Under the Sun

Author: enigmaticblue

Rating: PG-13

Archive: Sure, if you already have my stuff. If not, just ask.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters herein; Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other lucky folks do. Of course, I'm not the one making money off of them.

Summary: Set after Avocation in an alternate S4 where many events of canon get thrown out the window. This one won't make any sense if you haven't read the previous story.

A/N: The title comes from Ecclesiastes, which most people know from the phrase, "A time for everything, and a season for everything under heaven." Really, this story is based on the entire book, which is probably my favorite in the Bible. It talks about making the most of what one has now, and while some find it depressing, I love it. If you've got the time, I'd really recommend you read the whole thing.

Chapter 2

"the trick of finding what you didn't lose/(existing's tricky:but to live's a gift)/the teachable imposture of always/arriving at the place you never left/(and i refer to thinking)rests upon/a dismal misconception;namely that/some neither ape nor angel called a man/is measured by his quote eye cue unquote./Much better than which,every woman who's/ (despite the ultramachinations of/some loveless infraworld)a woman knows;/and certain men quite possibly may have/shall we say guessed?"/ "we shall" quoth gifted she:/and played the hostess to my morethanme" e. e. cummings, "the trick of finding what you didn't lose"

If Buffy had been concerned about the first day of college beforehand, the day itself did nothing to alleviate her anxiety. Nothing felt right. Willow seemed to slip right into the flow, as did Oz, but Buffy found herself floundering.

Everything was bigger, and there were so many people, all wanting to tell her something or get her to join them. Buffy wasn't really a joiner. After all, when you were the Chosen One it made being part of a group a little difficult.

Willow was the one that fit in and made friends and influenced people, not Buffy.

And even the very nice evening with Spike wasn't enough to take the sting off the events of the first day of classes. If her professors weren't busy being scary, they were kicking her out of the classroom. Buffy didn't remember the last time she'd been that humiliated.

She had to wonder if that was who she was now. Just "blonde girl." No other identity but that.

"Do you want me to eat him?" Spike asked as she told him about the mean professor. "I'll bet he's evil enough."

Buffy laughed, in spite of herself. Spike talking about eating someone probably shouldn't have made the Slayer giggle, but it was funny. Maybe it was stupid, but when they were walking through campus, his arm slung over her shoulders, she felt okay again.

Well, mostly okay.

"No, that's okay. I just won't take the class." She sighed. "I don't know if I'm supposed to be here, Spike."

"College, here, or with me, here?" he asked, although he already knew the answer to that. He thought he did, anyway.

"College, and you know it. You're the best thing that's happened to me today."

Spike was silent for a moment. "Do you want to be here?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I mean, I was always supposed to go to college, but school isn't my thing. It's Willow's, and..."

"Doesn't have to be your thing," Spike replied. When she gave him a look, he clarified, "Look, college is just something to get through for some people. You don't go because you want to, you go because it'll help you out in the long run, and it'll make your mum happy. It's four years. That's not so long."

"So says the vampire," Buffy responded. "Four years is an eternity if that's all the time you've got left."

Spike pulled her to a stop, lifting an eyebrow. "You know something that you're not telling me, luv?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, I—ignore me, Spike. It's just been a really long, lousy day."

"Think I know how to make it better," he suggested, pulling her in for a kiss.

Buffy relaxed, gripping the back of his head. If nothing else in her life was going right, at least her love life was running fairly smoothly.

She pulled back abruptly. "Did you hear that?"

Spike raised his head. "Yeah. Sounded like a scuffle to me."

They exchanged twin grimaces and took off in pursuit of the trouble. Buffy had to wonder if they were ever going to get a chance just to be a couple. The scene of the incident wasn't hard to find with Spike's presence. Not only were there marks in the grass, but also the faint scent of blood on the air.

"Can you track it?" Buffy asked.

Spike looked around, taking a deep breath to see if he could catch the trail, finally shaking his head. "Sorry, luv. There's blood, but whoever they are, they're careful."

"Great," she muttered. "Now I have a vampire gang to worry about."

Spike frowned. "You want me to take Wes and track it down?" he asked. "I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow, but we can look into it."

"No, that's okay," Buffy said. "I'm on campus. I'll check it out tomorrow after classes are over. I doubt it's a big deal."

"You sure?"

"I'm the Slayer, Spike. It's my job."

His eyebrows went up at her rather snappy response. "Right. Okay."

Buffy knew she should probably apologize, but she didn't want to. She wanted to be bitchy and upset, and if Spike had a problem with that, too bad. "I should get back. It's late, and I've got an early class tomorrow."

"You want me to walk you back?"

She knew she'd probably angered him a bit by his slightly cool tone, but Buffy decided to ignore it. If she let it go, it would be forgotten soon enough. "No, that's okay. I'll be fine."

Spike hesitated, and then finally nodded. "Sure thing. I'll see you later, then."

Buffy regretted the whole thing immediately after he'd left, of course. She'd wanted to spend time with Spike, and now she'd gone and chased him off. Buffy sighed. Maybe she'd call him after she got back to the dorm room, apologize, and ask him to come along the next night.

Once she got back to her room, Willow immediately wanted to talk about her first day of classes and the potential of going to see Oz when he played at the Alpha Delta party. By the time they had finished up their gossip session, Buffy had forgotten all about calling Spike, and she dropped into a restless slumber.

~~~~~

Spike was a little disgruntled at how his evening with Buffy had ended. He'd had other plans completely, and instead they'd parted on less than positive terms. Spike told himself that Buffy just needed some time to adjust. She always got a little cranky when she was upset about something. If he gave her a little time, she'd be fine.

He couldn't help but wonder if their relationship was going to survive her college years, though. Not that he had any plans for breaking up with her, but he knew that they were in a very different place than they had been last year when his entire focus had been on the Slayer and keeping her safe—whether she wanted him there or not.

Things were different now. Buffy was in college, and still very young. She might get tired of having an older boyfriend, or decide she wanted to play the field a bit. It was hard to know.

Spike hadn't said anything about it, but the incident from the previous spring still bothered him. He had chosen to bite her, to take her blood rather than lose his own life. That had never been a decision that he'd wanted to make again, and Spike had told himself that it wouldn't happen. He would never again choose to save himself at the cost of someone else's life.

While Buffy hadn't been seriously injured, the image of her pale face and bleeding neck still haunted him. The question was whether or not he'd make the same decision again. Would he kill an innocent to save his own life?

With a sigh, Spike shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind. There was no way of knowing; that much he had learned. No one really knew how they'd act until they were in the heat of the moment.

Speaking of moments...

"What are you doing here?" Spike asked Wesley as he approached the house.

Wesley startled. He'd been facing Spike's door, and had apparently not been terribly aware of his surroundings. "Oh! I, uh, I ran across this passage that might be helpful, and..." He trailed off. "Anyway, I thought you might be interested."

"I doubt it," Spike replied. "But you can try me."

Wesley hesitated. "It has to do with the Gem of Amara."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "That's something that might be better left buried, mate. Not that it wouldn't be nice to have, but if it falls into the wrong hands, we'd have a bit of a problem." He unlocked the door and allowed Wesley to precede him inside.

"You could make certain that it didn't fall into the wrongs hands," Wesley pointed out. "You could also take on a wider range of jobs that way."

"While alerting the entire demon world that I have it." Spike paused. "Although, you've got a point. No one would have to know necessarily. How much have you found out?"

Wesley shook his head. "Just a vague reference to the fact that it might actually be in the area. I was doing some research into Sunnydale history, and—"

Spike held up a hand to silence him. "What happened to having some fun while you had a chance?"

Wesley looked sheepish. "Yes, well, history is interesting, and—"

"You need to find yourself a girlfriend," Spike opined.

Wesley tried not to flush, and couldn't quite manage it. He did attempt to get a little of his own back, however. "Oh? Where's your girlfriend this evening?"

"Back at her room," Spike replied. "She had an early class."

"She gave you the brush off?"

Spike gave him a sour look. "If you must know, she was acting a bit bitchy."

"Ah." Wesley was silent, shuffling his feet a bit.

Spike finally shook his head. "Do you want to watch a vid, or—" He glanced at the clock. "Should be a football game on somewhere."

Wesley brightened. "Do you get football?"

Spike grinned. "Sure, got a whole channel with just football. There's one in Spanish, too, but..."

"I speak Spanish fluently," Wesley replied, sounding slightly offended.

Spike just smirked. "Why doesn't that surprise me? We'll have our choice of channels, then."

~~~~~

"Thank you so much for coming, Spike," Joyce said, ushering him through the door. "I just couldn't get the bolts loosened, and I didn't know who else to ask."

Spike didn't mind helping out in the least. He'd changed more than a few tires in his time, and he enjoyed spending time with Joyce. At the same time, he couldn't resist teasing her a little. "You couldn't have called Rupert?"

She flushed slightly. "I could have," she agreed. "And then when he couldn't get the bolts off..."

"Don't have much faith in your beau, do you?"

Joyce shrugged. "I got you on the phone first. I'm assuming Rupert is out running an errand or something."

"It's no trouble," he assured her with an easy smile. "Didn't have any other plans for the evening anyway."

"You weren't planning on seeing Buffy tonight?" Joyce asked innocently. "I was sure—"

Spike dismissed her concerns with a nonchalance he didn't feel. "She's got enough on her hands, settling in and all. We'll catch up when she's ready for it."

Joyce had a mother's nose for trouble. "Is everything okay?"

The vampire shrugged. "Yeah, sure. She was a bit short last night, but it had been a long day for her. Like I said, once she gets settled in, everything will be fine."

"Of course." Joyce didn't want to push, and so she said nothing more. She honestly wasn't expecting to hear from Buffy for a couple of weeks at least. Her daughter had seemed more than ready to get out of the house, excited about being out from under Joyce's roof. It was only natural, and so Joyce couldn't completely regret that she'd raised such a capable, independent young woman.

There was still the pang of release, however.

"The car is around the side of the building," she explained. "I don't know what happened. I just came outside and the tire was flat."

"Probably just had a slow leak you didn't notice right off," Spike said. "I'll get the spare on, and you can take the other in for repairs." He glanced around the darkened parking lot. "If you don't mind, though, I think I'll drive you home. Hate for something to happen on the way."

"I'll be fine," Joyce protested, and then sighed. "But I'll be glad for your company." She knew better than to think that Spike would actually let her head out on her own if he was concerned.

With his enhanced strength, Spike had her Jeep jacked up and the tire off in just a few minutes, and only a couple of minutes after that, he had the spare out of the back and in place.

"Thank you very much," Joyce said, handing him a towel from inside the gallery to wipe his hands on. "I really appreciate it."

"I don't mind," he said mildly, but the warmth in his eyes told Joyce that he was happy to help. Spike frowned as he started up the car, once Joyce had gotten her things from the gallery. "Has it been running like this for a while?" he asked, referring to the subtle knocking sound only he could pick up.

Joyce frowned, not hearing the noise he was apparently referring to. "Running like what?"

Spike shook his head. "Doesn't sound right," he explained briefly. "When we get back to your place, I'll check under the hood."

The ringing of Spike's cell phone interrupted the pleasant silence that had fallen, and Spike patted his pockets, trying to find it before it stopped ringing. "H'lo," he said, once he'd managed to locate it inside an inner pocket.

"Spike?"

"Hey, luv," he said, turning the steering wheel one-handed. "What's up?"

"I just wondered if maybe you still wanted to go hunting with me tonight," Buffy said. "I thought I'd see if I could find that vampire gang."

Spike glanced at the car's clock. "Can you give me a bit? I was just helping your mum out with a flat tire, and I'm going to check the car engine. Thought I heard a sound that shouldn't be there, and I don't want her caught out after dark."

"Oh." There was a short pause. "No, that's okay. Don't worry about it. I'll catch you tomorrow night."

"You sure?" Spike asked. "This won't take me too long."

"No, I'll go do a patrol, and then I probably should do some reading or something."

"If you're sure." Spike frowned. He thought he caught a wistful note in Buffy's voice, as though all was not right. "You know, I could meet you now, then come back later to check the car. I'm sure your mum wouldn't mind if I worked on it a bit later."

Buffy's voice turned cheerfully brisk. "Really, Spike that's okay. You're there now, and it's not like we made plans. I'll just see you tomorrow."

"It's a date," he said warmly, sighing when she hung up the phone.

Joyce raised an eyebrow, glancing over at him. "Are you certain everything is okay?"

Spike shook his head, frowning thoughtfully. "Don't know. I hope so."

~~~~~

Buffy was beginning to wonder where she'd gone wrong. College was supposed to be fun, right? She already had a hot, older boyfriend, so it wasn't like she had to worry about entering the scary waters of dating. She thought she was reasonably intelligent, and UC Sunnydale was billed as a party school, so classes should be doable.

She nursed her hurt wrist, sitting on the edge of her bed. Willow was asleep across from her, and Buffy didn't want to wake her up. It was just that she felt so...alone.

In truth, she wanted Spike, but she didn't want to be so weak as to have to run to him over the big, bad vampire. That was so pathetic. Buffy wasn't that kind of girl, but she sorely wanted the comfort of the familiar, and Spike was nothing if not familiar.

The soft tapping at the door had her frowning. She opened the door quietly, seeing Spike framed in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" Buffy hissed, knowing that she sounded pissed off, although she didn't mean to.

Spike sighed and shook his head. "I'm here because you wanted my help, and I figured even if you were done, you might want the company."

"I'm fine," she said. Buffy knew that she was whining, but she really didn't want Spike to think that she couldn't cut it. She was the Slayer.

He rolled his eyes. "What time is your first class tomorrow?"

"What?"

"First class? What time?"

Buffy frowned. "Not until ten, but—"

"Good. You've still got some stuff at my house. Let's go." Spike held out an arm, and Buffy immediately drew back.

"No, Spike! I've got things, and—"

"You're hurt," he said flatly, looking at her wrist.

Buffy put it down at her side as though it wasn't really hurt and immediately winced. "I appreciate your concern, but really I'm fine."

"You've had a rough couple of days," Spike argued. "And now you're going to go back in your room and feel sorry for yourself because you don't want anybody to think that you can't hack it. How am I doing?"

Buffy pouted. "Pretty good," she finally admitted, knowing that there was no arguing with him when he was in this sort of mood.

"So now I'm going to leave Red a note to keep her from worrying over you, and I'm going to make sure that whatever the last couple of days have been like, you have a good night." Spike's face softened, and he touched a gentle hand to her cheek. "I just want to spend a little time with my girl."

Buffy melted instantly. "How the hell am I supposed to argue with you when you say things like that?" she demanded.

Spike just smirked. "That's the point. You aren't. Are you going to come quietly?"

"Yes, but only because you wouldn't let me say no." Buffy leaned against his chest briefly. "Thank you."

"Anytime, luv. You know that."

~~~~~

Buffy woke the next morning feeling more comfortable than she had since school had started. If that made her weak, then she could live with that.

The really scary part, though, the part she didn't let herself think about, was what would it do to her to lose Spike.

"Hey."

His soft voice roused her further, and she stretched. "'Morning."

"How's the arm?"

"Better. Thanks for wrapping it." Buffy sat up, looking around for her clothing. "I should probably get going soon."

"Let me make you breakfast first," he urged. "Won't do to start the day off hungry, yeah?"

Buffy turned to him, and he could see a tinge of fear in her gaze. "You're too good to me."

"No such thing," Spike countered. Side by side against his black sheets, the contrast in their skin tones was obvious—Buffy's sun-kissed gold and his alabaster. The thought flitted through his mind that if he had the Gem of Amara, that could change. He could join Buffy in her sunlit world, bridging one more gap that separated them.

"What would I do without you?" she asked.

Spike pressed his lips to her bare shoulder. "You'd get by, luv." He raised his eyes and saw the scar on her neck, the one he'd put there.

She sighed. "Maybe."

"Do you want my help with this vamp?" Spike asked. "You know I'll be there if you want me, but if you'd rather kick her arse yourself I'd understand."

"Tell you what," Buffy said brightly, basking in the confidence he had in her. "I'll call you if I need backup."

Spike smirked. "Or a cheering section."

"You got it." Buffy batted her eyelashes at him. "You said something about breakfast?"

Spike chuckled. "Yeah, I did."

~~~~~

Buffy absolutely couldn't believe what she was seeing. That ho-bag of a vampire had stolen her stuff, and now she was making fun of it? And she had Mr. Gordo? And her diary?

"Go check my room for the weapons chest. It's at the foot of my bed. If Willow's there, she can tell you where it is," Buffy ordered Xander.

Xander had stopped by campus after he'd called her house to find out where she and Willow were and had arrived just as Buffy was discovering her empty dorm room. Buffy had gone into immediate Slayer mode, and Xander had been happy to pitch in.

It had been a long and lonely summer washing dishes in The Fabulous Ladies' Night Club for Xander. Although he probably could have called someone—even Spike—the last thing he'd wanted was to come back to Sunnydale with his tail between his legs. Of course, if it hadn't been for the one night where he'd had to fill in for one of the regular strippers when he was sick, he probably would still be washing dishes.

Honestly, it had taken him a lot longer to earn the money to fix his car than he'd thought it would.

Still, he had a new car out of the deal, and he'd gotten through with minimum embarrassment, even if that was only because no one he knew was a witness to his stage debut.

He and Buffy had researched disappearances on the Sunnydale campus, and located the potential vampires' nest in the basement of one of the old fraternity houses. It was just like old times.

"Do you want me to get anything else?" Xander asked.

Buffy frowned. "Can you call Spike and tell him where I'm at? He always likes it when he can watch me fight."

Xander winced at the mental image that brought up, even though he couldn't really disagree with the vampire. "Sure. Call Spike first?"

Buffy dug in her pocket for some change. "Please." She watched as Xander hurried off, turning back to watch the vampires dig through the things they'd stolen from her room. They thought they could mess with her? "I'll show them," she muttered. "If there's one thing I still can do it's—"

She over-balanced somehow, tumbling through the skylight, landing in the midst of the vampires.

Sunday smirked down at her. "Oh, look. The Slayer brought delivery."

"Just thought I'd drop in," Buffy replied, standing slowly and brushing herself off. When no one seemed to appreciate her pun, she sighed. "Tough room."

"I appreciate the thought," Sunday said. "I'll appreciate it even more when I kill you."

Buffy gave her a tight smile. "You get to try." She ducked the punch that Sunday sent her way. "Oh, please. I hope you can do better than that."

The fight was a little more challenging than it would have been if Buffy had two good arms. As it was, there were definitely moments where it could easily have gone either way. A lucky hit on her bad arm sent Buffy stumbling, gasping with pain.

"You want some help?"

Spike's voice came from behind her, but Buffy couldn't afford the distraction to turn to look at him. "No, I think I've got it." She struggled to stay upright, holding her injured arm to her chest and executing a round house kick that caught Sunday in the chin.

"What's with the hair?" Spike mused, moving around the perimeter of the room, easily staking the one vampire brave enough to attack him. "Looks like she's got a rats' nest on top of her head."

Sunday snarled, turning to face him. "You're next."

Buffy sent a knee into Sunday's unprotected side. "You know, Spike's right," she said conversationally. "You were giving me fashion advice, and you're stuck in—some decade that probably never existed."

Sunday attacked furiously pushing Buffy back. "Oh, yeah? At least I'm not wearing last year's clothes."

"Oh, I don't know," Buffy replied. "I think I'd prefer my clothes not to scream, 'I'm a great big slut.'"

"Speaking for the male sex, I quite like your clothes, pet," Spike said.

Buffy smiled smugly, feinting with a right punch and ending with a left spin-kick, sending Sunday flying. She barely noticed that the other vampires were trying to flee. Spike was standing in the door now anyway, so it wasn't like they were going to get past him. "I'm pretty sure that Sunday is too big of a skank to keep a boyfriend," she informed Spike. "But we shouldn't rub her nose in it."

Buffy caught the stake Spike threw to her, spinning and ramming it through Sunday's heart without breaking stride. She looked around for more vampires, but they were all dust or had managed to escape. "Too bad," she observed. "I was just getting started." She turned to look at Spike. "Good job on the cheering section, by the way."

"Watching you in action gives a bloke plenty to cheer about," Spike replied. He leaned in when Buffy wrapped her good arm around his neck, obliging her silent demand for a kiss.

It really worked out nicely. Buffy got revved up from the fight, and Spike got revved up watching her.

If only every aspect of their relationship were that easy. And if only Sunday was the only resident threat on the UC Sunnydale campus.