It was a night like many others in Sunnydale. Spike wandered through the cemetery on his way home to his crypt. He could hear bodies shifting beneath the ground, waking from their sleep, anxious to be out and on the hunt.

Spike watched a new vampire struggling from her grave and just as she was ready to stand and take on the world, the Slayer staked her.

"You are pathetic," Spike muttered to the shower of ash as it returned to the grave. "Serves you right." Any vampire worth their weight in blood knew what the Slayer smelled like. Without revealing himself, he watched her stake two more in quick succession. Again, he shook his head.

"Oh, well, more for me, then…" He took one final drag on his cigarette and tossed it into the newly-opened grave. Spike smiled in appreciation as he studied her tight, lithe figure as Buffy fought with the last vampire. He knew she was only delaying the inevitable, like a cat playing with a mouse. The smoke trickled out his nose without his notice.

Another shower of ash and Buffy turned to leave. Spike nearly called out to her, but given their current situation, perhaps discretion was the better part of—

His thoughts were interrupted by a low pulsing whine, growing louder by the moment. Suddenly, Buffy was at his side. Spike barely kept from jumping in surprise. He always forgot how fast this Slayer moved. It's why she was still alive.

"What is that?" she asked, her brow furrowed as she tried to place the noise. "It sounds more mechanical than demony."

"Don't frown, Slayer, you'll give yourself wrinkles."

"Like I'm going to live long enough for wrinkles. Is it a demon, Spike?"

Spike began to grin as the outline of a blue box began to take shape. "Just the opposite, although things might be interesting for a bit now. They always are when he's around. It's nothing you have to worry about, although you might want to let Rupert know."

The box shuddered into full view and stopped. "Police call box," Buffy read. "What's a call box? It's an English thing, isn't it?"

"They were designed so the regular person on the street could take an evil doer-"

"Like you," Buffy interrupted.

"Like a common criminal, a thief, that sort of thing and you tossed them inside. Shut the door and there they sat until the police came to collect them. If you were lucky, it wasn't a hot day. It could get very fragrant in them. Some folks I knew back in the day like to use them as toilets while others-"

"Ewww." Buffy made a face. "Enough with the visceral imagery…"

The door opened and some smoke preceded the box's occupant. He was tall and very thin, with a wild thatch of hair on his head. He wore a long brown trench coat over a brown pin striped suit and a pair of sneakers.

"Where…. What…?" The man seemed as confused as Buffy was. Then he blinked, "Spike?"

"Hey, Doc, what's shaking?" Spike was suddenly engulfed in a massive hug, which he returned after a moment. Changed your face again, I see."

"Oh, a couple of times since we last met." He seemed to notice Buffy for the first time. "Hello."

Spike thrust the man forward. "Buffy, meet The Doctor."

"Doctor Who?" She was wary.

"Just the Doctor. We go back a long ways…" The Doctor trailed off. "Do you remember to Box Rebellion?"

Spike laughed. "Good times."

A stake was suddenly in Buffy's hand and she took a distancing step back, looking from one man to the other. "Vampire?"

Both men laughed and Spike shook his head. "Alien." It took him a minute more to add. "Gadfry… no, Gallifrey. He's from another planet."

"What? No, he's not." Buffy relaxed slightly. "He looks like us."

"So you tell me what he is, cuz he's sodding older than me."

"What? But he's hot… ter than most guys around here."

"I like her," The Doctor said to Spike. "But he's right. I've got a couple more hundred years on me."

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well, she grows on you. Why are you here, Doc?"

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Got too close, I reckon, and the Hell Hole dragged me in."

"Hell Mouth," Buffy corrected. "Why would the Hell Mouth want you?"

"Well, not me, particularly." He returned to the box and patted it fondly. "It wants to eat the TARDIS up whole." He rested his forehead against the blue wood and sighed. "I won't let it, not ever."

Buffy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What is it about guys and cars?" She gestured towards the box. "Or car-like things?"

"She's more than a car, she's almost alive." The Doctor smiled affectionately at the TARDIS.

"I say the same thing about Spike, but I don't get all gooey about him."

"Oi, I'm standing right here!" Spike pulled himself up and tried to look indignant. "Okay, fair enough". He watched the Doctor start to open the TARDIS door. "So, you off again? All ready? You just got here."

"Always moving, that's me. I can't stay too long."

"And alone?"

"Well, life in the TARDIS, it's not for everyone. Always in the middle of something, running to or from some big something trying to kill me."

"Sounds like an average night for me." Buffy sighed and put her stake away. "Night after night after night…" Spike looked from her to The Doctor and back, his eyes begging.

"Well, I guess I could stay a bit. Fancy a cup of tea?" The Doctor asked Buffy, while winking at Spike.

"I dunno… I have a calculus test tomorrow… stupid derivative applications. Like that's going to help me the next time I'm in a fight."

The Doctor smiled at that. "It does help you, in ways that you don't even think about."

"Please! I get enough of that from my mother and Giles."

"Giles? He's still around? Still… um… watching?"

"Oh, yeah." Buffy sighed. "Have fun catching up, you two."

She walked away slowly, her shoulders slumped from the weight of the world. She gasped when an arm was placed around them and spun her fists raised. "Hands off, Spike."

The Doctor held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry to disappoint. It's only me. And I've got two hearts, so a stake isn't really going to help much." Buffy looked up into his face and searched it for something as he continued. "It's the same with me. The only one, responsible for all the jobs no one else want to do or can. No one sees me, no one cares, but they live. You have to remember that they will live because of your sacrifice. You are important. You have worth."

Buffy knuckled a tear from an eye. "Do I? I don't feel like it sometimes. Everyone else is running around having fun and then there's me…"

"Hey, I'm the Doctor. Would I lie to you?"

Spike took a step closer to her, his voice softer and kind. "He's telling you the truth, Slayer. You think no one notices, but they do. I do."

She smiled sadly at that. "Thanks, Spike. For a monster, you're okay."

He winked at her. "Tell anyone else that and I'll rip your lungs out."

"You and what other army?"

The Doctor slapped his hands together. "Now, how about that cup of tea?" He opened the door to the TARDIS.

Buffy looked at him, doubtful. "Really? All three of us? I think it would be a bit tight."

"Trust me."

Looking doubtful at them, she stepped through the door. "Get out of here!"

Spike smiled at the Doctor, who nodded. "I love doing that. Tea, old friend?"

"With you? Always."