He was on patrol with Buffy and Spike just a few days later and a very small part of him wished he had not said anything to Buffy about her relationship with the vampire. It wasn’t jealousy – not any more – but if they thought he didn’t notice all the looks and the ‘subtle’ touches, then they were kidding themselves. He almost wanted to laugh, but in truth, he was too happy for them: Spike, he knew, had wanted this for a long time, and if Buffy were honest, she probably had felt the same way for some time now.

So he did not begrudge them their happiness, even if he was a little sick of watching them fawn over each other. It was probably a relief, he imagined, finally having someone you didn’t have to hide in front of. He just wasn’t sure he wanted that privilege.

Thankfully, distraction soon presented itself up ahead in the shape of a helicopter. It hovered just above the tree line and he saw the dark shape descend down a rope and into the trees.

“Hey, lovebirds,” he called, nodding up ahead.

Buffy soon appeared at his side and he smiled to himself at the blush colouring her cheeks. With a glance behind, he spotted Spike, lighting up a cigarette.

“What is it?” Buffy asked, fiddling with the edge of her top almost nervously.

The helicopter moved away, but not before he caught sight of its markings.

“That an army helicopter?” Spike asked, moving to their side now.

“Yeah,” he answered with a slight frown,
knowing this could mean trouble for him. After all, he was officially AWOL, a crime that came with a few years in prison.

“Well, let’s see what your friends are doing in Sunnydale,” Buffy exclaimed, turning to Spike and heading towards the trees. The vampire raised an eyebrow at him and then quickly fell into step beside Buffy, leaving him to bring up the rear.



They slipped through the trees and he quickly spotted the clearing up ahead, but saw no signs of whoever had been dropped off. They continued onwards and moved into the clearing, coming to a stop in the middle of it.

“Smell anything?” Buffy asked Spike, moving to his side and brushing her hand against his.

“Not sure,” he answered, wrinkling his nose.

Riley himself was scanning the tree line, knowing that the person could not have gone far. A moment later, a red dot slipped over his face and landed on his forehead – and he froze. He waited for a heartstoppingly long moment – but the shot never came and a second later, the aim was switched off.

A figure rose from the bushes a few metres away and he heard movement behind him, but he held up a hand, halting Buffy before she could make any sort of rash decision. The figure took a few paces forward and stopped, reaching up and removing its black balaclava, revealing long, dark hair.

“Well, well, Riley Finn. I wasn’t expecting to see you anytime soon.”

“Sam!” he got out in surprise, moving forward to greet his former colleague – and one-time girlfriend, “What are you doing here?”

Her eyes flicked to his companions and back to his quickly.

“Here on business.”

He nodded, glanced back at Buffy and Spike, and returned his attention to Sam once more.

“How are you?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Yeah… good.”



There was a moment of awkward silence, but then – suddenly remembering his manners – he stepped to the side.

“Sam, I’d like you to meet some friends. This is Buffy, and this is Spike.”

Sam gave him the slightest glance at the name ‘Spike’ but said nothing, greeting vampire and slayer.

“Hi.”

“So you know Riley?” Buffy asked curiously, watching the other woman closely.

“We were in the same team,” Riley explained, gaze resting on the brunette once more. She met his gaze and smiled, but quickly turned back to the others.

“Well, seems like you two have got a lot of catching up to do,” Spike spoke up, his eyes meeting Riley’s, a slight twinkle there, “Why don’t we leave you to it?”

He slung an arm around Buffy’s shoulders and she looked up, giving him a strange look – but relaxed a moment later, smiling softly.

“Yeah, I mean, we should get going anyway,” she said, turning back to them with a blush, “We’ve got that, err, thing to do.”

He saw Spike struggle to hide his smile and bit back his own.

“Don’t get into any trouble now,” Spike said, giving him a teasing look.

“See you later,” Buffy called with a wave, turning with Spike and sliding her arm around his waist as they disappeared into the trees once more.



There was a moment of silence and then Sam turned to him with a smile.

“So that was the famous Buffy.”

“Yeah,” he replied, somewhat embarrassed – although her attention was still on the trees they had disappeared into.

“Cute couple.”

He looked in that direction and turned back as Sam turned to him.

“So I guess things didn’t quite work out as planned?” she commented with a smile.

“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Yes, we do, Riley Finn,” she answered with a slight laugh.

He smiled and after a pause, spoke up again.

“How about I buy you a drink?”

She smiled and nodded, falling into step beside him as they headed out of the park and into town, both of them silent for the most part.



“Turner too?”

“Yeah,” she answered with a frown.

“How?”

“Vampire.”

“God,” he got out, shaking his head. His team had lost another five people – all friends of his – since he had left. There was a silence between the two of them and then Sam spoke up as her hand rested over his, drawing his eyes to hers.

“Enough of that. Tell me about you. What have you been up to here in Sunnydale? You know, aside from not getting back with the girl of your dreams?”

He laughed lightly and shook his head.

“Long story.”

“I’ve got time,” she murmured, retracting her hand with the tiniest of caresses.

He smiled and sank back against the booth, his eyes trailing over the unusually quiet Bronze.

“Let’s just say, a lot of things changed.”

“I can tell.”

He righted himself and met her dark gaze.

“I’m glad.”

She smiled and he returned her smile, warmth filling his chest. She leant closer and met his gaze.

“You know there’s always a place for you with us, don’t you, Riley?”

“I thought I was in line for a court martial.”

She shook her head and smiled softly.

“I pulled some strings with the lieutenant.”

“You did?”

“Yeah,” she said, resting her hand over his once more, “We need you back, Riley.”