No easy way to get out of that, either. She suddenly felt very lost, as if she was light years away from home. "How do we find out?" she said softly. "I mean... what year it is, or which dimension we're in?"

"We don't" Spike replied, dropping his cigaret butt on the ground. "Not today anyway. Sun's almost up, so I'm going back to the ruins, find some shelter."

The world was indeed swathed in the mist and dew of approaching dawn now. Buffy wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand she could wait till the town's gates opened in the morning, and explore the time or dimension or whatever it was they had ended up in. But on the other hand. Spike was the only one she knew here. Admittedly, he wasn't the kind of company she would've wished herself on a desert island with, but fact was, they were stuck here together. And it might be easier to figure how to get back to Sunnydale together. After all, two had more chance of finding the way than one. Buffy took a step forward, indecisively. It made the world spin around her. With her next step a second wave of dizziness hit her. She stood still, steadying herself and took a deep breath. Only now did she feel how incredibly tired she was. It felt as if the last fight with the four highwaymen had sucked the last bit of energy she had left from her. The tiredness swept her doubt away. She'd go with Spike, hide out in the ruins. Get some sleep. Tomorrow there'd be time enough to find out where they were. When they were. And worry, plenty of time to worry.

"I.. I think I'll go with you." Buffy said, still a little hesitant. What if he didn't want her to come with him?

"Fine," the vampire replied. He took off without waiting for her. Spike would never let the Slayer know it, but he was happy she'd decided to stay with him for the moment. Also, the bird looked dead tired. It’d do her good to get some sleep, he thought. "And since when do you care?" a voice in the back of his mind whispered. He shrugged a little. Of course he didn't care.

Buffy followed Spike to the cave he had picked before. Once inside, Spike found the place he'd sat earlier, in the back corner of the room, and lay down on the floor. Not too comfortable, but he was pretty tired himself, and couldn't care less about comfort. He was used to sleeping on top of a stone sarcophagus in his crypt. Buffy had a slightly harder time of making her bed.

"Slayer." Spike said to her back while she was scanning the room for a place to sleep.

"Yeah?"

"Promise not to stake me while I'm sleeping."

"One snore and you're dust." Buffy replied. She stood in the corner the furthest away from Spike. There she lay down on her side on the sandy uneven stone floor, and tried not to feel the cold of the morning, or the hardness of her bed.

"I'm a vampire. We don't snore."

Buffy didn't reply. Why couldn't she be stuck here with Angel, she thought. Or her boyfriend, Riley? Or one of her friends, or her mom, or anyone not Spike? Again a wave of loneliness overcame her and she bit on her lip hard to keep back her tears. No way she would cry in front of Spike. She'd never hear the end of it if she did.

Spike closed his eyes and dozed off within seconds. About fifteen minutes later he woke up from a shuffling sound next to him. He opened his eyes, squinting against the daylight pouring into the front of the room, and saw the silhouette of the Slayer crouch down next to him. She saw him look and said defensively, "There are things over there, rats or big, very big, mice."

He grinned. He could give her a hard time now but he didn't feel like it, so he just kept quiet. Buffy stretched out on the ground a feet or so away from him. Spike closed his eyes again but found he couldn't sleep anymore now. For some reason her presence, so close to him, kept him awake. "Bloody hell," he cursed under his breath. Why was she suddenly getting to him?

"Hm?" Buffy muttered drowsily. Spike looked at her and saw she was halfway to dreamland already. The girl was shivering a little and had goosebumps all over her arms. Of course, he thought. It was pretty cold and that sleeveless thing she was wearing wouldn't protect her from it. Must be winter, he thought. Rome never got this cold at night except for the winter months. Spike propped himself up and silently took off his duster. "I'm just doing this to make sure she doesn't get sick," he told himself as he draped the leather around her bare shoulders. "Can't have her get sick when she's got to help me get back to our world. 'Sides, I don't need it myself anyway." Buffy sighed contentedly in her sleep and snuggled deeper into the coat. It gave him a strange feeling of satisfaction. Smiling, he turned around and went back to sleep.