Part XI  - Sugamoon

Spike and Buffy gawked at the creature standing before them, its toothless mouth gaping open in a strange form of a smile.

“Why you still here? Why you not in sugamoon?” it asked with a screeching voice.

 The two blondes eyed each other in confusion.

“Suga-?“ Buffy stopped in mid-sentence and rephrased as she shook her head: “What are you? What are you doing here?”

At the question the scrawny demon frowned.

“You hit head?”

“Huh?”

“Me It.” It explained as another of its odd smiles spread over its lips.

“You it?” It was Spike’s turn to question.

In response, the creature emphatically nodded, goofy grin still plastered on.

Cautiously, Buffy took a step towards the funny demon and bent down to observe it closely. It didn’t look dangerous. No teeth, no claws, no horns. Nope, nothing dangerous about him, except for the strange smell it emanated. Standing up straight, the Slayer leaned back towards the vampire that stood behind her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Do I look like a walking demonology book to you, Slayer?” Spike quipped, raising his scarred eyebrow when he noticed the small demon eyeing him with its large eyes.

Buffy sighed at his reply but tried to ignore it as she continued to speak.

“What is it doing here?”

“And once again - not a walking demon-“

“Ok, ok, I get it.” The Slayer exhaled again turning her attention to the demon. “Hum… It?”

The creature grinned wildly.

“Can you come here for a second?” She asked as she moved between the shelves packed with books.

The demon gingerly followed, its small feet dragging on the floor making a shuffling sound as it moved. Spike couldn’t help smiling as he noticed its odd way of walking, it seemed strangely familiar.

“Hey, did you get the b-“ Willow’s voice trailed off when she saw the small creature standing next to the Slayer.

Everyone around the table turned to look at the demon.

“Yacks! What is it?” Xander immediately jumped up.

“Xander!” It squeaked in its high-pitched voice, shuffling its feet across the room, its arms wide open as he closed the distance between the two.

The young man was up and cowering behind his fiancée before the demon could reach him.

“Ah! Get it away from me!”

The demon’s expression changed at Xander’s reaction, its lower lips jutting out for a painful pout.

“It knows you!” Anya noted. Slowly, as realisation came so did a frown over her forehead. “Why does it know you? Xander! Where do you know this demon from?” she asked with an accusing tone.

“I-I don’t know. I have no idea.” The young man tried to defend himself.

“You no like me no more?” The creature squeaked sadly.

“Oh, it’s so cute!” Dawn and Willow said in unison.

Buffy frowned at her sister’s and best friend’s statement.

“You think it’s cute? We don’t know what it is, for all we know it could be a deadly demony… evil… thing that is planning to kill us all.” The Slayer tried to reason.

“Right, you can just tell it’s planning to tear us to small unrecognisable pieces with its huge, non-existing teeth.” Spike mocked from his spot leaning against a bookcase.

“Hey!” Buffy protested. Turning to the rest of the gang she continued: “We have to find out what it is. We have to research.”

“Or we could just ask the little bugger, seeing as he speaks English.” The vampire’s tone dripped with sarcasm.

The Slayer shot him a dirty look before turning to ask the demon:

“Where-are-you-from? Where-do-you-live?” Buffy said the two phrases carefully, articulating each word as if she was speaking to a foreigner who knew little or no English.

The creature tilted its head and frowned before asking: “You hit head?”

Buffy’s lips settled in a straight line as she heard the muffled laugh coming from the vampire behind her.

“You think you can do better?” she asked turning to face the Brit.

“Couldn’t be worse.” The vampire pushed himself off the bookcase and uncrossed his arms. “Hey, there.”

“Hi, Spike!” It greeted.

The blonde was a little disconcerted by the fact that the demon knew his name, but tried to ignore it.

“What are you doing here?”

“Help Anya.” It gingerly answered as it smiled toward the young woman.

“You know Anya?” The vampire asked.

The creature nodded.

“Do you know all of us?” Spike circled his index finger in the air, gesturing toward everyone.

It turned to scan the room.

“Me not know her.” And it pointed towards Sam who was still sitting around the table next to Dawn.

“Everyone else you know?”

Another nod.

“Where do you know us from?”

This time it froze. It didn’t seem to understand the question.

“Me know everyone.” It simply answered.

“Yes, we’ve established that. Now, where do you know us from?” The vampire asked again.

“Me know from… Master?”

Everyone frowned.

“We fight Master.” It elaborated.

“You fought the Master with us?” Buffy asked with a frown. “Why would we need a scrawny little demon to fight a vampire?”

“No vampire.” It corrected.

“No vampire?” The Slayer repeated.

“Master, no vampire.”

“I give up.” Buffy sighed flopping onto a nearby chair.

“Look, it’s probably from a parallel universe, where it helped us fight some Big Bad who happened to be a Master.” Willow offered.

At the Wicca’s explanation the short demon scratched its head.

“Parallel univ…?”

“What is it doing here now?” Dawn asked as she stared at the cute little thing.

“The two universes must be joined right now.” Sam finally spoke. “He’ll probably disappear like all the other ones.”

~+~

Three hours later, the demon sat on the floor squeaking “Wind Beneath My Wings” off the top of its lungs.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Spike growled for the third time.

“Sorry!” The demon shrilled bowing its head as it stood up and began walking around.

“Don’t shout at It!” Dawn, Willow and Sam protest in unison and the vampire sank into his chair.

Xander peeped over the edge of the large volume he was holding and smiled at the sight of the small demon shuffling its feet as it walked.

“It looks like a scrawny version of ET. It even walks like it.” The young man remarked.

“Oh, yeah! That’s what it reminded me of.” Spike spoke, glancing towards the slimy creature.

They all returned to their research when a strange humming sound started coming from It, gradually, words followed and once more It was pseudo-singing as loud as it could.

“Bloody hell!” The vampire bellowed and as a result he got staking looks from all the females present. “You said that it would disappear!” Spike groaned accusingly at Sam.

“It’s taking longer. Maybe its getting worse and now the mixing is taking longer to get… unmixed.” The redhead offered defensively.

“It’s a Khind’Ara  demon.” Anya explained as she read from a book she held in her hands. “Harmless, sort of dumb-“

“Hey!” the demon protested. “Me no dumb!” Crossing its scrawny arms over its chest in a sign of protest.

“Not much more. Except that it survives by serving other larger, stronger demons.” Anya continued.

Everyone looked at the demon pouting in the corner and a general sigh was heard.

“He’s just so cute.” Sam noted.

“He’s bloody annoying that’s what he is. If he sings that tune one more time I’m gonna…” The vampire trailed off as Dawn gave him a look of steel.

A few minutes later…

“You are the wind beneath my wings…” the demon screeched.

“Ok, that’s it!” Spike growled, standing up and walking towards the creature with ground eating steps.

Buffy was off her chair and between the two in a flash. It cowered behind the Slayer for protection as she looked up to meet the vampire’s angry gaze.

“You’re not touching him.” She stated.

“Slayer, you might actually like that tune, you might even want it during your wed-“ He wasn’t able to finish as the Slayer’s hand now covered his mouth.

“No need to dig up nasty memories.” She said.

Slowly, realisation that her fingers were touching his parted lips dawned on her and she froze as a rush of electricity coursed through her. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore it, fighting the urge to roll her eyes back in their sockets as she felt him close his mouth and accidentally kiss her skin.

Spike pulled a sharp, unnecessary breath at the feel of her fingers on his lips, her familiar scent flaring his nostrils, bringing with it the memory of her touch, her taste. He could swear he could sense the blood rushing in his body, but suddenly it was gone.

She dropped her hand quickly when she noticed the look on everyone’s faces.

“J-Just leave It alone.” She stuttered as she felt the flush take over the pale complexion of her face.

“Then make it stop singing that bloody tune.” He snarled.

Turning around and squatting down she spoke softly:

“It, stop singing that song, the bad vampire here doesn’t like it.”

“But is song from wedding.” The small demon squeaked.

“Wedding?” Anya frowned. “Someone played that God awful song at my wedding? No one’s playing that, not even in a parallel universe. Except if…” her expression changed from outrage to fear. “Oh my God Xander! I have bad taste in a parallel universe!” The ex-demon started to bawl.

“Oh… honey, no you don’t. I’m sure it wasn’t our wedding.” Xander tried to reassure her.

“It no Anya and Xander wedding.” It spoke

“See…” The young man said as he noticed his fiancée was starting to calm down.

“It Buffy and Spike wedding.” It quipped with a huge grin.

“WHAT?!” everyone in the room said in unison, except for Sam who had already had a flash from the demon some time before.

“Wha-what do you mean, my wedding with Spike?” Buffy asked incredulous.

“You marry Spike.” It announced.

“I’m gonna marry Spike?” A hint of despair floated in her voice as she stood up and turned to look at the vampire.

“No.” The demon corrected.

“Thank God!” Xander breathed.

“You already marry Spike. You be in sugamoon now!”

“Suga-what?” Spike asked.

“I think he means honeymoon.” Sam stepped in as she tried to bite back the laughter.

“We got married and went on a honeymoon?” Buffy asked incredulous as the demon nodded wildly.

~+~

Buffy sat on the chair with her hands buried in her hair.

“I married Spike?”

“I guess so.” Willow spoke softly as she patted her best friend’s back.

“How cool can that be?” Dawn asked with a smile that went from one ear to the other.

“It’s not cool, Dawn. It-it’s… wrong.” Buffy lifted her head to look at her younger sister who was now rolling her eyes.

“It’s just a parallel universe. It’s not like you-you’ve actually married him, Buffy.” Tara tried to reason.

“But…” The Slayer trailed off and let out a heavy sigh as she turned to look at the demon sitting in the corner playing with its fingers.

Outside, evening had fallen and it was dark. Xander, Anya, Spike and Sam had gone out to get pizzas. It was going to be a long research night.

“I’m gonna marry her!” The vampire kept saying over and over.

“You’re not going to marry her. You married her, in a parallel universe.” Sam corrected him and instantly got a painful image from him. “Fine, I’ll just shut up then.” The redhead groaned as she leaned on the counter of the Pizza place. She stared through the large windows and saw Anya and Xander talking in the car.

Suddenly, the vampire’s eyes widened:

“Can you read little ET’s mind?”

“I told you I can’t read mind-“ she stopped in mid-sentence as another aching ‘illustration’ assaulted her. “I only get pummelled by horrible pictures coming from everyone’s head.” She grumbled. “ And yes, I got a very pretty one of you’re wedding. You look kind of cute in a tuxedo by the way.”

“What was it like? Where? How did-“

“Hey! Question-man!” Sam held up her hand as she tried to stop the avalanche of question being thrown at her. “One at a time.”

“Where was-“ he started but she cut him off as 4 family sized boxes of pizza were set in front of them.

“Pizza’s done!” she said with an evil grin picking them up and headed for the door.

“Hey! Come here, we can’t talk in the car, Anya and Xander…” The vampire protested walking after her.

“We’ll talk later.”

~+~

She threw feeble blows against the punching bag, her mind drifted and she didn’t notice the hollow sound of footsteps entering the training room.

“Luv…?”

She felt her heart jump up to her throat at the familiar voice. She wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. Not yet. Actually, not ever. So they had married in a parallel universe, so what? Probably the Buffy in that world was completely different from her. ‘She’s probably-‘

Her mind and body froze as she felt cold fingers encircle her shoulder. After a few seconds she turned around to face him. He stood in front of her, light blue shirt, black jeans, army boots. The usual. Actually, no, not usual. She had never seen that shirt. Had he gone home and changed when he’d gone out for pizzas?

“Look, Spike, I don’t want to talk about this.” She started as she tried to walk away but he held her by her arm.

“Don’t do this Buffy. We need to talk about it. You can’t just ignore it.” He spoke softly, calmly, but there was a hint of nervousness in his tone.

“What’s to ignore, there is nothing to ignore. It won’t happen.” She argued as she freed herself from his grip and started unwrapping the straps of tape she had around her knuckles.

Her eyes were buried in her task, watching as each layer peeled off to reveal sweat palms. Long after she had finished she was still fidgeting with the white cloth.

“Buffy, look at me. You can’t-“

“I can do whatever I damn well please.” She snapped looking up at him, but soon regretted it as she felt her stomach twist in a familiar way.

“You knew this would eventually happen.”

“What?” She yelped. “That I would marry you in a parallel universe. I’m glad to say the thought never crossed my mind.”

Deep, confused wrinkles marred his forehead as he looked at her puzzled.

“A parallel universe? Buffy? What are you talking about?”

“About you and me being married in a parallel-What do you think I’m talking about?” She let out a frustrated gasp.

“Wha’? I was talking about Dawn… and college. We’re married?” The vampire asked extremely confused.

“Dawn and college?”

“Yes. Dawn’s going off to college.” Suddenly, his expression changed and a hint of fear was visible in his blue eyes. He took a step towards her and rested his hands over her arms, as if he was afraid she’d faint at any second. “Buffy, did you hit your head?”

Cold, trembling fingers quickly travelled over her shoulder, under her chin and along the side of her face to brush away the few loose strands that escaped the elastic band that tied her hair into a ponytail. He carefully inspected her face and checked her for a fever.

“Spike?” she looked up, over her frown at the hand that still rested on her forehead. “What are you doing?”

“You ok?” The concern evident in his voice.

“I’m pretty sure I’m fine. You on the other hand I’m not so sure. I think you’re bordering on the insane. And why do you keep touching me?” she suddenly backed away as the closeness between them seemed too much to handle.

“What do you mean?” He stopped moving as he noticed every time he took a step toward her she would take three backwards.

“This whole… touching and… Spike we are not going back there!” she warned him.

“Back where?” he was completely out of the loop. He couldn’t even see the loop. There was no loop at all from his perspective. He was loopless.

“Back to… you know!” Seeing the frown over his eyebrows she tried to elaborate. “Me coming to your place and… well, us meeting in places and…”

“Buffy… You’re scaring me, luv. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or drink some kind of potion or-“

“Why does everyone keep thinking that I hit my head?! And no! There is no potion or anything. I’m fine. There is nothing wrong with me. You’re the one who is acting strange.” She spoke quickly without taking a breath.

“Then what’s this talk about parallel universes?” He was getting increasingly frustrated.

Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to light up in her head.

“Oh my God. You’re another one of them, aren’t you?” Her words travelled between her fingers that now covered her mouth.

“One of them? Buffy…” Before he could finish she was moving towards the door that led to the Magic Box.

“Come with me and I’ll show you.” She said as he followed her. “Guys, we have another PUE. You’ll never believe what-“ she stopped in mid-sentence when she entered the next room.

“PUE? Where are you going?” The vampire shouted after her.

He jumped up as she abruptly halted her stride causing him to bump into her.

Everything was out of place. The counter was on the opposite side, next to the door and at the right corner, where the cash register used to be there was a large curtain, as if sealing off that area. There were still bookcases but they were lined up the wrong way.

“What happened?” She asked, as she remained frozen in place.

“What do you mean?”

“Why is everything turned around?”

“Nothing’s turned around. It looks exactly the same as it always is.”

“No, it’s not! The counter should be over there, the table over here and what is that curtain thing?” She pointed wildly at all the oddities.

“You were the one that gave the idea to separate the research area from the rest of the shop so we wouldn’t have to close it every time we had to research, remember? When Anya made the remodelling after Glory trashed the place?”

“Glory? She trashed the place?” Slowly realisation came. “Oh my God, I am the PUE!”

“PUE? What’s a PUE? Buffy?”

Author's Note - Thanks sooooo much to Ali for BETA reading this chapter so quickly and for giving me the hints I needed to fix a few kinks! ;)

                   Due to the various PUE’s (Parallel Universe Event) going on in this chapter I’m going to label each scene with Universe A – if it’s set in the original universe of this fic, the one where Sam is. Or Universe B – if it’s set in the other universe where Buffy A is at right now.

Part XII  - PUE

Universe B

Buffy flopped down to the floor, she didn’t even bother to take the few steps that were needed to reach the nearest chair and sit on it.

“Buffy?” His voice was a mere whisper, but the confusion and fear were evident.

He squatted down and, slowly, his hand came to brush away the golden threads that framed her face before resting on her cheek.

“Talk to me, luv. What’s happening? What’s a PUE?”

“Parallel Universe Event.” She was barely able to say it as her mind still tried to adjust to the thought that she was, once again, in a different world, except, this time, she was alone.

He wanted to ask her, to have her explain to him what she was talking about, but he could tell that she needed time to calm down. He pulled his legs from under himself and sat on the floor, waiting for her to make a move. Eventually, she did. She took a deep, long breath and looked up to speak:

“Let’s say I’ve just lost all my memories.”

He made a move to say something as the fear gripped him once again, but she held up a hand.

“Let’s just suppose. What is this world like? What do I do? Where do I live? Where is Dawn, Xander, Anya, Willow… everyone?”

He tilted his head and she nodded:

“Just indulge me.”

“You’re the Slayer. You do remember what a Slayer is, right?”

Before he could finish the question she was already nodding affirmatively.

“Dawn’s your sister. She’s graduated from High-School. She was valedictorian and she’s going to Berkeley to study to become a writer. She left an hour ago.”

“Oh, my God! Dawn was valedictorian! Ah and she’s going to college! Oh, my God!” Buffy squeaked happily. “What else?”

“Hum… Xander, one of your best friends, works at a construction company. Anya, his wife slash ex-vengeance demon, runs this shop with Giles, who was your watcher and works at the library downtown.”

“So this Xander had the guts to set a date for the wedding and actually went through with it.” She murmured to herself.

“What?”

“No, nothing. Go on!”

“Hum… Oh, Willow, your gay best friend and a pretty powerful Wicca, is still in college working on her masters’ degree and shares a dorm room with Tara, her girlfriend. That about covers the close acquaintances.”

“What about… my mom?” she asked hopeful, but the moment she saw the distraught look on the vampire’s face she knew – some bad things didn’t change.

“I’m sorry, Buffy. She died, 4 years ago, of a brain tumour.”

She ran her hand over her face and settled it over her forehead as she stared at floor she sat on. Everything he had told her so far had been so perfect.

“Do I still have a job at the Doublemeat Palace?” She asked without bothering to look at him.

“Doublemeat Palace? Why would you have a job there?”

“Well, to pay for the bills.” She sighed.

“You have a job. Slaying?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t pay a dime.”

“Of course it does. You get a check every month.”

“Huh?” she frowned and finally looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

“Almost three years ago, there was this huge demon rioting and you, as always, saved the day. Only, this time, it was actually the day and not the night. It was so bloody obvious that no one could deny it anymore. So the Mayor decided to award you a monthly income for the job you do for the city.” He finished his explanation and looked at her skeptical face.

“I get paid? By city hall? You’re joking, right?”

The vampire shook his head.

“The people in this town still go around ignoring everything and pretending nothing ever happens, but…” He shrugged.

After half an hour it was clear to Buffy that this parallel world had been very similar to the one back home up to a certain point - she had still fought Glory, except, this time, Spike had actually managed to stop the Doc from cutting Dawn and Buffy had never died.

“So you saved Dawn?” She looked at him as he nodded.

He was completely unaware of what would have happened if… She shook her head as she tried to push back the memories.

“Buffy… Why are you acting like this? Don’t you remember?” He asked concerned.

She swallowed hard before speaking:

“I’m not from here.”

“What? What do you-“

She held up her hand once more and continued:

“I’m from a parallel universe. Something is making the universes join momentarily and that’s why I’m here.” She explained as well as she could. “In my world you never…” she trailed off.

Spike paused for a second. It just seemed too much information when he realized:

“But if you’re here, then where’s my Buffy?” Spike asked confused. “She was supposed to be in the training room, she went in there to vent out Dawn’s move to college.”

“I don’t know.” She answered simply.

“But what if Buffy’s…” He trailed off. This was so confusing. He was looking straight at her and yet he feared for her life because the Buffy sitting opposite him wasn’t his Buffy.

“You do realize you’re talking about me in the third person, don’t you?” Buffy raised her eyebrow and started outstretching her arms.

“Well, technically, she’s not exactly you. Things are probably different where you come from. You’ve had different experiences, therefore you have a completely -” Spike started to elaborate on his theory but she stopped him, by standing up.

“I really don’t wanna dwell on that. I just wanna go home and hopefully, this time tomorrow, I’ll be back in my own universe and you’ll have your Buffy back.” She walked a few steps towards the door before stopping. “I still live at Revello Drive, right?”

The vampire nodded as he followed her out.

“Good.”

~+~

Universe A

“Pizza!” Dawn jumped off her chair when she saw Xander and Anya walking in, closely followed by Spike and Sam.

“Knock yourself out!” The redhead smiled as she barely had time to place the boxes on the table before the young teenager was opening them.

“Where’s Buffy?” Xander asked taking a large bite from a slice.

“She’s in the back. Said she needed to think.” Willow explained.

“We should check on her.” Tara said softly. “She’s been there for a while.”

“I’ll go.” Spike immediately offered as he walked towards the back door.

Xander was about to protest but the sight of rapidly disappearing pizzas blocked his trail of thought.

A familiar mixture of angry punches and breathless gasped reached his ears before he entered the room. She was frenetically jabbing the punching bag, causing it to swing erratically in the air.

“Not now, Spike!” she said without even looking at him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” he pretended not to know what she was talking about as he came closer to her.

“Arg!” She let out a loud groan throwing one last powerful punch.

She turned to stare at him with an annoyed look on her sweaty face.

“When did you change?” She asked when she noticed his clothes.

“What do you mean change?”

“Your clothes.”

“I didn’t change.”

She let out an exasperate gasp.

“Whatever, I’m going home.” She grumbled under her breath as she put on her jacket and started heading towards the back door.

“What about the others?” Spike asked, bringing his thumb over his shoulder and pointing toward the Magic Box.

“What about the others?” she asked with a frown pushing the backdoor open to exit the building.

“The others.” He insisted.

She sighed loudly and ignored his question: “Are you coming?” she asked as he remained glued to the floor.

“Are we just going to leave them?” The vampire quickly caught up with the petite blonde.

Buffy turned to look at him with a frown, but she was too tired to get into an argument with him so she simply grunted:

“Everyone’s leaving me so…”

“Are you ok, Slayer?” He continued his questioning as they walked down the road.

“I’m fine.” She gave him her trademark answer.

“You don’t-“

“Spike!” she grinded her teeth together, speeding up her pace.

~+~

Universe B

They walked up the steps of the front porch and Buffy’s hands automatically reached for the back pocket of her jeans.

“Damn it!” she cursed. “I left my keys on the table at the Magic Shop… and to top it off, in a parallel universe. Great, just great!”

She walked away from the door and started to round the porch looking for an open window when she heard the metallic sound of a key fitting a lock. She turned to see Spike opening the front door.

“Spike, why do you have the key to my house?” she asked afraid of the answer.

He cleared his throat and stepped into the house. Buffy quickly followed.

“Spike?”

“Well… Me and… the other Buffy are…” He hesitated.

She tilted her head forward as if encouraging him.

“You and me are…?”

“Livingtogether.” He said in one breath and immediately headed toward the kitchen leaving a shock-frozen Buffy behind to pick up her jaw off the floor.

“WE ARE WHAT?” She yelled entering the tiled room after him.

“We’re living together.” He repeated before gulping down a glass of cold water.

“Am I completely insane in every *single* universe besides my own? In one I marry you, in the other I’m living with you!” She shrieked, walking over to the counter and sitting down on one of the chairs that surrounded it.

The vampire seemed to take offence to her statement and growled back:

“Maybe you’re the one who’s insane and all the other Buffys are actually quite sane, ever think of that?”

She rolled her eyes at him, choosing to ignore him. Walking towards the fridge, she opened it to scan its contents. The bottom shelf was lined up with bottles filled with blood.

“Gross!” she murmured under her breath as she reached for a Tupperware.

Opening it, she was surprised to find what looked like leftovers of… something really mushy and probably yucky tasting. Her facial muscles immediately contracted at the sight and smell of it.

“God, what is this?”

“Supposedly, it’s meatloaf and mashes pees.”

Buffy’s face twisted in an even more painful manner.

“Don’t make that yuck face. You made that!” he said with a grin. “I think that’s the real reason why Dawn’s going away for college. She’s fleeing from your *amazing* culinary skills.”

She shot him a dirty look and dropped the Tupperware into the sink.

“I think I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to take a shower.” She murmured as she shuffled her feet on her way out of the kitchen.

~+~

Universe A

“Buffy are you sure you’re ok?”

“Spike, if you ask me that question one more time I swear I’ll dust you!” Buffy practically growled as she pushed the door open and entered the house.

“It’s just that you’re acting a bit strange.” The vampire explained.

“I’m fine! How many times do I have to say it, for Christ sake?!”

“You don’t-“

“That’s it! You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” She practically commanded.

“What do you mean I’m sleeping on the couch? Since when do I sleep on the couch?” Spike asked completely confused.

“Since tonight!”

She didn’t even give him a chance to say anything as she stomped up the stairs leaving a very stunned vampire behind.

~+~

Universe B

She rested her head on the cold tiled wall and let the burning water caress her skin. She stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, allowing it to calm and sooth her.

Sluggishly, her fingers turned the faucet and she stood up straight looking for the nearest towel. Picking it up, she wrapped it around herself, letting the rough fabric soak up the little droplets that clung to her skin. Slowly, a familiar scent of cigarettes and alcohol enveloped her – it came from the towel that cloaked her naked form.

She carefully opened the bathroom door, her head peeping out as she scanned the area. No one in sight. Quickly, holding onto the towel wrapped around her chest, she jogged her way to her room and let out a deep breath once she closed the door behind her and was safe in the privacy of her room.

It was dark, the only dim light came from the window. She scanned the room. It looked exactly the same as her own. Actually, now that she thought of it so did the entire house. She sighed when she saw the mountain of covers on the unmade bed. Yep, some things never change. She had always hated making her bed.

She ran her hands through her wet hair and grumbled:

“To blow-dry or not to blow-dry, that’s the question.”

One glance at the inviting bed gave her the answer.

“Not to blow-dry, it is.” She whispered between yawns as she dropped the towel on the floor before lying on the bed.

She reached behind her and tried to pull the covers. She froze when she heard someone grumble something from underneath them.

“Ah!” she screamed as a bleached head popped out from under the sheets and joined her in a symphony of shrieks.

They sat there for a few seconds, bellowing their lungs at each other while their hands frantically pulled the fabric to cover themselves.

“What are you doing here?!!” She yelled at him.

“I sleep here!” He shouted back.

“Well, not with me, you don’t!” She barked.

“Sorry! I forgot… I just…slipped.” He was actually being honest.

He had been sleeping in that bed for the last two years and a half now. It had just become an automatic task to come up the stairs and slip into it.

“Ha! Just slipped, right! For all I know you and I aren’t even together and you just made that up so you could…” she said accusingly.

“Could what?”

“Get into bed with me!” she growled waving her hand to emphasize their situation.

“Oh come on! You don’t actually think I-”

“Prove it!” she cut him off.

“What?”

“Prove it! Prove you’ve slept with me.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“A-ha!”

“What a-ha?”

“You can’t prove it!” She noted triumphantly.

“Bloody hell, fine! You have a funny looking birth mark on you left buttocks.”

She froze for a second, but after swallowing hard she continued:

“That doesn’t prove a thing. You could have seen that during a fight or something.”

“A fight that left you literally butt naked?” his scared eyebrow shot up.

She answered him by setting her lips in a straight line, waiting for the proof she had demanded.

“When you get too excited during sex, you make this cute little mewing sound and when you’re close to coming you like to squeeze-“

He was cut short as Buffy jumped across the bed and her nervous fingers came to slam against his mouth. They froze still. He sat while she slightly hovered over him, kneeling on the bed, her free hand clutching the covers against her naked and still wet form. It took a second for her mind to register their compromising position, for her heart to jump to attention and start frantically banging against her ribcage.

“Satisfied?” It was a mere whisper that left his mouth to brush over her fingers.

‘Not for a while.’ The twisted part of her mind shouted at her.

A sharp gasp escaped her parted lips as she felt him bring his lips over her index finger, lightly nipping it. Her eyelids seemed to hold the weight of the world as his tongue flickered across her flaming skin and she closed them.

“Ah, no!” She suddenly pulled away, scrambling to reach the headboard.

Spike’s eyes shot open as a cold bucket of water seemed to spill over him.

“Just-just *go*!” she yelled pulling at the covers.

She let out a shriek as the fabric moved over the vampire’s lap and a few dark curls stuck out from under it.

“Hey!” Spike protested. It was now his turn to hog the covers and hers to object.

“Get out of my bed.” She demanded.

“It’s not your bed! It’s *my* girlfriend’s!” He shot back and that seemed to shut her up. “I have been sleeping here with her for almost three years now and I’m not going to go anywhere. So, if you want, *you* go sleep on the couch.”

And with that, he slipped between the covers and lay on his side, back turned to her as he prepared to sleep.

“What? Well…” She gasped, still working through the shock, when a new wave of strength hit her. “Fine! Sleep if you want. I’m not going anywhere either. And be warned: if any part of your dead body so much as brushes over mine, it *will* be cut off.”

~+~

Universe A

Spike rolled on the couch, laying belly up as he slept. His mind wandered; nasty thoughts of naked Buffy swimming behind his eyelids. He moaned as his dream seemed to become more vivid. He could swear he actually felt warm fingers traveling along his abdomen. Slowly, he pried his eyes open and smiled when he saw the Slayer kneeling on the floor, long white nightgown spreading at her feet, her hand gliding under his shirt. This was a good dream.

She stared up at him, a mischievous look in her greenish eyes, making them sparkle. Her small fingers explored the texture and feel of his stomach, strong, toned muscles contracting wildly beneath her touch as her hand moved lower and lower, pass the waistband of his black jeans.

“Ah!” he gasped, his eyes rolling back in his skull, his eyelids closing as she gripped him firmly. “God, Buffy!” The words barely came out as he suddenly felt out of breath under her ministrations.

He groaned while she nuzzled her face against his chest, slowly making her way to his neck. Somewhere, in the haziness of his mind he was able to hear her mew:

“I’m sorry…”

Her tongue flickered across the tender patch of skin right under his jaw and he let out another strangled cry. Ok, *this* was definitely the most vivid dream he had ever had. She looked, felt, God! She even smelled real. Could this *be* real? He wanted to ask her, but the words just seemed to fade out of his mind. All he could do was lay there, as she moved one of her legs between his, her chest coming to rest over his, her face remained nuzzled in the crock of his neck.

“Buffy…” he tried to speak. “Oh, God!” He groaned as her hand moved inside of his jeans, her lips brushed over his earlobe. “Is-is this…ah!… real?”

She let out a small giggle at his incoherent speech. She loved seeing him like this. So lost, so hers. Slowly, she moved over his jaw, across his cheek and found his lips, but as he craned up to kiss her, she pulled away and stared down at him. Her long blonde hair pooled around their faces, isolating them from the world.

“You’re beautiful…” He managed to breathe.

A soft smile spread across her lips and he moved upwards to catch her lips, but she pulled away, giving him another mischievous grin.

“You…” He started, when something in his mind seemed to click – Her hair. It had been tied up in a bun the whole time and he had only noticed now, that it flowed over her shoulders – it was long. “You’re hair… It’s long.”

She frowned for a second before dipping down to capture his lips.

His mind raced as they kissed. ‘She’s not Buffy. She’s another…’ Her hand started unbuttoning his jeans and his brain went on a permanent coffee break as she pulled her nightgown around her waist to straddle him. The vampire’s eyes shot open as he felt warm, wet flesh rubbing against his cock.

“Mmf…” he moaned and suddenly pushed her away, breaking the kiss.

She stared down at him, confusion marring her features.

“I can’t!” He breathed as he scrambled out of the couch, holding onto his jeans. “You’re not her.”

“What?” 

Next