She hated the alley behind the shops at the best of times. It smelled terribly, and the dumpster directly behind the neighboring shop always seemed to be oozing strange fluids. She tried to never look inside the dumpster when taking the trash out. Why, just the other day she'd seen something she would have sworn was a hand sticking out from underneath the cardboard boxes and plastic bags. Though hands aren't normally green and scaley with long talons--except at Halloween, which wasn't for months yet. Things had always been odd with that magic shop next door, but since the new owner took over a couple of years ago things had gotten odder.

Something shifted back in the darker shadows beyond the streetlight. Mrs. Gagarin took tighter hold on her bags and hurried down the alley. The keys to her Buick were already in her hand, and all she had to do was reach her car and she'd be safe.

Running footsteps, and a girl's voice shouting. But there was someone closer.

"Come here, supper," snarled something with fangs and yellow eyes as it reached for her.

Another voice roared, and a figure cloaked in black leather leaped from the shadows. Mrs. Gagarin stumbled back, reaching into her work bag and fumbling for her knitting needles.

They looked human, the two creatures fighting in the alley, but she saw they both had claws and glowing eyes. Two more people arrived, a young blonde girl and a young man with dark hair. The girl pulled up and glared.

"Spike, stop playing around and finish him!" she yelled.

The young man actually laughed. "What do you expect, Buffy? He's working out his frustrations because you interrupted our after-dinner activities to call us out."

"You promised you wouldn't talk about your sex life!"

The fighting creatures rolled closer to Mrs. Gagarin. She squeaked as she scrambled away.

"Oh, crap," the girl said, "civilian on the field. Spike, finish it!"

The creature who had tried to grab Mrs. Gagarin broke free. She fell back against the wall. Grinning horribly, the creature lunged for her. She closed her eyes and poked out with the knitting needle she held, but gentle puffs of dust fell on her before she connected.

"Shit!" gasped a new voice, and she opened her eyes.

The other creature was right in front of her, one hand braced against the wall beside Mrs. Gagarin's head, a wooden stake in his other hand, and his chest arched back as far it could go to stay away from the out-thrust knitting needle in her hand.

The wooden knitting needle.

She stared at the twisted face in front of her, taking in the yellow eyes, the fangs, and the bright bleached hair.

"Hello," he said carefully. "My name's Spike. Please don't stake me, I just saved your life."

"You're--you're--"

The blond girl came up. "Uh, hi. It's OK, you can put down the--the--what is that?"

"That's a knitting needle she's holding on me, Slayer. A wooden one."

The dark-haired young man joined them. Mrs. Gagarin glanced anxiously between them, her hand shaking. The tip of the knitting needle jiggled against the creature's chest, bunching up the material of the black t-shirt. The young man raised his empty hands.

"Ma'am, are you all right?"

"I--I think so."

"Good, that's good. Spike's not going to hurt you, he's one of the good guys."

Mrs. Gagarin looked at the demonic face doubtfully.

"Uh, yeah. Spike, how 'bout you put away the pointy bits, OK?"

"Oh, right." The frightening angles faded to handsome human planes, with the yellow eyes swirling to blue. Mrs. Gagarin's panic started to ease a little.

"Good, great. Ma'am, could you pull the knitting needle back? That wouldn't do any good anyway, wood that thin would just snap."

The one called Spike glared at the young man. "Xander, stop telling the amateurs the flaws in their plans."

"Oh, it wouldn't snap," Mrs. Gagarin said. "It's ironwood. They're the strongest ones I stock. They've always worked before."

There was silence, then perfect three-part harmony: "Before?"

The back door of the magic shop popped open, and Mrs. Gagarin relaxed at seeing someone she recognized. Young Tara gaped at the scene.

"Mrs. Gagarin, what happened?"

"Oh, Tara, there was one of those vampire things!"

Tara hurried over. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes, dear." She didn't resist as Tara took her out-thrust arm and gently pulled it back. Spike pushed off the wall and backed away. The dark-haired young man hurried over and made a fuss over the vampire.

The blonde girl heaved a big sigh of relief. "Well. That was exciting."

Tara patted Mrs. Gagarin's shoulder. "Mrs. Gagarin, this is Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, and Spike. Guys, this is Mrs. Gagarin from the knitting shop next door. Aren't you normally home by now?"

Mrs. Gagarin tried to stop shaking. "Yes, but I got busy and forgot all about the time." She looked at the three young people in front of her. Buffy was twirling a wooden stake in her fingers, and the boys were leaning against each other. "He's a vampire."

Tara kept patting. "Yes, he is."

"But he saved me."

Buffy shrugged. "He occasionally earns his keep."

"Hey!" Xander and Spike said together.

Mrs. Gagarin was beginning to wonder if she was going to make it to her car. "Does this happen every night?"

"The vamps don't normally come around the Magic Box," Buffy said, "but, yeah, just about every night there's something that needs staked."

"Buffy's a Vampire Slayer," Tara said. "Would you like to come and have some tea, sit down for a little while?"

"I think some brandy might be more in order," Mrs. Gagarin said.

Spike laughed. "There's always Rupert's stash of whiskey, that's good for the nerves."

Mrs. Gagarin looked at the cheerful vampire uneasily. He and Xander had their arms draped casually around each other, and the others seemed unconcerned.

Tara linked arms with her. "You come with us, meet Mr. Giles, have some tea." She took the ironwood knitting needle from Mrs. Gagarin's hand and tucked it back in her work bag. "It's a pity you had to pull the needle out of your work."

"Oh, I don't knit with the ironwood, I just carry them with me."

Spike laughed. "Might have to revise the judgement of amateur, then."

Buffy grinned and went to open the Magic Box door. "Come on in, Mrs. Gagarin, we'll swap stories."

Mrs. Gagarin looked at Spike again. Xander smiled. "It's OK, he only bites the bad guys and me."

"I see." She looked at Tara.

"We'll explain everything," Tara smiled. "Come have some tea."

Well, it was certainly more interesting than repeats of Howard Stern on the cable. "Thank you, dear, I would appreciate that."