Disclaimer: Not mine...you know the drill.
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Manic Monday

Monday didn’t start off well. In hindsight, Buffy knew that she should have seen it from the first words that Spike said that morning.

“The poofter knows.”

Those ominous words greeted her. Spike must have known that she was awake. Clearly he had not slept. Buffy didn’t even remember him coming home last night, she had been completely exhausted from engagement party planning.

However, Buffy realised that she should have asked Spike, the hows and the whens. How did Angel find out, and when was he going to beat down her door.

At the time the sunny day out side prevented her from thinking that she was going to get accosted by the broody one for at least 12 hours.

It wasn’t that long though.

What Spike didn’t tell her was that Angel had arrived in the middle of the night and that he had had a confrontation of sorts with his grandsire at Willy’s.

Of course it wasn’t until Buffy was safely working away on her research that Angel entered the Magic Box and shocked the hell out of her.

“Maybe we should put a bell on the sewer entrance,” said Anya at one point. “I mean it would be nice to know when customers are entering the shop. Vampire’s are welcome to purchase items just as long as they don’t kill anyone.”

“Anya, you might want to keep that welcome to yourself. You never know when the vamps might start taking an interest in the shop keeper as well as the shop merchandise,” said Buffy, looking intently at her notes.

“Hello Buffy,“ said Angel all of a sudden.

Buffy jumped, 3”x5” cards went everywhere.

“God! Angel! Don’t do that!” yelled Buffy, trying to centre herself and beginning to pick up her cards. Anya laughed hysterically.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I just thought, with you being the Slayer and all, you could feel when a vampire is nearby.”

“Well, Spike’s having really erotic dream right now...It’s kinda distracting. The tinglies are cancelling each other out.”

“So it’s true then?” he asked, as he began to pace.

“True?”

“You’re mated to Spike.”

“Oh, ya, I am,” she said happily. “How’d you find out?”

“That’s not important Buffy.”

“Ok, what is important then? Why are you here?”

“He, he didn’t force you did he?”

“No.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Then...How?”

“Well it involved a pointer, Giles, Spike as audio visual, and me getting carried away. It’s a whole big thing.”

“Huh?”

“I’m the one that claimed Spike, Angel.”

“You what?”

“I. Claimed. Spike.”

Angel shook his head. “That can’t be, you don’t know the rites.”

“I do. I said them. Hey, I just realised something. I’m Cookies!”

“Now I’m confused...” stated Anya.

“We haven’t had the cookie dough conversation yet have we?”

“The what?” asked Angel.

“It was an analogy, it sucked. I learn from my mistakes. The important part here is that I am the Mate of Spike, William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers.”

“I anticipate he will propose actual human marriage to her very soon,” added Anya.

Angel glared.

“But it’s Spike.”

“I love him Angel. I chose him to be my champion and my heart. I’m his soul. Don’t make me choose between you, cause you won’t like what I decide.”

There was silence for a while as Buffy stared at Angel, Angel stared at the floor and Anya counted money.

“You know you’re the only one that Buffy didn’t rush to hug...well except for that Nate guy. Are you not hugging exs?” asked Anya.

“That’s right! I haven’t hugged Angel!” Buffy’s face lit up.

Without warning, Buffy launched herself into Angel’s arms, catching the vampire off guard.

“Uh...Buffy? What’s going on?” he asked.

“Not much, just I kinda missed you and all.”

“You missed me? Even after all that ‘don’t make me choose’ speech?”

Buffy pulled away from the hug and sat back down at her notes and books.

“Ya, I missed you, I haven’t seen you in a little over a century...”

“Excuse me?”

“This isn’t our Buffy, this is Buffy from 102 years in the future,” supplied Anya.

“What?”

“There was a spell, we don’t know who did it. I switched bodies with my past self. But it’s totally ok, cause everyone is happy this way.”

“Everyone, what about our Buffy?” asked Angel.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Do I have to have this conversation with everyone? I’m gonna have to have this conversation with Riley when he shows up too aren’t I?”

Anya nodded.

“K from the top, I, Buffy Summers, age 122, was dying, cause well I was 122, and then all of a sudden I wake up in my bed, in Sunnydale, not London and I’m in my 20 year old body. Now Buffy who was here, she got swapped into my body, so I figure she’s in heaven, where she wants to be, by the way.”

“And you know that she wants to be there how?” he asked.

“Cause I’m her. So how long are you sticking around?”
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Angel had left in a huff. Buffy didn’t want him to leave like that, but what else could she do. She knew that she was still bitter that Angel crossed over to Wolfram and Heart, or will cross over. The truth was that even after 101 years Buffy still really hadn’t figured out what had killed Angel, or Wesley. She simply knew that they were gone. A tragic loss, yes, and she had even gone to Wesley’s funeral.

Buffy walked home, wrapped up in her thoughts, her mind drifting to what day it was, and how she had things to take care of today.

Buffy returned home in time to see Spike, just up, paw around the kitchen for his first mug of blood of the day.

“Have some good dreams?” asked Buffy.

Spike just smirked and walked towards her for a kiss, but he stopped short. He wrinkled his nose.

“You smell like Angel,” he said with a sneer.

“So I gave him a hug. I didn’t bite him. I didn’t even tell him about my teeth.”

“Only those you love get subjected to that delight.”

“You betcha.”

Buffy reached up and ruffled his hair. Playfully he swatted her hand away.

“I like your bed hair.”

Spike growled. “You watch it Missy.”

“Hey! I’m not Missy! Buffy! Great Aunt of Missy.”

Spike took a sip of his blood ignoring the comment.

Failing to get a rise out of him, Buffy continued on with random thoughts that deposited themselves into her head.

“You know, today is the day that you are supposed to find out you can hurt me.”

“Beg pardon?”

“You know, that intense migraine pain? The one you would need happy blue pills for but are too manly to break down and take drugs? You don’t get the pain with me. Come on...You have noticed right?”

“I seem to recall, biting you one or two times last night...”he said with a leer.

Buffy rolled her eyes.

“So what did the great ponce have to say for himself?”

“Not much. Angel was never one for talking.”

“Unless he was drunk.”

“I’d pay money to see Angel drunk... But that’s completely off topic. He came, he spoke his piece, I left. Thus endth the story.”

“And he just buggered off... after you gave him what for?”

“I didn’t give him what for Spike. I just let him know what was going on.”

“And you think the great poofter is going to leave it at that? We are talking about the same Angel right pet?”

“Tall Dark and Forehead? Yes Spike.”

Spike smirked at her use of the nick name he had for this grandsire.

“But you think that he’s not going to leave it at that? Why not? I thought I was pretty clear about what was going on...”

Spike just shook his head.

“What?”

“Peaches is not gonna let well enough alone, Slayer. He thinks you are his. Tried explaining to his high and hair gel-ness that you are mine...”

Buffy smiled.

“...But if that little tid bit of information got into his gel saturated cranium, you and I can have that outdoor wedding in the park you wanted so much.”

Buffy rolled her eyes.

Spike took another sip of his blood.

“Do you think he will make a formal challenge?”

Spike stopped and took a look at his mate, disbelievingly.

Buffy sauntered up to her bare chested lover and snuggled in close. Spike wrapped his arms around her.

“Spike you’ve got to get over the idea that I’m just a 20 year old slayer. There’s lots that I know now, I’m a wealth of information. Things like Claiming and Vamp family structures have been my specialty for years and years. If Angel wants to exert his rights as your grandsire and take your mate away from you...well I won’t be letting him. You are mine. And even if I have to fight him myself...”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? You don’t tell Buffy Summers no.”

“I do pet. You won’t take on Angel if he wants to challenge the claim. I will defend the claim.”

“Even if you kill him?”

“Even if I kill him.”

Buffy exhaled. “The most heinous crime a vamp can commit, is to kill his sire.”

“Nancy Boy Angel isn’t my sire pet, you know that.”

“He’s your grandsire, it’s virtually the same.”

“Makes a world of difference to me. Doesn’t matter anyway, love. Already an outcast from my clan.”

Buffy smiled. “Pretty much your entire clan is outcast. Besides you've made your own clan here with us,” Buffy hugged tighter.

“Does this mean that the whelp and the witches are the minions then?”

Buffy laughed. “Just don’t tell them that.”
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A mugging? That was something she hadn’t dealt with in good long time but the fact that Spike charged in to help without thinking, yes silly but oh so sweet. Buffy knelt down on the ground next to her ailing lover.

“You’d think if the government was gonna put a chip in my head they’d at lease make it so I could attack criminals and that sort,” he groaned.

“Yes, because muggers deserve to eaten,” she said helping him up.

Spike gave her a look.

“I know you wouldn’t eat them Spike...”

“You don’t know that love.”

“Maybe not when you first got the chip...But you are mine now and I trust you,” she said sweetly.

Buffy and Spike got home only to see Amy chowing down on cookies on the couch.

“Amy! you are back!” said Buffy astonished.

“Ya, I can only take so much father daughter time, was a bit, I don’t know, suffocating. I came by to see if Willow wanted to do something, but she’s not here. Dawn’s doing homework upstairs.”

Buffy plopped down on to the couch beside Amy and grabbed a cookie. Amy was watching the news. A report about a museum guard who was frozen solid. Buffy nearly choked on her cookie.

“Alright pet?” called Spike from the kitchen. He was getting himself a mug of blood.

“Ya,” she said recovering. “I...I just need to make a phone call.” Buffy got up from the couch and found the portable phone.

“Hello? Crime stoppers?”
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tbc...