As You Weren't (but would have been if I had written this ep)
First in the "Spinning Wheels" series.
Other fan fiction by Alexandra Huxley

SPOILER: As You Were (6th season)

Warnings and disclaimers:
1) This is a shameless shipper fic, so if you're a Riley hater, don't bother reading this fic; everyone else, enjoy.
2) The characters in this piece belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Inc., and a lot of other people who are not me. I feed off Doug Petrie's words and tone -- thanks for the inspiration.

=====================================================================

He took her into his arms and reached up for the line. The chopper lifted and carried them into the night.

Riley looked in the mirror, something he didn’t do a lot these days. A little more, since Sam, but he still avoided it for the most part. His face looked so old. Older than he thought possible. He reached up to touch the scar. He had been lucky that night. Hadn’t lost his eye, hadn’t died.

Well, as one of the farmhands used to say, better to be lucky than good.

She came up behind him, her arms slipping around him as she nuzzled his neck. She started right above his shoulder and slowly moved up to just below his ear. She knew it drove him crazy and she slid her hands down his smooth chest, unbuttoning his pants, smiling at his reaction as she purred, “Need a little something before bed?”

He watched in the mirror as her hair brushed his arm. His response was instinctive and he couldn’t deny that the idea was appealing, but he wouldn’t be thinking about her and that didn’t seem right to him. He smiled and turned to face her. “I think tonight it’s just bed.”

She gave him her sad, puppy dog look as her arms went up around his neck. “You sure? I think you need some cheering up.”

“I’m sure.” He put his arms around her waist.

“You want to talk?”

“Sam, we’ve been up for almost three days. The last thing I want to do right now is talk.”

“But…”

“Bed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You o.k., Buff?” Xander asked, his face showing concern as he lifted her chin.

Buffy smiled up at him, not bothering to wipe away the tears that came to her eyes. She started to nod as she said, “No.” She was grateful that Anya had been uncharacteristically understanding, telling Xander that Buffy needed some chips and to be away from the monsters and demons that were preparing to bed down for the night.

They walked out into the night, Xander grabbing a bag of Doritos on the way. “Hey, did you ever notice how loud Doritos are when nobody’s saying anything?”

Buffy smiled but she still couldn’t speak.

“Is there anything I can say right now that would help?” he asked as he held out the open bag.

She took a handful and said, “No. Just walk.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a year in combat mode, Riley had learned to sleep when the opportunity presented itself; to go from flat out, heart-stopping action to deep slumber in a matter of minutes; and he had gotten used to sleeping on hard, uncomfortable ground when necessary. Yet here he was, hours after laying his head down on the soft pillow, still tossing and turning, unable to sleep, unable to get her out of his head.

When the alarm started chirping, he was almost grateful to have the excuse to be awake again. Riley reached over to shut it off and looked around the room. They all looked the same after awhile. Another Officers’ barracks on another base. It would have been nice to spend the night in Sunnydale, if only for a change of scene.

Yeah, right. If only for that.

Sam stirred next to him. He had been telling Buffy the truth, he was happy with his life. He had a career again and a woman he loved. And he had seen Buffy and survived. Had seen her in bed with Spike and survived. It had hurt less than he thought it would – maybe because he had pictured it all too often over the past year. But touching her…it would have been better not to have touched her.

Rappelling into the dam had been no problem. He had been thinking about the demon, not her body wrapped around his. Had been worried about the test line holding them, not feeling the curve of her waist or her legs straddling him as he held her. Had even managed to not lean in and kiss her as she stood there looking up at him. And if Sam had been any longer…? Didn’t matter. Sam had gotten there before he gave in.

But in the crypt. With fire raging beneath them and Buffy’s hand on his, her body covering his. How he had wanted to just turn to her and take her right there. To run his hands through her hair, feel her skin against his, just to crawl inside her until he was safe and warm. But that wasn’t his place anymore and he had to put it out of his mind, concentrate on the here and now.

“What are you thinking about?”

Riley jumped as Sam’s hand slipped under the covers and moved down the inside of his thigh. He hadn’t realized she was awake. He reached down to grab her hand and pulled it up to his mouth, kissing the ring on her finger. “So what will you do when this turns green?”

She laughed. “You mean it isn’t real gold? ‘Mr. Be Prepared’ didn’t think to bring a wedding ring with him into the jungle?”

“I got one for you didn’t I?” he answered with a smile.

“Always the gentleman. And you even paid full price. I’m so proud you didn’t try to haggle the guy down to three dollars.”

“Anything for you.”

“And a quesadilla. I’m lucky the dinners in Mexico are pretty cheap or I might still have no ring.”

He turned on his side so he was facing her. “Thanks for marrying me, Sam.”

She frowned at him. “Thanks for saving the world, Riley.”

The intensity of her gaze made him uncomfortable. He shifted. “When did we go from happy to mad?”

“Not mad, just…” She sat up and drew her knees to her chest. Riley was one of the smartest guys she had ever known, but he was a guy after all. She had been willing to go along with him even though she thought it was a mistake. He meant the world to her, but she wasn’t fooling herself. And she didn’t understand why he didn’t want Buffy to know that the fact that they were married had more to do with eliminating red tape than anything else. “You sure you’re happy with how we played that, Finn?”

“What do you…”

“Don’t play dumb with me. It didn’t have to be that way. You could have told her.”

Riley sat up and reached for his sweatpants. “She has her life now. I have mine. It would just complicate things. It’s better this way.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you think she could have picked a more hideous color?” Buffy said as she looked in the mirror.

“At least you don’t look like a Christmas tree. This shade of green – not so good for redheads.”

“Oh, Will. You don’t look like a Christmas tree. At least not a healthy one. The green does make you look kind of sickly.”

“Umm, hello. In this together.”

“Sorry. This is so not what I want to be doing right now. Not that I’d want to be doing it at any other time, but really not now.”

“Oh, Buffy.” Willow put her hand out to Buffy’s shoulder. “You did so great. You didn’t even try to stake her.”

Buffy sat down on the floor with a thump. “They’ve been married for almost four months. I mean, how long could they have even known each other? Don’t you think that’s a little impulsive? Especially for Riley.”

“I know. I mean this is the guy who took almost that long to kiss you.”

“Excuse me. Cheering me up here. Not knocking me down.”

Willow sat down and put her arms around Buffy. “Not knocking down! Thinking. It really doesn’t seem like Riley. He could have handled it so much better. I mean, you didn’t just go running off to the first warm body you saw after he left. You showed some restraint.”

“Restraints, yes. Warm body, no,” Buffy murmured as she got up. “You think we can change back now? Do they have to see us again or will they trust us to say the dresses fit?”

“I think they trust us,” Willow said as she pulled the dress over her head. “Hey, where’d you go this morning? I thought we were going to get our shoes.”

Buffy leaned her head against the wall. “I had to see someone.”

Willow looked at Buffy with concern. “Are you going to be o.k.?”

“Just get me through this week. I need to be happy for Xander.” She turned to look at Willow. “Will – why do they always leave?” she asked as the tears started to fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You hear Nepal got pushed back?” Sam asked as Riley walked up to her desk. She was looking at something on her computer.

“Why?”

“Big Foot went into hibernation.”

“Big Foot? That’s who we were chasing?”

“I don’t think it was really Big Foot. People get all caught up in those legends -- Dracula, Frankenstein. There are much worse things out there.”

Riley smiled to himself. “No kidding.”

“Yeah, so anyway, no Nepal, but I heard you might have new orders,” Sam said, still not looking at him.

“Me? Not you?”

“Yeah, Finn. You’re going this one alone.”

Riley put his hand on her shoulder when he noticed the odd look on her face. “What is it?”

Turning to him, she took his hand off her shoulder and held it in hers. “Sit down.”

Riley reached out to pull a chair over, not letting go of Sam’s hand. He looked uneasy. “That sounds ominous.”

Sam moved her chair closer to him. “Don’t give up on this, Riley. There’s still something there and I think it’s worth going after.”

He was confused. “Why would I give up on us…?”

“Not us, Finn. Her. Buffy.”

Riley recoiled as though he had been slapped. He pulled his hand away and pushed the chair back. “How could you say that? I don’t want that.”

“I think you do. I think she does, too. You guys don’t communicate much, do you?”

“You’re my wife. You want me to get back together with my ex-girlfriend? Are you crazy?” He stood up and started pacing. “I love you, Sam. Why are you doing this?”

“You love me like you love Graham, except you get to sleep with me. Of course,” she added mischievously, “you could sleep with him if you really wanted to. There are some Army guys who do that you know.” She smiled at the look on Riley’s face. “Geez, Finn. Lighten up. Has anyone ever told you that you need to smile more? I bet you used to smile more.” She stood up so that she could look him in the eye. “I’ll always love you, Riley. We’ve had good times. You made life worth living through that hell down there. But what we have? It’s not the real thing. You deserve that and, frankly, so do I.”

Riley stopped pacing and sat back against the desk. He crossed his arms against his chest and stared at her.

Sam stared back. “Say something. I hate it when you clench your jaw like that.”

He looked down. “We shouldn’t have gone to Sunnydale.”

Sam walked over to Riley and put her arms around him. “You would’ve ended up there sooner or later. Sooner, actually. But I’m glad I saw it for myself. It makes this easier.”

“’It’? What’s ‘it’?” He still hadn’t uncrossed his arms.

“You’re not over her. I told her it had taken a year, but I lied. And, you know? I kind of played up the PDA when we were at her house and I don’t think she’s over you either.” She took his head in her hands and looked into his eyes. He tried to look away but she held him there. “Don’t hide from me. Don’t do that to me.” She lifted her mouth to his and kissed him gently. “Go pack your bags, Finn. I’m not strong enough to let you go twice.”

“Finn!”

Riley and Sam separated and snapped to attention as Colonel Vaughan walked in the room.

“At ease. Sam, you’re needed in the conference room.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sam started to leave the room and then turned and walked back to Riley. “Excuse me, Colonel. If you don’t mind…”

She pulled Riley to her and kissed him one more time. Long, deep, and hard. “Come find me if it doesn’t work out.” She glanced at Vaughan as she left the room. “Ma’am.”

Riley stared after Sam in disbelief. He turned to Vaughan when she cleared her throat.

Vaughan was trying not to laugh. “I bet that didn’t happen much before they let us women in, huh?”

“Permission to speak…”

“Freely. By all means.”

“I think that was the Peace Corps part of her, not the woman part.”

Vaughan raised her eyebrows. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got some things to learn about women?”

Riley had been so thrown by what Sam had just done that he barely registered what Vaughan was saying: “…new orders. Did Sam tell you about the change of plans?”

“Yeah. No Nepal. So where to next?”

“Hellmouth duty, Finn. You’re heading back to Sunnydale.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow. Did you cook this?” Dawn asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Ow!” Buffy bumped her head on the cabinet door as she straightened up from checking the oven. “Yeah. Dinner by Buffy.”

“You’re not working tonight?”

“I was kind of fired. They weren’t as understanding as I hoped they would be.”

“Well, it’s probably better. Now you can get a job like Sam and Riley have.”

“And how exactly would I do that? I don’t think they accept applications in Black Ops.” And working side by side with Lois and Clark was not her idea of a good time.

“So call Riley. I’m sure he’d get you in.”

“Dawn – it’s not that easy.”

“What’s not that easy?” Willow asked as she appeared in the doorway. The aroma was heavenly. “Mmm. Yummy smell.” She went to the cabinet to get plates and glasses.

“You think?” asked Buffy. “Maybe I can get a job cooking real food for someone. People still need cooks, don’t they?”

“I was saying,” Dawn said over Buffy’s muttering, “I think she should call Riley and ask him for a job.”

Willow’s eyes widened as she looked from Dawn to Buffy.

“I’m not asking Riley for anything,” Buffy said. “He has his whole happy world. I’m not butting in.”

“You’re just jealous because he went and found another Buffy except with dark hair. And taller,” said Dawn.

“Dawn, will you bring these into the dining room? A real meal calls for a real table,” Willow said as she handed the dishes to Dawn.

Dawn left the room muttering, “She’s the one who let him leave. Don’t take it out on me.”

Willow sat down on the stool next to the counter. “That’s the first snippy thing I’ve heard her say in two days. I was worried someone had stolen our Dawnie.”

Buffy gave Willow a weak smile. “Turning over a new Buffy leaf. Watch the words roll off my back.”

On the surface, Buffy seemed to be handling all this pretty well, but Willow could see the pain in her eyes. “You don’t have to be strong about this. When Oz came back? Even with Tara there – it hurt to let him go.”

“Yeah, but you had the choice.” Buffy’s voice was curt. “No one asked me my opinion about perfect Mrs. Finn.”

“She was kind of perfect,” Willow said then added hurriedly, “but in a really annoying way.”

“Really annoying.” Buffy sat down on the stool next to Willow. “He said I was still a hottie, though. Didn’t say that about her, unh uh.”

“Oh, you’re definitely more of a hottie. I know these things. So give – what else did he say?”

“Apart from the thing about being married? Oh wait. No, he didn’t think to mention that part. They never mention the important parts.” Buffy tried to be angry at Riley's leaving out that detail, but as she closed her eyes all she could think of was his arms around her at the dam, his body beneath hers at Spike’s crypt. She'd had an incredible urge to pull that stupid vest off him, tear off his clothes, and devour him. But then she had noticed the blankets on the floor from earlier and was reminded of where she was and what had become of her life. Too bad that guilt and regret seemed to be the only emotions she was good at these days. “He felt so good, Willow. So warm and solid. I forgot what he felt like. Those arms…”

“Feeling? There was feeling?” Willow asked, almost too eagerly. She had been dying to ask Buffy for details, but hadn’t wanted to push.

Buffy smiled sadly. Not on his part apparently. “Only platonic feeling. I’m no home-breaker. No, I only break the hearts. I leave their homes intact.” Except when I blow up their crypts with grenades.

“He did look good, didn’t he?” Willow asked. She liked Sam and Sam seemed to make Riley happy. No angst. But then again, she couldn’t help but remember what Buffy had said a long time ago about passion and pain going hand in hand. “Mostly happy, I think.”

“Mostly? Just mostly?” Buffy wanted to be glad for him, but couldn’t deny that a part of her wanted some confirmation that he hadn’t completely moved on.

“Well, you know, I’m sure it was hard for him to see you again. He acts all strong and together but I’m not fooled.”

“You think he’ll come back again?” Buffy asked, not entirely sure of what answer she wanted to hear.

Willow thought for a minute before answering. “Yeah, I do. Someday.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley liked the kick ass car that came with the job, but it took forever to fill up the gas tank. He looked at his watch and then laughed. What exactly did he have to hurry for? He had a few days' leave and didn’t need to report to Command until Monday. No one was expecting him and, for the first time in a year, no one was counting on him to do anything. Maybe he should head out to the ocean and just sit on the beach for a few days. That’s the kind of thing Sam would do.

Finally. He took the hose out of the tank, and was putting it back in its place when he heard his name.

“That’s your car? How’d you get all the good toys?”

“Xander – what are you doing here?” Turning, Riley smiled and shook the hand Xander held out.

“Searching for the perfect peanut butter pie. You know, rehearsal dinner and all. I’m trying to do my part. My mom’s not exactly the hostess with the mostest as I’m sure you remember.”

“She made good punch.”

“Yeah. Punch. So,” Xander looked around. “Where’s Sam?”

Riley looked down.

“Oh no," Xander said. "Please don’t tell me that. Please don’t tell Anya that.”

Riley smiled. “It’s not really what it seems.”

“It seems to me that you’re here and she’s not.”

“O.k., then yeah. I guess it is what it seems. How’s Buffy?”

“Since you left her for the second time? She’s dealing. She’s strong.”

“Don’t I know it,” Riley said, mostly to himself.

“Weren’t you headed off to Nepal? I think you missed a turn somewhere.”

“New orders. Back to the Hellmouth.”

“Really? Sunnydale? Does Buffy know?”

Riley shook his head. “You think she’ll mind?”

“It never hurts to have another friend in town," Xander said carefully. "Hey – a friend! A guy friend! You know what NORAD means?”

“Of course,” Riley said.

Xander slapped Riley’s shoulder. “I feel a Snoopy Dance coming on.”

Riley looked puzzled. “Should I know what that means, too?”

“No. That’s o.k. That’s one of those things Willow likes.” Xander looked up as someone in line for gas honked his horn. “You on a schedule? Any interest in hunting down some pie?”

Riley started to say no, but why the hell not? He was going to have to face them all again sooner or later. “Sure. That would be good. You want to drive or should I?”

“You. I want to take secret agent car. My car can stay where it’s parked.”

Riley grabbed the receipt out of the gas tank. “Hop in. Just tell me where to go.” He turned to get in the car.

“Hey, Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to her in time.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I had been a few minutes earlier she might have made it. To the helicopter. I’ve been wanting to say that for the last year.”

Xander walked around the side of the car to get in.

Riley found that it was hard to move. He willed himself to get in the car and start driving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Willow – you ready?” asked Dawn. “We need to pick up the shoes and get the cameras. I think that’s all we need to do today.”

“Give me a few minutes? I just want to check my email. Oz was supposed to send me something for Xander.”

“Sure. Just call up when you’re done.”

Willow nodded and listened to the modem connecting. She always liked that sound – everything clicking into place. She scanned through her email. Nothing from Oz. She was about to shut it down when she noticed another message.

--------------------
To: WilloRo
From: SamFinn
Hi Willow,
How goes it? I’m about to leave for South Africa.
Did you know there’s a Hellmouth in Johannesburg?
I guess I’m not surprised.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about a text we came
across in Mexico. Have you ever heard of something
called Clarifona? It’s actually pretty common, as I
recently found out. There’s an interesting passage
on page 323. You’ll know the one I mean. It’s a
history text, not magick, so don’t worry about that.

You can decide if you want to tell her. I’m not sure
if Finn will. Sometimes he forgets to tell people the
important parts.

It was great meeting you. I hope I’ll see you again
soon.

My love to all,
Sam
--------------------

Willow recognized the name of the book – it was one of the ones she had scanned for Giles the summer before last. She pulled it up on her computer. Page 323. An ancient Mayan prophecy that foretold the end of the world. This apocalypse stuff could really get tiring.

The Gods would only be appeased by the blood of a new bride joined to her mate by a spirit guide. The ritual required that she “dive into the fire.” The volcano would spew “the blood of the Gods and the rain of the spirit ghosts for a thousand years” unless her mate “followed her into the heart of the earth” and carried her “back to the sky.”

“Ick,” Willow said as she sat back in her chair. Was that where the shamans had come in? The spirit guide could be anyone who practiced, a shaman wasn’t really necessary but one would certainly do. A new bride and her mate. “A ritual,” Willow said under her breath.

“What ritual?” Xander asked as he walked in with a stack of pies and headed towards the kitchen. “Can I keep the pies here? There’s a freezer in the basement, right?”

Willow ignored him as he walked by; she murmured, “Sam was the sacrifice.”

“You sure you’re off the magic?” asked Riley. “’Cause that was a pretty amazing deduction otherwise.”

Willow spun around to see him leaning against the doorjamb.

“Riley!”

“Hey, Willow.”

She was trying to process what she had just read but seeing Riley standing in the doorway had made her brain stall. “Did you…? This says…”

“The jumping into the volcano thing? Yeah, that kind of got to me, too. But, you know, we have gadgets. It gave us good odds.”

Willow narrowed her eyes. “Are you really married?”

“Probably not in the eyes of any church, but I was never too sure on the technicalities. It wasn’t really what I was thinking of when we did it. Does the spirit world grant divorces?”

“Gotta tell ya. Not something I ever considered.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“But you and Sam…”

“We were together before it happened but it’s not like we were picking out china patterns. Right before the volcano thing, we got a little drunk and Graham performed some kind of ceremony to make it legal. He said it would make it easier to explain to command if one of us didn’t make it. Less red tape. I thought he was kidding. I’m still not sure if I should tell my Mom. She’d probably start in on grandkids.”

“You were drunk? You got married because you were drunk?” She was amazed Riley managed to look sheepish and outraged at the same time.

“You try explaining a Mayan ritual to a room full of generals.” It sounded lame even to Riley as he said it; it had made so much more sense at the time. “You know, you all seem to think stopping the apocalypse is an every day occurrence. Personally? I found it a bit overwhelming. And,” he added, mumbling, “that stuff the shamans give you is pretty strong.”

His explanation actually struck Willow as believable. A bit on the lame side, but believable. The fact that he was here alone wasn’t lost on Willow either. No Sam. “Sam’s on her way to South Africa.”

“Oh,” Riley smiled. “So, that’s how you knew. Did she email you?”

Willow nodded. “You going to tell Buffy?”

Xander came back upstairs. “Tell Buffy what?”

Willow looked from Riley to Xander and then back to Riley. “Xander, would you mind getting Dawn for me? She’s up in her room. We have some stuff to do.”

“Sure.” Xander headed up the stairs yelling, “Dawnster!”

Willow waited until Xander was upstairs and said, “Buffy should be back soon. She went to pick up her paycheck.”

Riley wasn’t going to make the mistake of calling Willow his accomplice again, but he felt he had just been given a blessing of some kind. “Do you think it will matter? If Sam weren’t around? Buffy seemed . . . otherwise occupied when I ran into her the other night.”

“Well, she just got fired so she has some time on her hands.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…” His voice trailed off as he realized Willow had no idea that he was talking about Spike.

Xander and Dawn came downstairs. Dawn stopped short when she saw Riley. “You’re back. But I thought…”

“Yeah, so did I,” said Riley.

Xander said as he walked into the living room, “Ooh. Let me tell. New orders. Riley’s back in Sunnydale.”

Dawn and Willow’s mouths dropped open as they turned to look at Riley. “Really?” Dawn asked. Willow just shook her head and smiled. She was about to say something when the front door opened.

“Does anybody know whose truck that is on the street? ‘Cause it looks like Riley’s. Either that or the Geek Squad got a new…” Buffy stopped talking mid-sentence when she saw Riley. “You’re back.”

“That’s what I said,” said Dawn.

Willow grabbed her purse and pulled Xander into the hallway. “We’re going. We’ll be back in a couple of hours. Don’t forget – we meet Anya at seven at the Magic Shop to do the wedding favors.”

Buffy nodded as Willow pushed Dawn and Xander out the door, ignoring their protests. Willow gave Buffy a quick hug and turned to glare at Riley as she left. “Tell her,” she mouthed and then closed the door behind her.

“Is there another egg farm? Because I don’t think I want to deal with another egg farm,” said Buffy.

He shook his head. All he could think about was touching her. She was walking into the living room and saying something about eggs and crypts and Spike. He should really pay attention, especially to the stuff about Spike.

“Riley? Are you listening to me?”

“Sorry. Yeah, I’m listening.” He tried to focus on what she was saying but all he could do was watch her lips form the words. “No. I’m not.” He closed the distance between them and took her into his arms. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him. He bent down and kissed her, running his hands through her hair and down her back before pulling away.

She didn’t want him to let go. Since the moment she saw him at the counter she had wanted to feel his hands on her body, to taste him. Fighting the demons with him had triggered that warmth inside her, reminded her of what usually happened afterwards… She felt no control as she leaned her body into him and lifted her chin, her lips meeting his one more time.

He closed his eyes. His mouth wandered down her jaw, down her neck. He realized she was mumbling something about making the sun go down. “What?” he asked as he forced himself to stop kissing her.

“Nothing.” She hadn’t realized she had said that out loud. “It was just a dream I had once.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t believe he had just done that. Had the guts to walk across the room and kiss her. Or that she had let him. It was dawning on him that he was standing here in her living room with his arms around her. Unfortunately, it seemed to be dawning on her at the same time.

Buffy pushed away from him and asked angrily, “What are you doing? You can’t just come back whenever you feel like it and give me a speech or a kiss and then head off into the night with your…” Wife. Where was she? Buffy looked at Riley suspiciously. “Where’s Sam?”

“Where’s Spike?”

“I asked first.” Buffy folded her arms over her chest.

Riley looked down. “Looks like it’s not going to work out with Sam.”

The look on Buffy’s face softened. “Yeah, well, Spike’s kind of out of the picture, too.”

“Really.” He looked back up.

She was staring at him. “Why are you here?”

“They sent me back to Sunnydale. I guess I’ll be around for awhile,” Riley said as he watched for her reaction. No jumping for joy, but she didn’t look unhappy either. “And, umm, sorry about. . .that. I didn’t mean. . .”

Buffy smiled – her heart was still racing – but she said, “That can’t happen again. Not now. I need time, Riley. I’m not ready for this.”

“I know. Time is good.” He really didn’t want to talk about this, but there were some pretty powerful women that would be none too happy if he screwed this up again. “You have some now? Because there’s a story I have to tell you.”

She took a step toward him. “Do you really like my haircut?”

“Did you really die again?” He could feel his tension slip away.

“You first.” She sat down on the couch.

He sat on the other end and faced her. “Well, there was this volcano…”

“I meant about the hair.”

“Can I tell my story?”

She tentatively reached her hand out and rested it on the couch between them. “O.k. Go ahead. The volcano.”

He closed his hand around hers. “It was back in November and we were in Mexico…”

THE END

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Posted March 5, 2002.