The next day was Sunday, and Xander arrived bright and early - in that dark, dreary, pouring down rain kind of way - bearing doughnuts. And Anya.

She poked at portal-Buffy's face, and she just sat back and let her. There was something in her smile that told Giles that this, too, was another loved one who didn't make it through.

"You're skinnier, but you don't actually look any older. That's good."

Portal-Buffy leapt up off the couch, craning to get a better glimpse of her backside. "I'm skinny?!"

"Of course! Our Buffy's already a little underweight, and you make her look husky."

"Tact, Anya," Xander reminded, proffering the box of doughnuts as a peace offering.

"Psh," she dismissed the notion with her hand. She was surprised into a smile when portal-Buffy enfolded her into a hug.

She hugged back for a moment before pushing back slightly, distancing herself enough to peer into the other girl's face. "I die, don't I?" She talked over Xander's squawked protests. "You wouldn't be all emotional if I'd only left. But you're here to fix things. Can you fix this?"

"I can." Portal-Buffy's voice was firm.

"Good." Anya nodded and turned to the box of doughnuts. "Hey! Did Giles eat all the jellies already?"

Giles started guiltily, traces of filling at the corners of his mouth. "There were only two," he defended himself.

"We've only been here ten minutes! Honestly, Giles. If you're not careful, your middle-aged metabolism will have you puffing up like a Grosch demon." While he sputtered indignantly, Willow and Buffy came through the door.

"Goddess, but I'm soaked!" Willow shook herself in the doorway before peeling off her purple vinyl raincoat and draping it on the coatrack.

"Sorry, Wils, but the Ark's still in the shop for repairs." Buffy sighted the pastry box. "Ooh! Breakfast."

"We just ate!" But Willow followed the siren lure of cholesterol in her wake.

"Slayer, here. Best perk of the whole gig - all the fatty goodness a girl could ask for, and no cottage-cheese thighs!" She winked at portal-Buffy, who grinned and grabbed a doughnut of her own.

"So, what's the plan for the day?" Willow sat on the couch, chocolate-glazed chocolate with chocolate sprinkles clutched tight. Buffy dropped between her and Anya, and Xander settled on Anya's other side.

"Well, this evening Buffy and I need to call the Council. This afternoon, however, Buffy," and he nodded towards portal-Buffy, leaning against the wall by the kitchen door, "would like the opportunity to spar with our Buffy. So I called in a favor and secured the dojo on Main for a few hours. Until then, I -"

"I've got a date." Buffy interrupted.

"You've got a what?" Giles asked.

"A. Date." She rolled her eyes. "Y'know. Girls, boys, drinking coffee in public venues and discussing their Christmas vacations? That's the plan, anyway." She turned her head, fixing her gaze on portal-Buffy. "Riley and I need to have a talk."

)))

Riley was back in town and school was due to start up again the next day, so Buffy had agreed to meet him for coffee. They'd been sitting in the Espresso Pump for almost an hour, chatting amiably about their respective vacations - though Buffy had left her strange experience with the portal out of it - when Buffy suddenly grew pensive.

Riley noticed her changed expression when he came back with the latest in a long stream of whipped cream-laden mochas, and was quick to ask her about it.

"Does it bother you? That I'm so much stronger than you are?" She was doodling with a stir-stick in the small pile of sugar she had spilled on the table, and didn't see the amusement in his eyes.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that. I'm not exactly a weakling." She did, however, hear the laugh in his voice, and looked up at him with something akin to amazement.

"You have no idea what the Slayer actually is, do you?" She asked.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, an unexpectedly expressive gesture on what she suddenly thought of as a surpassingly bland face. "A girl who's trained to fight demons?"

She almost laughed at the understatement. "Riley, what you and your commando buddies need their little James Bond doo-dads and backup to do, I do by myself, with a stake and a sword, and usually in heels."

He sat back. "So you're a demon-fighting demon?"

She reached out, suddenly, a sensory expansion that encompassed the entire room. The woman behind the counter was a demon. So was the man in the corner, peering furitively at her over his newspaper. Riley's skin was dry, and there were tiny cracks in his lips. A vampire was hiding out from the sun in the apartment building behind the shop. The little girl handing her mother the change from the muffin she had purchased was singing under her breath, something about frogs and logs and plops. Riley was staring.

"Where'd you get that? I'm human. Born human, gonna die human. Gonna die young, too. But I'm a Slayer. The Slayer. Be-all end-all champion of light. Boogie-man for things that go bump in the night." And she was suddenly rhyming. What the heck? Oh, well; so long as she had his attention. As she spoke, she picked up the table-knife from her place setting. It was cheap, but the handle was thick. As she spoke, "Human, but I'm stronger and faster than anyone you've met," she twisted, turning the knife's handle into a corkscrew. She dropped it in front of him with a dull clang.

He stared at the mutilated knife, then up at her. His eyes narrowed, shifting from the amused, patronizing boyfriend to something clinical, calculating. "Humans can't do that."

Bugger. Hadn't thought this through. And why did she sound like Spike?

"I can. Just... Human with an upgrade." She shook her head. "Look, Riley. This doesn't have anything to do with your work; I'm totally thrilled that you guys are keeping the demon population down - leaves me with more time for homework. I just didn't want to start something with you without being honest, first. I mean, if we're going to have a real relationship, you're going to need to accept that I have an honest-to-god sacred duty, and it will always come first. But there's plenty of room in my life for other things, and that could include you." She rose and leaned over to drop a kiss on his cheek, swiping the knife as she did so. He was less likely to talk if he didn't have the evidence. "Just, think it over, and I'll see you around."

)))

Spike was more than a little confused as he made his standard mad, blanket-draped dash from sewer entrance to awning through the cloud-filtered sunlight. Portal-Buffy had mentioned the possibility of sparring with Buffy the night before, and it had taken little persuasion to get Giles' promise to contact the owner of the local dojo in order to reserve the room between morning and afternoon classes. Spike could certainly understand the desire to take advantage of the opportunity to fight herself, but what he didn't understand is why she had been so determined that he come along. When she responded to his pounding on the door with a smile, Buffy grinning over her shoulder, he decided to just sit back and go along - watching Buffy fight was pure poetry, and two of her was certain to be even better.

"C'mon in, sunshine."

Spike growled at the name, but settled affably enough in the folding chair next to Giles. The Watcher's greeting was not exactly cheerful, but seemed genuinely welcoming, and Spike relaxed as the two girls finished their stretches and faced off. At a nod from portal-Buffy, Giles pressed play on the small CD-player sitting on the floor.

The girls bowed as the first notes of some bass-heavy techno riff poured out into the small gym, and their dance commenced.

Buffy darted leerily back from portal-Buffy's instant attack, still somewhat wary of the entire procedure. A flurry of blocked blows and high-kicks later, however, and she was bouncing on her toes, ready to really fight. When portal-Buffy darted in with a sweeping waist-high kick, Buffy grabbed her leg and pulled, laughing when the other girl spun in mid-air to land a glancing kick to her shoulder. Buffy retaliated with her own pattern of kicks and punches, leading her opponent to a surprised retreat.

"You're more innovative that I am," portal-Buffy remarked.

"You're faster than I am," Buffy shrugged.

The battle resumed; Buffy, backed against the vault, braced herself against it and levered herself into a nearly horizontal assault, lashing out hard enough to send portal-Buffy staggering backwards. The older girl used her momentum, however, arching neatly into a back handspring that let her kick at Buffy's legs before they reached the floor. The awkwardly combined moves sent both girls tumbling to the floor.

"Weapons?"

"Weapons."

One flew for the duffle-bag that Giles had brought, drawing out a weighted practice sword, and the other dove for the rack of quarter-staves against the dojo's back wall. They met in the center of the room with a crash, weapons spinning so rapidly that Giles' mortal eyes could barely track their movements. Spike hooted as a tricky maneuver with portal-Buffy's staff sent Buffy's sword crashing to the floor. Buffy's eyes flared at the loss and she darted in, grabbing one end of the staff and extending her leg to brace her foot against the other end, torquing her body against the solidity of her opponent's hold and snapping the staff to an upright position. With her hands awkwardly placed, portal-Buffy let go rather than let Buffy use her own weapon to trip her up, and rolled in the direction of the discarded sword.

The battle progressed through two more changes of weaponry, finally culminating in a blistering exchange of staff-blows that had Giles and Spike both shouting accolades and ended only when Buffy, finally tiring, misjudged a dodge and ended up with the end of portal-Buffy's staff planted in the groove between the long muscles of her thigh. With a grimace, she conceded.

"Not bad, little girl." Portal-Buffy grinned when Buffy growled at her.

"That was exceptional," Giles enthused, kneeling beside Buffy to knead at the knot that had blossomed where she had taken the blow. "I've never seen you fight so well - not even against Faith."

"Our Slayer's the best I've ever seen, Rupes, and no mistake." Spike had handed portal-Buffy a bottle of water from the bag Giles had brought and was busy picking up the discarded weapons from wherever they had landed.

Buffy and portal-Buffy exchanged looks with their Watcher, their expressions ranging from incredulous to smug.

"Really?" Giles sounded almost dubious, and Buffy scowled at him.

"Killed two, fought more, and nobody's had half the fire of this one."

"This one has a name, you know." Buffy's pout was petulant.

"Right, then, Slayer. I'll remember." He grinned at her, and her pout turned to a reluctant return smile.

"You've fought other slayers?" Giles asked. "I've never heard that."

"Don't exactly go advertisin' my losses, do I? But really, d'you think I'm good enough to beat every slayer - present company excluded - I come up against?"

His question was rhetorical, but portal-Buffy's "Yes" was vehement.

He turned to her with a quirked brow. "'S a high opinion you've got, pet."

She shrugged. "You said it. I'm the best. And you're the only vamp I've ever fought that was anywhere near as good as me."

Buffy rose with Giles' help and they stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the exchange with matching bemused expressions. "Am I that cocky?" She whispered to her watcher. He just chuckled and shook his head.

Spike, of course, heard her, and cut portal-Buffy off before she could say anything. "You should be, pet. Gives you the stones to take on anything. At the same time, though, you gotta remember: part of the game's luck, and that's not always gonna be in your favor. Keep an eye out for slip-ups, though, and you'll always come out topside."

Portal-Buffy's lips moved in an almost inaudible murmur. "One good day."

Spike blinked at her, and nodded. "One good day."

There was a lull as each was lost in contemplation, then portal-Buffy broke the silence with a smack of her hands. "So. Spikey. You ready for a bit of rough and tumble?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "You barmy, girl?" He tapped his head. "Chipped, remember?"

She shrugged. "Yup. But I had a run-in with a whacked-out witch and some dark magic, so I'm not entirely human. Figure you'd enjoy a real challenge, and I haven't fought anything but fledglings, mini-slayers, and Angel in ages."

Spike scowled. "Wonder Brow's still around, eh?"

Portal-Buffy's eye-rolling was mimicked by Giles and Buffy's exasperated groans. "He shows up, pokes his nose in things, Dawn bites it off, and he runs away until it grows back. It's a thing."

Spike chuckled. "Sounds like. So then, Slayer. Let's fight."

Portal-Buffy's smile was feral.

Watching them move was somehow entirely different from watching the two Buffys. Where the girl's style had, over time, changed, both knew how Spike moved. Buffy had reacted to portal-Buffy on instinct and observation, but Spike and portal-Buffy danced. Buffy, leaning against Giles as he rubbed her shoulder, thought they looked choreographed, like a fight scene in a movie. Everything was neat, smooth.

"They're so clean," she murmured.

Giles nodded. "I've only seen you fight Spike a few times, my dear, but I'd say you do so just as elegantly." She smiled up at him, and he squeezed her shoulders before returning his attention to the fight.

This time it was Spike who used the vault for leverage, flipping himself backwards over it and catching portal-Buffy on the chin with his boot. She bounced enough to defer most of the impact, but the force of the blow was enough to send her crashing to the floor. With a muttered curse, Spike knelt at her side, grasping her chin so he could tilt her head and check her eyes.

It was the first time they had touched flesh, and sensation raced. There was no definitive point of contact, no blazing fire or icy swath, no epicenter for the tingle. Just the brief glance of skin on skin and a juddering shock that had Spike recoiling.

"What in the blazes of hell was that?!" He demanded, jerking away, feeling Buffy come up behind him, questions on her tongue.

Portal-Buffy wouldn't meet his eyes. "What was what?"

"That! That... tingle thing!"

"Tingle thing?" Buffy chuckled.

"Ain't funny, Slayer. Girl's got some kind of mojo under her skin." He growled under his breath and warily approached, circling slightly. Buffy countered his movement, circling to portal-Buffy's right. Giles watched as the two slipped into flanking positions without speaking to or looking at one another, and a slight smile creased his cheeks even as he kept wary focus on portal-Buffy.

"Mojo of the not-me kind?" Buffy asked, finally meeting Spike's eyes.

"Mojo of the vamp kind, pet. Something's up."

Giles stepped forward, turning their triangle into a square. "Something you'd like to explain, Buffy?" There was a dangerous current in his voice.

"Dammit, Spike!" She turned to face the vampire, shutting her younger counterpart out of their exchange. "You know what that was. It shouldn't work with you, though. Not unless..." She trailed off, but Buffy caught the slip.

"Unless what?" She disregarded the other girl, fixing her attention on Spike. "What's going on?"

"She's got demon blood in her."

"What?" Buffy's surprised cry was highlighted by the stake that slipped readily into her hand.

"No, pet," Spike shook his head. "Not any old demon. My demon."

"Your demon doesn't have blood; it's all borrowed." Giles, too, had a weapon to hand. It was one of the dull short blades Buffy used to practice, but would serve as a bludgeon if needed.

"Then why would I have to feed it to someone to turn them?" Spike asked, mocking smile in place. Giles cocked his head at the thought. "Soon's the blood hits my body, the demon that animates my body incorporates it. Just like you humans with your food. I drink blood; I don't inject it. 'Sjust, the demon doesn't process things the same way - it all ends up in my bloodstream. So yeah, my blood's my own."

Buffy considered him for a moment, then gripped portal-Buffy by the shoulder and spun her around so they stood face to face. "Wanna tell me just why you've got Spike's blood in you?"

She looked almost sheepish. "Vampires. Sex. It's a thing."

Buffy blushed, and looked quickly down at the floor. After just a moment, though, she looked back up, eyes livid. "You slept with Spike? My Spike?"

"Your Spike, pet?" Spike snarked at her possessive tone.

She waved his protest away. "As in, not future. Although I guess she's claiming all the Spikes she can get, isn't she?" She leaned forward into portal-Buffy's personal space, expression dark. "Aren't you?"

"No!" Portal-Buffy protested. "I haven't slept with any Spike in years!"

Buffy tilted her head, examining her. She nodded. "Then why did you two touching inspire major wig?"

Portal-Buffy darted a look at Spike, who determinedly kept his gaze focused on anything but the two women discussing him. His eyes caught Giles', however, and the steely look of encroaching understanding caused him to shiver.

"His demon registered its claim on her, Buffy, that's all." Nobody expected Giles' interjection, least of all Spike. His first thought was to feel utter relief at the man's discretion, but a chance encounter with portal-Buffy's determined expression shook that notion.

"Bloody hell," he sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "'S a vamp thing, yeah?" He asked.

Buffy nodded, and stepped around portal-Buffy so the two of them were standing close together. He lowered his voice; even knowing that the other two could probably hear him, and knew what he had to say regardless, he wanted privacy for this.

"Vampires are social, pet. We have lines, clans, families, and mates."

"Mates?"

"Y'know. Eternal pairings. Undying love, and all that rot."

"Like you and Dru?" Buffy's question was devoid of anything but innocent inquiry, but Spike shrugged it off with a scornful laugh.

"Obviously not, seein' as she's not around these days. No. Dozy bint never would let me claim her; don't know if it woulda took, besides. Claims are based on love, and Angelus drove Dru so crazy she couldn't even consider lovin' anyone but him. Don't know if she was even capable of that."

The compassion on Buffy's face was earnest, but she didn't say anything.

"Anyway. Everything a vampire holds to is tied together with blood. A drop here, a full transfusion there - there are rituals to make it easier, more complete, but everything comes down to blood. A mating ritual can go wrong if the people involved aren't in love - hell, the demon in 'em'll drive 'em batty for making the wrong choice. But sex and blood between lovers? Well, sometimes the ritual isn't necessary."

"So you're," Buffy sucked a quick breath, glancing back at the version of herself that had, apparently, loved another vampire, "mated to her?"

"No." Portal-Buffy, catching Buffy's gaze, had come forward. She pressed a hand to Buffy's arm and drew her attention. "I was mated to the Spike in my own time. We didn't mean it; we didn't even know. It's not complete, and it never will be - but it's real. And I'm guessing that it confuses your Spike's demon."

Spike mouthed "your Spike" in Giles' direction, his expression slightly disgusted. The other man had to fight to suppress a chuckle.

"But you said he shouldn't feel it 'unless.' Unless what?"

"You're quicker than I thought," portal-Buffy tried to put her off.

"I'm you, you twit. Tell me." Her rejoinder sent Spike snickering, but he quickly sobered under the weight of portal-Buffy's silence.

"He told you. It works on love. I'm still in love with my Spike; always will be. He..."

Buffy's eyes widened. "No. Way."

"'M guessin' it's some kind of residue from Red's spell. Nothin' to get het up about, Slayer." His tone was casual, but he drew his persona tightly about him, stung by her curt dismissal of his unexpressed, unexpected affections.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "No way in the delay-while-I-process sense, Tetchy-boy. Gimme a bit." She shot him an unexpectedly friendly, if restrained, smile and turned, leaving the dojo. Giles tried to stop her with a hand on her arm, but she forestalled his quiet question with an equally soft "Later. I'll meet you guys back at your place." He nodded and let her go.