Disclaimer: All characters and places, etc... belong to Joss and all those lovely people involved with making our fav tv show. We only chose to borrow these characters for a bit to do what we enjoy doing. All that we own is our lovely plot! No copyright infrigment is intended in any way shape or form.

With that out of the way...

Title: Imitor Vita Pro Amor (Imitating Life For Love)

Authors: Peroxide Pest and Nocturne Wytche, AKA Celeste and Debbie

Spoilers: All Seasons

Dedications: Well, I'd like to say thanks to all those wonderful S/B writers out there that have inspired me and my sister to come outta our shells and see what y'all think of our lil fics. We'd probably like to thank each other for putting up with each other and the sort, and of course for being so good at writing together, you can barely tell where one of us begins and one ends. Also, to our sister, Keren, who still loves Angel, we forgive you :P Lea, thanks for all the help and support, blessed be sister.

Summary: A few unsuspected visitors come back to good ol' SunnyD and cause some more havoc in our favorite slayer's life. She must also decide where her feelings for Spike lay. A run in with a demon changes things for Spike. S/B

Rated: R just to be safe

and without further ado...

Imitor Vita Pro Amor

A swift roundhouse kick to the chest, and the vampire went flying to the grassy floor of the cemetery, with a loud thud. Out of the darkness, another form jumped to his knees. In a quick swift motion, and a flash of black leather, the wooden stake flew into the heart of the demon, turning him to dust.
The leather-cloaked vampire shrugged and snorted. "Easy pickin's again ducks..." He dusted off his hands, getting off his knees. "No match for a slayer and her side kick vamp puppy..."
Buffy shook her head with a small smile. Sometimes Spike just really got on her nerves with his sarcasm, but lately, all she could do was smile and shake her head at him. "Good boy," Buffy patted the peroxide blonde's ruffled hair fondly.
Spike scanned the dark cemetery. "Hum. I don't think they're done playing with us yet, luv..."
Buffy sighed, also sensing some demony presence. "You think after the whole Glory spiel, they'd be a bit more afraid of the slayer!"
Spike chuckled softly. "Especially when she has nine lives..."
"Only three so far..." she sighed, forcing thoughts of her latest kicking of the bucket out of her mind.
Footsteps caused them to remain silent, waiting for the demons to attack. With a growl a group of vampires emerged from all sides.
"Oohh…" Spike stepped back to back with Buffy. The heat from her small form caused him to jump. "Look's like we've got a party waitin' to happen..."
Buffy tossed him another stake, clutching Mr.Pointy in her hand. "Well, so much for a peaceful night of patrolling. Guess we'll get a workout after all..."
Spike shrugged his indifference, staring at the ugly game faces of the vamps. One of them growled, hissing at him. He bared his fangs, snarling. Spike raised a brow. "That all mate? Seen cats with better spitting." He put on his own game face, snarling back in a more savage, primal manner than the younger vampire before him. The blonde leapt forward into action, throwing punches and kicks at his opponent fervently.
Buffy jumped forward, kicking at the group of vamps, and tossing a fist into one's sharp, ridged face. The two fought down the group of vamps with skillful jump kicks, punches and stab attacks. They moved fluidly together, watching each other's backs, as if they owned minds attached to one another by some invisible coil.

The vampire who had attempted a growling match with Spike had managed to dodge past him as the duster-clad do-gooder attacked another vamp nearby. He grabbed Buffy from behind, catching her by surprise.
Spike flipped the vamp he was fighting over his shoulder before leaning down and staking him. He looked up just in time to see Buffy in trouble, and he staked the demon attacking her from behind.
"Thanks," she called hefting Mr.Pointy back into an offensive grasp. She saw another vampire running at them from behind, intent on attacking Spike unawares. "Duck!" she commanded.
Spike did as she told and she jumped up on his back, pounding off him like a springboard, flipping over the vamp and thrusting her lucky stake into him from behind.
Spike turned his head in her direction and nodded. "We're even..."
"…but not finished..." Buffy looked at the circle of hissing vamps surrounding them.

A dark figure hidden by the shadows watched the two combatants carefully, and his breath caught in his throat as he saw how they defended themselves. He couldn't believe how well they worked together; how they seemed to know what the other was thinking. They worked in perfect synchronization to take down the group of bloodthirsty vampires, and now there were less than half left. They stood; slayer and vampire, side by side, prepared to take on whatever came at them next. Jealously boiled in the figure's blood, jealousy and anger. In spite of his anger, there was still a part of him that made his heart stop beating every time danger grew closer to her. He had been prepared to jump from his hiding place to help if the need arose, but currently, it seemed that neither the vampire nor the slayer needed, nor would appreciate, his aid. What were the odds...

"What do you say we make this a quick fight so we can go home?" Buffy asked Spike conversationally.
He looked at her with a wry grin. "'Bout time for a cigarette break anyway..." He lifted the slayer into his arms and flung her in a circle.
Buffy used her borrowed momentum and lashed out, kicking each of the surrounding vampires soundly, knocking them down like demonic dominos. As one managed to rise before the others, she jumped up and kicked him fiercely, sending him back into a tree. Lucky for her a branch stood out, staking the vamp for her.
Spike easily blocked a blow from another vamp, using the opportunity to get under his defenses and stake him without too much trouble.
His opponent vanquished, William looked at Buffy, to make sure she was okay. She was holding her own. "Two to go..." he mumbled.
Another vampire took notice to Spike's distraction and attacked from behind. He knocked the blond vamp to the ground, and they wrestled on the floor. They battled, rolling into a headstone. Spike hit his head and fell limp to the grass on his back. The vamp jumped on top of him, stake in hand. "You should be ashamed of yourself... killing your own kind."
Spike was slightly dazed. "Sod off..." he moaned, trying to regain his balance. The vamp raised his stake, ready to kill him.
Buffy's eyes widened in terror after she finished off another vampire. "No!!!" she shouted, hurling herself at the vampire, knocking him off Spike. Spike jumped to his feet, shaking his headache off and clearing his vision. He found a stake on the floor where it had been dropped, and went to help Buffy.
The vampire threw a punch into her face. "Stupid Slayer..."
"Don't you know it's not nice to call Slayers names?" Buffy huffed, seeing Spike standing above the vampire that straddled her.
Spike crammed the stake into the vamp with unnecessary ferocity, turning him to dust.
Buffy coughed and her face scrunched up slightly. "Gross, vamp dust..." she wiped ineffectually at the dust now covering her blue shirt.
"Thanks for the help, sweet cheeks..."
Spike helped her off the ground, smiling inside. Seems the Slayer did care a bit for him after all, despite what she always said.
"We may need to brush up on your training Spike... That one almost got the best of you," she teased, taking Mr. Pointy from him.
He looked indignant at her accusation, playful or not. "No way, the Big Bad had everything in control," he straightened his leather duster.
"Yeah, right," Buffy mocked. "I..."
"Shh…" Spike, grabbed her arm. He sensed someone still close by.
"What?" Buffy whispered.
"Someone's still here..." he searched the shadows.

The figure gasped softly, making a quick and timely exit from the cemetery before he was spotted, and worse, recognized.

Spike took a step toward the shadows, cocking his head. "Hmph." He turned back to the Slayer, searching his pockets for his cigarettes. "Looks like they don't want to play anymore..."
She shrugged. "That works for me. Let's get back to the Magic Shop."
He sighed and watched her march off into the night as he pulled out his cigarettes and lighter. He was still worked up, and Damn it all if he wasn't ready to fight some more. Bouncing slightly on his toes, he lit up and made after Buffy. Maybe if they were lucky, they'd run across a few more vamps; maybe a baby stealing, puppy kicking demon, or two, as well. He caught up to her in a couple of hasty strides, cigarette clutched between his teeth, hands shoved into his coat pockets. "Eager to get back, Luv?" he asked, noticing her ground breaking pace.
"I promised Dawn I'd help her with her history tonight," the Slayer replied. She looked at her watch. "And it's getting late."
Spike nodded in agreement. "Right, can't have Nibblet catchin' her Z's in class, now can we?"
She nodded. "I wish I was any good at history in the first place. But at the time, I didn't really think I'd need it. Especially with everyone telling me I was going to die young in the first place…" she trailed off suddenly, and looked at him from the corners of her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered, staring back at the ground, and kicking at a rock in her path. "Bad subject."
Spike's brow furrowed. "'S all right, pet. Just prove 'em wrong, eh?" he asked, trying to sound casual about the whole thing. He pushed the fear of possibly losing her again to the farthest part of his mind and puffed on his cigarette thoughtfully.
"Those things kill people too, you know," she said, out of the blue.
He looked around, alarmed that something had snuck up on them and he hadn't noticed. "Where? What will?"
Making a face, she reached up and plucked the smoke from his lips, examining it even as she scrunched up her nose. "THESE will. Eeeuw. You do know second hand smoke is deadlier than all the vampires in the world, right?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Hey! Give it…" he whined, trying to get his cigarette back. She shrugged and popped it back between his lips. "I'm already dead, ducks, so it doesn't matter anyway."
"Fine, but, on the average, non-dead human, each one of those things takes off around 5 minutes of your lifespan."
Grumbling, he gave it one last, heartfelt puff before tossing it on the ground and stomping on it. That wasn't playing fair. The thought that he might be the reason she lost 5 seconds of her life, let alone 5 minutes, was enough to make him wonder how hard it would be to quit permanently. She tried to hide her smile at his antics. He really could be very sweet, if he tried.
They were silent most of the trip back to magic shop. It wasn't a completely comfortable silence, yet, but they both imagined it was getting there. It was close, anyway, and their friendship was growing. She could still sense his occasional, furtive glances in her direction as they walked, and she was pretty sure he had caught her occasional perusals of his face in the dark, as well. Yeah, it was getting there.
Things had changed so much since she had gotten, "back" as she liked to say. Perhaps, the vampire beside her had changed the most. She had woken up from death, and the first thing she had seen upon her return to the living plane was Spike jumping protectively between her and Dawn, incase something was wrong. Then, to find out that he had picked up her slaying duties for her later… well, it had been a surprise, to say the least. Xander had even developed a modicum of respect for the vampire, telling Buffy about Spike's intensive training schedule, his help with research, and the numerous injuries he had sustained in a line of duty that wasn't even his to begin with. She had been touched. He had earned the love of her sister, the respect of her friends, and most especially, her trust.
"Er…I could help."
She looked at him, puzzled at his seemingly random statement. What was he talking about? "Help with what?" she asked, curiously.
He fidgeted with the collar of his coat a little, obviously nervous about something or another. It could have been classified as adorable, but Buffy didn't feel like going there. Into, friendly *Spike can be adorable* territory. "I could er, help with Nibblet's history. You know, I lived a lot of it and…" He stopped, seeing the look on her face. She looked like she was going to laugh. "Never mind. You're right. Stupid idea," he mumbled under his breath. The vampire kept walking.
She stopped him, gently putting her hand on his arm. He turned around to face her, eyebrows quirking with his unasked question. She smiled. "I think, that would be great. Helping Dawn, that is. Cuz, she always listens to you and…" Buffy took a breath, trying to find something else to say.
He smiled ruefully, saving her from herself. "Right then. We'll get back to report to the Scoobs, an' help Bite Size with the school work."
She nodded, and took her hand off of his arm. "Right."
"Right."
They got back to the shop a little after 10:30. Spike brushed past Buffy and burst inside, with his usual blaze of glory; arms high, chest jutting out, eyes closed. "'Allo kiddies!! Big Bad 's back, and he managed to keep the slayer in one piece once again!!!"
He opened his eyes when there was absolute silence. He had at least expected a rebuttal from the whelp or a snort from the watcher. "Tough crowd…" he muttered, looking first from Willow, Dawn, and Tara to Xander, Giles and Anya. "What's the trouble, Scoobies?" He tried to keep the worried tone from his voice. It would do no good for Big Bad to lose his head. Or for the gang to find out he cared, one way or another, about their well being. The door opened behind him, and Buffy followed the energetic vampire inside.
Willow's expression was regretful, as if she were in part, apologizing to Spike. He didn't like that look on Red's face, it usually meant real bad was comin'. He tested the air around the room to see for himself, hoping to find something that would clue him in as to why his Scoobies were so uncharacteristically somber. The witch ignored him and looked straight to Buffy when the Slayer entered. "Um… Buffy…"
"Hey guys! What's…" she paused when she heard Willow's tone. "What? Wills, what's wrong?" Buffy went on high alert, otherwise known as 'All business, no fun, slayer mode,' to Spike. He was still standing in front of her, head tilted slightly in the direction of the checkout counter. She pushed herself around him, ignoring the vampy moment he was obviously having. "What's going on you guys? More unspeakable, hell-mouthy horrors? Another apocalypse? Mucus demon? Kathy Lee staging a comeback?"
"Uh, well… you see, it's like this Buffster…" Xander started.

Dawn leaned over to whisper to Tara while Xander rambled on about the past being the past and something else about friendship. "What's with Spike?" the girl asked, gesturing to the vamp with a toss of her eyes in his direction.
The blonde witch looked over towards the door, where the vamp still stood, as if he were testing some invisible, supernatural waters. "I think he…um…might smell something? Or hear something? Vampires have good…hearing, right?"
The teenager nodded. "Yeah, must be all those super cool vampy powers at work. Do you think he can smell what's going on? Boy, are they going to flip when they see Ri…"
Spike suddenly jumped off the stairs near the doorway, emitting a miniature growl from his throat when he landed on the showroom floor. His duster billowed behind him and his eyes flashed yellow, a sure sign of barely controlled rage. Tara and Dawn both realized how intimidating the century old vampire could be if he really wanted to. "Where is he? And what the bloody hell does he want?" Spike demanded.
Xander looked up from his explanation. He had been planning on easy Buffy into the news… but he figured Fang Boy's method would have to stand.
"Who's here? Want what?" Buffy asked, looking back and forth between her partner in crime and Xander. Someone had better explain fast, because she was beginning to get seriously brassed off.
Spike was poised at the front of the store, in a ready stance, crouched ever so slightly at the knee, head turned slightly upwards. He couldn't believe he smelled what he smelled, but it was definitely there. William wondered if he wouldn't get to work off all his extra energy tonight after all. *Oh damn…that's right. The chip. Bloody hell. * He debated with himself if it would be worth the pain, giving White Bread a good seeing to. He decided it would be.
Buffy saw his stance, his offensive posturing, and she couldn't take it anymore. "WHAT is going on?!"
Riley chose moment to step out of the shadows and into the warm light of the shop. "Hi, Buffy."

TBC..