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The creature rolled through the deserted streets of Sunnydale, endlessly searching, its mind filled only with the desire to destroy. It despised these humans with their pathetic and ignorant stupidity. Soon they would be no more.

It moved on.

* * *

Buffy woke with a gasp, her body coiled ready to strike. It was only after a few moments that she realised she was alone, save for Spike, who was lying spent beside her after an intense session where they’d had sex in pretty much every corner of his crypt.

The dream still lingered fresh in her mind and she could feel the anxious perspiration trickling down her back. Whatever that thing had been she could still feel the hatred and revulsion that had been coming from it. She was suddenly very afraid. Usually her dreams of badness meant that something bad was coming. If it was the creature from her dream then they were all in a world of trouble.

* * *

“I’m picking up a strange energy wave on the TARDIS’s sensors.”

Rose peered over The Doctor’s shoulder at the series of lines, waves and blips that were flashing up on the display. It all meant nothing to her and she knew that if she asked him what it meant she’d just be presented with a load of scientific garble that would just leave her feeling as confused as she was now.

“What is it?”

The Doctor shrugged and then grinned. “Don’t know, but it’ll be fun to find out won’t it?”

He already had that manic, excited look in his eyes that made Rose grin as he dashed around pulling levers and pushing buttons. That was why she loved him; everything was an adventure .

“What’s going on?” Jack asked with a yawn, staggering in to join them whilst rubbing his eyes with one hand and using the other to try and smooth down his mussed up hair.

“We’re following some weird signal thing,” Rose replied with a smile.

“Cool.”

“So where exactly are we going?” Rose asked The Doctor as he finished keying in some numbers into the console.

“I dunno. Exciting, isn’t it?”

* * *

“Anya, all I’m saying is that no one wants to buy petrified snails heads. If we give them away free with any purchase, then we can get rid of him and bring in things people actually want to buy.”

Anya pouted as she looked over the invoices for the tenth time that morning. “But if we give them away free we won’t make any money. In fact we’ll have lost money. I didn’t get into the business of shopkeeping to lose money.”

Giles sighed and was just reaching to remove his glasses when Buffy entered the shop, her face drawn and tired looking.

“Buffy? Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know. Giles, I had this dream last night and it was so vivid. It kind of freaked me out. I think it might have been one of my Slayer dreams.”

“Well, what was the dream about? Did you see anything that might help with the research?”

Buffy sighed and shook her head. “I didn’t really see anything. It was just a feeling. Giles, there was so much hatred. This thing wants to wipe us all out.”

Anya dropped her clipboard with a start. “Well, whatever it is you need to find it and slay it because I don’t want to die. The shop is making excellent profits at the moment, snails heads aside.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I’ll get right on it. I’d hate for the destruction of humanity to get in the way of your sales.”

Anya nodded. “Good.”

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Giles, already pulling some books down from the shelves. “It might be worth talking to Spike though and seeing if he’s heard anything that might help us.”

Spike. Great. That was all she needed on top of impending extinction of the human race.

“Sure. I’ll talk to him tonight.”

The bell above the shop door rang and everyone fell silent on cue. The problem with having a shop as your HQ was that people tended to walk in all the time.

Out of the corner of her eye Buffy watched them. They were a strange looking group. The girl looked normal enough and the man in front pulled off the geek chic look. Even the guy in the old RAF coat didn’t look hugely out of place but something still felt off. Maybe it was another Slayer thing.

So, despite the fact that had quit her job in the shop after just a few hours, Buffy walked over to the threesome with a beaming smile that she’d only ever used when she’d been disguised as the Buffybot.

“May I help you?”

“Hey!” Buffy heard Anya exclaim behind her. “You don’t work here any more. I hope you don’t think you’re going to get paid for helping out.”

Keeping the smile on her face Buffy glanced over her shoulder. “I’m just seeing if these people would like to spend some money while you and Giles do that book thing for me.”

Anya beamed. “Oh, well in that case I approve. Please continue.”

Buffy turned her attention back to the potential customers. Now that she was close she was sure that there was something not right with these people. It wasn’t necessarily that they were evil, just that they were more than your everyday customer.

“Sorry about that. I’m Buffy. Is there anything you’re looking for?”

The man in the RAF coat moved forward and shot Buffy a smile so bright that she actually had the cliché reaction of feeling weak at the knees. A man with a smile like that should not be allowed to walk around without some sort of warning first.

“Hi,” he said cheerily, extending a hand. “I’m Captain Jack Harkness.”

Buffy gave him her hand and dear lord she was blushing. More so when he took her hand and pressed it to his lips.

“Can I have you?”

Oh god, she did not just say that!

“I’m sorry. I mean can I help you?”

“No, we were just having a look,” The geek chic guy replied. “My friend Rose has never seen a real magic shop before.”

The girl, Rose, shrugged.

“Well, welcome. Just call me if you need anything.”

She scurried away, her face still red, before she could make any more of a fool of herself. Giles shot her a pointed look and then removed his glasses and began to vigorously clean them. Anya was still staring at the three people who were now whispering amongst themselves.

“Those people came in here with no intention of spending any money!” She whispered in outrage. “This place is not a museum! Still, that man who was talking to you is very attractive. Maybe he can give you lots of orgasms and take your mind off being brought back from the dead.”

“Anya!” Giles hissed, glasses now firmly in place. “Please!”

“What? You’d be surprised what orgasms can make you forget.”

Buffy wasn’t listening though. Her eyes will still fixed on the three people in the shop, who were now looking around as though they expected something to leap out at them at any moment. Before she could devise a way to talk to them some more though, they left.

She had a feeling she’d be seeing them again.

“Well, that was weird.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Anya replied. “Honestly, who goes into a shop without intending to spend any money? I’ve half a mind to put a sign on the door banning that sort of behaviour.”

While Giles and Anya discussed the professionalism and morality of banning window shoppers, Buffy tuned them out and instead thought about her dream and the people who had just been in the shop. She doubted they were the evil she sensed but it was possible they were connected somehow.

Time would tell.

* * *

A smile quirked on Spike’s lips as Buffy barged into his crypt the same way she did every night.

“I need information,” she said, hands on hips as though she was trying to convince him that she was the one in control of this situation.

“It’ll cost you,” he replied dryly.

“Spike!”

He grinned. “I don’t mean money. I know things are hard for you and the little bit but I gotta get my perks where I can. A kiss for the info.”

“What? No! Spike, you’re disgusting!”

“That’s not what you said last night. And the night before that. And the night before that. This is getting to be a bit of a routine for you, luv.”

Buffy managed to stave off the blush this time and instead just glared at him.

“Whatever. If you’re not going to help me then I’ve got patrolling to do.”

Spike sighed. “Fine. What do you need?”

“Anything about a new evil that might be in town. Oh, and three new people who just arrived today. Two guys and a girl. One of the guys wears an old RAF coat and the other two are British.”

“Care to be more specific about the new evil, pet? What kind are we talking here?”

“The destroy all of humanity kind.”

“Nothing we haven’t handled before then,” Spike replied with a quirk of his lips. “What about these three people? Are they evil?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’ve got a feeling they’re involved in this somehow.”

Spike nodded. “I’ll look into it.”

“Great. Now I need to patrol.”

“Want some company?”

“No.”

* * *

Buffy glared at Spike when she thought he wasn’t looking. She still wasn’t sure how he’d ended up patrolling with her after she’d specifically told him not to come. Spike’s persistence always surprised and annoyed her when really she should be used to it by now.

“I can see what you’re doing you know,” Spike said as they walked.

Buffy shrugged. “It’s the price you pay for being annoying and following me.”

“I’m not following you, I’m watching your back. You need help, especially if ‘the end of humanity is on its way’. Again.”

Buffy stopped and turned to face him. “Look, even if I did need your help, which I don’t, why does it have to be you?”

Spike looked around. “I don’t see anyone else here.”

Buffy sagged. She hated it when he was right. “Just because you think that—“

She stopped as he raised a hand to motion her to be quiet, head cocked to one side as he strained to listen.

“Do you hear something?”

She listened as well. “No.”

“It sounds like…I dunno…wheels.”

“Wheels?”

That was when they saw it. The creature from Buffy’s dream came around the corner and began to move towards them.

“HU-MANS! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!”

Buffy ducked as it fired a blast at her.

“Spike, what the hell is it?”

“No idea.”

Suddenly there were arms around her, grabbing her and pulling her away. As she struggled she saw it was the geek chic guy from the magic shop.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Saving your life,” he replied. “Everyone run!”

She saw Spike being dragged to his feet by Jack. Rose was already running. Instinct took over and Buffy ran too, taking them in the direction of the magic shop.

* * *

Giles and Anya dropped the books they were stocktaking as Buffy, Spike and the others burst into the shop and slammed the door closed behind them.

“Buffy? What on earth is going on?”

She ignored him and turned instead to the man who had saved her life. “Ok, talk. Who are you and what the hell was that thing? Did you know it was here? Is that why you were in the shop earlier?”

“I’m The Doctor and that thing was a Dalek. I knew something was here but I didn’t know what until just now. Ok?”

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Uh, no. What kind of doctor are you? And how do we kill that thing?”

“He’s not a doctor,” Rose said stepping forward. “It’s just his name. The. Doctor.”

“Whatever, I don’t really care what he’s called. I just want to know how you kill that Dalek. What the hell is it anyway? It looked like a robot or something.”

“What you saw wasn’t the real Dalek,” The Doctor replied. “That’s just its armour. Inside is the creature itself. An alien from another world whose only aim in like is to destroy all life that isn’t Dalek-kind.”

“Great, another creature bent on destroying my town and then the world. Just tell me how to kill it.”

“There’s no easy way,” The Doctor answered.

“So give me a hard one. No way I’m going to just run away and let that thing kill everyone. Nothing is indestructible.”

He shook his head. “You have to understand. Not only does the Dalek encompass pure hatred for all races, it’s got a mind more powerful than any computer ever created on this or any other planet. No weapon here on earth will even come close to hurting it.”

Buffy thought for a moment. Then she smiled. “I know just the person we need.”

* * *

“Buffy! I can’t! You know what using magic does to me. If I do this I might not be able to stop.”

Buffy stroked her friend’s arm and gave her a gentle smile. “Wills, believe me if there was another way we’d take it. We need you to do this though. I promise we’ll help you as much as we can but please, you have to help us.”

Willow frowned but nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“Anything you can to stop this thing.”

“I’ll try.”

Giles moved forward and gave Willow’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ve got some books that might help you. Shall we go and look through them together?”

Willow visibly relaxed and nodded. “Thanks, Giles.”

“I’ll defend the shop in case you need somewhere to run away to again.” Anya announced.

Buffy pressed her lips together. Whatever happened she doubted there would be any more running.

* * *

They marched down the street, faces set in determination. It wasn’t long before the screams told them where the Dalek was. Buffy charged, flanked on either side by Spike and Jack. Spike was the first to move, lunging forward and attacking the dalek with the only weapon he had, his fists.

“Ow! Bloody hell these things are hard!”

He fell back, cradling his injured hand as Buffy attacked with an axe she had picked up in the shop. Her blows did little more damage than Spike’s fist. The Doctor hadn’t been kidding when he’d said no weapons could hurt it. She dodged another blast from the dalek and ducked down beside Spike.

Jack placed himself between Rose and the dalek

“What are you doing?” She asked with exasperation as she strained to look over his shoulder at what was happening.

“Keeping you safe.”

“But want to help!” She struggled to get past him but found herself held firmly in place.

“Do you know what it would do to him if anything happened to you? What it would do to me too?”

Rose fell still.

“EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!”

The distraction was enough for Willow though and she began to chant softly under her breath. The air crackled with energy and a portal opened.

Another Dalek appeared.

“Willow! What have you done?”

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t finish the spell yet!”

The second Dalek landed and moved over to join the first.

“I DO NOT UN-DER-STAND. I AM THE LAST DA-LEK.”

“NO. I AM THE LAST.”

Both creatures fell silent as they seemingly processed what they were seeing. Buffy and the others stood still, watching and poised ready to attack.

“YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE. THE DA-LEK RACE MUST PRE-VAIL.”

They turned to face each other and Buffy flinched as, with a hiss, both of their metal armour suits opened to reveal the alien inside. Tentacles extended and met in the space between them, fondling and caressing.

“What are they doing?” Rose whispered to Jack.

“I don’t know.”

“They’re mating,” said The Doctor who had now joined them.

Buffy wrinkled her nose. “Eew! Alien sex so not on the list of things I needed to see, ever.”

Both of the Daleks were shuddering now, steam slowly drifting from each of them as they suddenly fell still. Then with a flash they both vanished.

“Not that I’m complaining, but where did they go?”

“Well, they wouldn’t dream of giving birth on this planet,” The Doctor replied. “They’ll have gone to somewhere they conquered in the past and raise the child there.”

“Will they come back?”

“Doubtful.”

“Well, I guess we did it then. Although more specifically I guess it was them doing it. Whatever.”

* * *

“So, this thing is really a time machine?”

Buffy stared at the blue police box as though she were having some sort of practical joke played on her.

“Well, time and space,” The Doctor replied, “but yeah. It’s bigger on the inside.”

“Oh.”

They stood in silence for a moment, contemplating the rapid series of events that had brought them together. It had been one hell of a weird day, for Buffy at least. Willow, grateful that she hadn’t been able to finish the spell, had gone back to the shop with Giles. He’d assured her that a cup of tea would make them all feel better about the whole thing.

Sometimes he was so British.

“Well,” she finally said. “I’d like to say it’s been fun but aliens intent on destroying all of us and only stopping to have sex in front of me is not my idea of a good time.”

“No,” The Doctor replied with the smallest hint of a smile. “Mine neither.”

Buffy suspected he wasn’t being entirely honest about that but she let it slide and extended her hand to The Doctor. “Don’t take this the wrong way but I hope I never see you again.”

He simply grinned and stepped into the TARDIS. Rose gave Buffy a smile and a nod before joining him.

Jack moved in and leaned close, whispering into her ear. “I have a feeling you and I will meet again some day.”

Damn, she was blushing again. How did he do that? “I hope so.”

And there was that amazing smile again. It was going to be one of Buffy’s nicest memories for a long time to come.

Jack entered the TARDIS and it slowly faded away until she was left alone with Spike who was scowling.

“Smug git. I should have wiped that stupid smile off his face.”

Buffy snorted. “Jeez, Spike. Jealous much?”

“Of him? I don’t think so.”

Buffy grinned. Let Spike see how it felt to be the insecure one for once. “Whatever. I’m going to bed.”

“Want some company?”

“No!”

As she stalked off, grumbling to herself, Spike grinned.

She’d be back.

The End