Family, Blood, and Prophecy by icemink

1. Welcome to the Hellmouth by icemink

2. The Harvest by icemink

3. Teacher's Pet by icemink

4. Never Kill a Boy on the First Date by icemink

5. The Pack by icemink

6. Spike (Part 1 of 4) by icemink

7. Spike (Part 2 of 4) by icemink

8. Spike (Part 3 of 4) by icemink

9. Spike (Part 4 of 4) by icemink

10. Nightmares by icemink

11. Prophecy Girl (Part 1 of 3) by icemink

12. Prophecy Girl (Part 2 of 3) by icemink

13. Prophecy Girl (Part 3 of 3) by icemink

14. When She Was Bad by icemink

15. School Hard (Part 1 of 3) by icemink

16. School Hard (Part 2 of 3) by icemink

17. School Hard (Part 3 of 3) by icemink

18. Ince Mummy Girl by icemink

19. Reptile Boy (Part 1 of 3) by icemink

20. Reptile Boy (Part 2 of 3) by icemink

21. Reptile Boy (Part 3 of 3) by icemink

22. Halloween (Part 1 of 3) by icemink

23. Halloween (Part 2 of 3) by icemink

24. Halloween (Part 3 of 3) by icemink

25. Lie to Me (Part 1 of 2) by icemink

26. Lie to Me (Part 2 of 2) by icemink

27. What's My Line (Part 1 of) by icemink

28. What's My Line (Part 2 of) by icemink

29. What's My Line (Part 3 of 3) by icemink

30. Surprise (Part 1 of) by icemink

31. Surprise (Part 2 of 2) by icemink

32. Innocence (Part 1 of) by icemink

33. Innocence (Part 2 of 2) by icemink

Welcome to the Hellmouth by icemink
Romania 1898


"It's not fair!" cried the young man as he stormed about the room.

On the floor a young gypsy girl cowered, sobbing in fear.

"He gets everything. EVERYTHING! He has Darla, yet still he wants Dru. And do you know why?" he leaned down to look the girl in the eyes. She was bound and gaged so she shook her head, tears running down her eyes. "Because she's mine. My dark princess, my love, my everything. He cares nothing for her. Hell, that's the whole reason she made me." His voice changed, becoming softer, "I'd do anything for her."

He began his furious pacing again. "Darla, she's the worst. She doesn't even care. The last couple days they've been inseparable, and what does Darla do? Gets him a pretty treat, leaves me to guard it while she runs off to find Angelus. Give's him a gift, as if she wasn't his Sire, as if he shouldn't be the one worshiping her. Well, it's not right. He can't have everything." He grabbed a knife from the mantle and hauled the woman to her feet. She tried to scream, and struggled. "Now now, none of that. You don't think I'd stick you with this knife do you?"

He cut the ropes that bound her and removed her gag. She started babbling at him. He didn't understand the words, but he knew that she was thanking him. Then she ran for the door. Before she could reach it, he was standing in front of it.

"Where do you think you're going my sweet?" He ran a finger down her neck as his eyes changed from blue to gold. She screamed, but it was too late. He was on her in an instant, his fangs sinking into her neck. It was a mistake he knew, Darla would punish him for ruining her surprise. But he didn't care. For once Spike would have something meant for Angelus, the consequences be damned.


Sunnydale, CA 1997


The small blond girl walked confidently down the dark street of her new town. Someone was following her she could tell. There was only one thing to do. She turned into a small dark alley and waited. A moment later she could see her stalker. A man dressed all in black with hair so light it was almost white. As soon as he passed her, she swung down from her perch, using her momentum to knock him to the ground. As he rolled over, she stopped him with a foot on his chest.

Now she could get a better look at him. He wasn't an especially big man, but he exuded confidence and power. He stretched under her, like a cat and placed his hands behind his head, giving her a cocky grin. As he stretched his black t-shirt pulled tight showing off a well muscled chest. He had piercing blue eyes, that looked at her through thick lashes. Above his left eye was a cross shaped scar that broke the line of his eyebrow.

"Something I can do for you pet?" he asked in a British accent, although one much different from that of the school librarian.

"Why are you following me?" she asked.

"It's not what you think. I don't bite."

Not taking her eyes off of him, she let him get up, but she held her fighting stance.

"Nice trick by the way. Not many who've ever gotten the drop on me," he said, looking her up and down in a way that made her a little uncomfortable.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The same thing you do."

"Okay, what do I want?"

"To have a normal life. To be left alone. But neither of us is going to get that."

She studied him for a moment, then she relaxed and said a little less annoyed, "Tell you what, you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. Then we both win."

"I told you, that's not a choice. You're standing on the mouth of Hell. It's going to open, pet, and swallow you whole." For a moment she just looked at him. Then he reached into his coat, pulled out a small box, and tossed it to her. "I hope you're ready."

"What for?"

"The Harvest."

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say I'm a friend," he said, as he started to leave.

"Yeah well, maybe I don't want a friend."

He stopped and turned back toward her, "I never said I wanted to be yours." With that he left, his black leather duster flaring behind him.

She starred after him for a few minutes. Then she opened the box. Inside was a silver cross on a chain.

***********************

He was thankful for the shadows in the alley. It meant that she had never realized that when she stood on him, he'd grown painfully hard. Doesn't mean a thing, he tried to tell himself, you've just always had a thing for women who ambush you in dark alleys.

Not that she's a woman. Barley more than a girl. All the sweeter she'd be, whispered the demon.

No, he shouted to himself, that's not why you're here. This is just a distraction, not to mention the fact that she only has a few months to live. Except you don't believe in fate and destiny do you mate? That's why you're here, to prove Malcolm wrong, not to mention preventing hell on earth.

He sighed, then became aware of the action. Good, he thought, means I remembered to breathe during that little encounter. No point in tipping the Slayer off before she trusts me.

He doubled back, and watched as she entered the warehouse turned club. At a more desecrate distance he followed her in. Quickly the crowd of young people swallowed him up. Even so, he decided the catwalk would be the best place to watch her from.

He ascended the stairs, and found a dark corner. Absently he noticed an older man looking very out of place. As he passed him, he listened carefully and noticed a heart beat. Not a vampire then, and he didn't smell like a demon. Just a dirty old man who looked rather harmless.

He scanned the crowd. The young blond, the Slayer, had moved to the bar and was talking a red-headed girl about the same age. He watched the two girls talk, they seemed to have a rather easy camaraderie. He envied the ease at which she obviously made friends. Living or dead that was not a skill Spike had ever had.

Then she looked up, for a moment Spike thought he'd been spotted, but then he realized that she was looking at someone else. Someone else that she recognized and wasn't glad to see. She broke away from her conversation with the red-head and began to climb the stairs to the catwalk. Spike pulled further back into the shadows.

I feel love with my friends
I feel love in my songs
If I could just hold love
Then all the answers might come
I said, oh, if we're all children of God
And we just turned away
I got a lack of belief
I said a world without faith
It's time we turn back around



To his surprise it was the dirty old man she had come to talk to. Did she know something he didn't? He'd been sure the chap was human. They were so close Spike could now hear what they were saying.

"So, you like to party with the students. Isn't that kinda skanky?" she said.

"Oh, right, this is me having fun. Watching. . . clown hair prance about is hardly my idea of a party. I'd much rather be at home with a cup of Bovril and a good book," the older man said.

"You need a personality, stat!"

"This is a perfect breeding ground for vampire activity." So that's it, Spike thought, her Watcher. Should have known what with the tweed uniform. "It's dark, it's crowded. . . Besides, I knew you were likely to show up, and I have to make you understand. . ."

". . . that the Harvest is coming. I know, your friend told me."

"What did you say?"

"The Harvest. That mean something to you? 'Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm not sure. Uh. . . W-who told you this?"

"This. . . guy. British, gorgeous in an annoying I still think it's the 80's sort of way. I figured you two were buds."

Fuck, thought Spike, just what I need, a Slayer making puppy dog eyes at me, even if she is a sexy little thing.

"No. The Harvest. Did he say anything else?"

"Something about the Mouth of Hell. I REALLY didn't like him!"

The band finished its song and there was lots of applause. The Watcher moved around Buffy, leaned on the railing and looked down at the crowd. "Look at them, throwing themselves about, completely unaware of the danger that surrounds them."

"Lucky them."

"Or perhaps you're right. Perhaps there is no trouble coming, the signs could be wrong. It's not as though you've been having the nightmares."

Her silence was answer enough. Bloody hell, as if we didn't have enough prophecy problems already. Now the Slayer was having dreams.

"I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire," she continued, "It's not like I have all these fluffy bunny feelings for them, I'm just not gonna get way extracurricular with it. You know, if I see one, sure I'll. . ."

"Will you be ready? There's so much you don't know about them, about your own powers. A vampire appears to be completely normal until the feed is upon them, only then do they reveal their true demonic visage."

"You're like a textbook with arms, I know this."

"The point is, a Slayer should be able to see them anyway. Without looking, without thinking. Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?"

Hell, thought Spike, just what I need, an over ambitious Watcher. If she realizes I'm a vampire, this could get messy. He'd known it was too good to be true when the Watcher hadn't pushed her for more details on her informant. If the Watcher figured out who he was too quickly it would make Spike's job much harder.

"Maybe. . ."

"You should know. Even through this mass and this. . . din, you should be able to sense them. Well, try! Reach out with your mind," She began to scan the crowd, "You have to hone your senses, focus until the energy washes over you, until you, you feel every particle o-of. . ."

"There's one," she said pointing. Spike followed her finger, but it was no one he recognized.

"W-where?" Spike smiled, didn't think the girl could do it, huh Watcher, he thought. Typical, he's been told what a Slayer is all his life, but he still sees just a girl.

"Right there, talking to that girl."

"You don't know. . ."

"Oh, please! Look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt! Deal with that outfit for a moment."

"It's dated?"

"It's carbon dated. Trust me, only someone living underground for ten years would think that was still the look."

Spike had to fight to keep from laughing. He had to admit the vampire really had no sense of style. Still he wondered why if she had thought he looked out of date, she hadn't thought he might be a vampire.

"But you didn't. . . hone." the Watcher continued annoyed.

"Oh, no," Buffy said.

"Isn't that. . ."

"Willow."

"What's she doing?"

"Seizing the moment!" With that the Slayer headed down the stairs to save her new friend, a moment later the Watcher followed.

Once he was sure he wouldn't be noticed, Spike headed down the stairs as well. He had just reached the main floor of the club, when he noticed another blond sitting in a hanging chair. Darla. Spike was torn. He wanted to watch the Slayer work. See how good she was. He would need to study her if his plan was going to work.

On the other hand he couldn't afford to let Darla see him. He had no doubt that she would recognize him, and if the Master learned he was here in Sunnydale, things were going to get prickly. He could try and kill her, but that was risky. Darla had several centuries on him, and was, he knew, as deadly as they came. Not to mention she had always been one of the Master's favorites, he would be bound to notice if she turned up missing, and that would draw attention to both Spike and the Slayer.

After another moments hesitation he made up his mind. He would have plenty of opportunities to watch the Slayer in action, as long as his former family didn't know he was here. So he made his way out of the club.
The Harvest by icemink
And I thought my first day of school was bad, Buffy Summers thought. Here it was the second day and she had already had to save the life of her potential friends Willow and Xander once, lost Jesse, destroyed any chance of a social life by accidentally attacking Cordelia, been caught by the Principle trying to leave campus, and now she was breaking into a mausoleum looking for an entrance into the sewers.

Not to mention everyone in this crazy town seemed to know she was the Slayer. Giles, Willow, and Xander all now knew her secret identity, not to mention the strange guy from the alley last night. Who was he anyway? She'd assumed he must be some sort of Watcher or something because of the accent, and because he seemed to know about vampires and slayers. But Giles didn't know him, and he certainly didn't look like a Watcher, what with the black leather as opposed to the tweed.

What would it be like if he was my Watcher, Buffy found herself thinking. It was a silly idea, and yet she liked the thought of those blue eyes watching her. Not to mention that he looked a lot more laid back than Giles.

Plus he got her. Okay, so they'd talked for all of a minute, but he had not only known that she was the Slayer, but that she didn't want to be. Once again she wondered who he could possibly be, and how he had gotten dragged into all of this.

She entered the mausoleum and slowly looked around making sure that no one was there. She found the tomb empty of all but a few rats. Quickly she spotted the inner door from which the vampire had gotten the jump on her the night before. Her hand went to her neck, where she was still wearing the cross the mystery man had given her. She wondered if he had any idea that he had saved her life by giving it to her.

As she began to examine the lock, she heard a clicking sound behind her. She turned around to find the object of her curiosity lighting a cigarette.

"Those things will kill you," she said.

"If I were only so lucky," he said, taking a puff.

"Okay? You're a glass half empty guy aren't you? I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

"'Fraid I don't exactly have a standing invitation."

"And yet you're here?"

"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I hopped it would be a little sooner pet."

"Sorry you had to wait," she paused, "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Spike."

"Spike, what kind of name is that?"

"Not a pretty one."

Frustrated at his lack of helpfulness she turned back toward the locked door.

"It's not a good idea to go down there," Spike said.

"Deal with my going," she said turning back to him.

"It's not really any of my business, but tonight is the Harvest and if you don't prevent it, I'll have to. Otherwise the Master walks, and from what I hear that won't be a pretty sight."

"You're really full of yourself aren't you?"

"So I've been told."

"Also kind of lazy, I mean if it's so easy for you, why don't you just stop this Harvest yourself."

"Didn't say it would be easy, probably get myself killed. That's not the point, the point is that I'm not here to fight your battles for you. You're the Chosen One after all."

"Yay me," she said. Then she spun around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel.

"They'll be expecting you," Spike said.

"I've got a friend down there. Or at least a potential friend. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?"

"Unfortunately yeah. Go on then pet. When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

"You gonna wish me luck?"

"I don't think you need it."

With that Buffy turned her back on the annoying mystery man, and headed into the tunnels.

She didn't hear him whisper "Good luck," behind her.

****************************

Spike had no way of knowing whether or not Buffy had been successful in rescuing her friend. To be on the safe side, as soon as the sun went down he went straight to the Bronze. He knew that was where the Harvest would take place.

Still, he had meant what he said about not fighting the Slayer's battles for her. She needed to learn to stand on her own. If was to have any hope of defeating the Master she would need to know that she could defeat his henchmen. The last thing she needed was to be saved by a devilishly handsome stranger. So as soon as he got inside, he found himself a place to hide, up above the stage.

It wasn't long before they came, lead by a big ape of a vampire. Typical, thought Spike, the Master picks some big brawny guy to be his vessel.

Then the killing began. It was almost more than Spike could bear. The smell of blood beckoned to his demon, but the slaughter sickened his soul. This is what you are, a little voice whispered, this is all you'll ever be.

He'd had enough. She wasn't coming. She had probably died in the sewers earlier that day. And he had done nothing to save her. Now all of these people were dying because he didn't want to be involved. He was a worse monster than all the rest of him.

There was no way he could fight them all. He could sense that at least half the vampires present were older and stronger than him, but still he had to try, he couldn't let this go on. He was just about to leap down to attack the vampire the Master was using as his vessel, when a window broke near him, and the Slayer entered the scene.

She came! He was elated. She hadn't died. She'd gone into the lair of the beast, come back unharmed, and now here she was to stop the Harvest. Of course she's here, he reprimanded himself, has it been so long that you've forgotten what a Slayer is capable of?

There was nothing he need do now but watch her fight. She was incredible. Her stance was sloppy, she left her self open several times, but those were minor problems, all of which Spike knew he could easily fix with a little training. Where it really counted, Buffy Summers was all a Slayer could hope to be.

She was smart. She improvised easily, using everything from a pool cue to a cymbal as deadly weapons. She also had style. She used her tongue as a weapon as much as her fists. Every joke, every pun was deadly. It made the battle hers. It forced her enemies to treat her as if it were her turf and not their trap.

Nowhere was that more evident than when she actually managed to convince the Vessel that it was already daylight by smashing a window, and flooding the room with a bright light. The big idiot actually fell for it, and it gave her the chance she needed to get her stake and kill him. That was a stroke of pure genius.

There was one other thing he noticed. She hadn't come alone. As she began to fight the vampires, her Watcher, the red-head, and some boy began leading people to safety. He'd never heard of a Slayer with friends before, or at least not one who brought her friends out slaying with her. He didn't know what to think of that.

The remainder of the vampires fled and once the Slayer and her friends had cleared out, Spike got down from his hiding place and headed home.

On the one hand he was happy. She had stopped the Harvest and he thought, she could probably kill the Master with some proper training.

On the other hand Spike had done nothing. He had let those people be murdered. He could have done something, he could have at least bought them time until the Slayer had arrived. But he hadn't.

When he got to his apartment the phone was ringing. He picked it up, "Hello?"

"William? It's Malcolm. I take it all went well with the Harvest?"

"Well enough. This Slayer. She's something. You're wrong about her. All she needs is some proper training and the Master won't stand a chance."

"William, I wish that were the case, but the Codex is quite clear, 'The Slayer will die, and the Master will arise.' You're not there to save this girl, William, you're there to stop the Master when she fails."
Teacher's Pet by icemink
A/N Yes I've completely skipped The Witch. Assume it all happened the way it did in the episode, I saw no reason to try and force Spike into an episode that he really didn't belong in.


As Buffy and Willow entered the Bronze, they saw Xander talking to some of the other guys from school. When he saw the girls, he came over to them and put his arms around both their shoulders.

"Babes!" he said.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"Work with me here," Xander said, "Blayne had the nerve to question my manliness. I'm just gonna give him a visual."

"We'll show him!" Willow said, hugging Xander.

Buffy smiled at her friend. It was really too bad that Willow's attempt at seizing the day had almost gotten her eaten by a vampire. Buffy thought that Xander and Willow would be perfect for each other. If only Xander would notice Willow, it's not like he was interested in any other girl.

Then all thoughts of Xander and Willow were driven from her mind.

"I don't believe it," she said.

"I know, and after all my conquests," Xander said.

But Buffy wasn't listening to him, instead she walked over to where she had just spotted Spike.

"Who's that?" Xander asked.

"That must be Spike. I think?" Willow responded.

"That weird guy that warned her about all the vampires?"

"That's him, I'll bet you."

"Well, he's sexy! She never said anything about him being sexy!" Xander exclaimed

"You think he's sexy?" Willow asked confused.

"He's a very attractive man! How come THAT never came up?" he said.

"Well! Look who's here!" Buffy said to Spike.

"Hey there pet," he said.

"I'd say it's nice to see you, but then we both know that's a big fib."

"I'm not here to chit chat."

"No, you'll just give me a cryptic warning about some exciting new catastrophe, and then disappear into the night. Right?"

"You're cold."

"You can take it."

He took off his leather duster, and put it around her shoulders, "I mean, you look cold."

Xander who was carefully watching the whole thing, said to Willow, "Oh, right! Give her your jacket. It's a balmy night, no one needs to be trading clothing out there!"

Buffy slipped her arms into the jacket. It smelled of smoke, leather, and liquor. She looked back at Spike. For a moment she was distracted by his arms, they were nice arms, then she realized that he had strange wound on one of them.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I didn't pay attention," he replied.

"To somebody with a big fork?"

"You need to be careful."

"Of The Fork Guy?"

"Don't let him corner you pet, or get in close. He'll rip your throat out."

"Okay, I'll give you improved marks for that one. Ripping a throat out, it's a strong visual, it's not cryptic."

For a moment she found herself just starring into his eyes. How can anyone's eyes be that blue she thought.

"I should go," he said suddenly. He was shifting about, looking uncomfortable. Then he just turned around and left.

Buffy stared after him, "Sweet dreams to you, too."

********************

Buffy was back in the Bronze. The She-Mantis was dead, virgins were safe, and also, she'd staked Fork Guy. She stood at the bar wearing Spikes duster, hoping he would show up. She couldn't help but smile when she looked up to see him standing there.

"I heard a rumor there was one less vampire walking about making a nuisance of himself. Nice job that," he said, leaning against the bar.

"There is. Guess I should thank you for the tip."

"Pleasure's all mine pet."

"Course, it would make things easier if I knew how to get in touch with you."

"And what would you do if you could?" he asked. There was something in his voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

"I. . . well. I don't know. Maybe you could just explain who you are."

"That's too long a story for right now, but I'll tell you why I'm here." Buffy perked up. She hadn't really thought she'd be able to get anything out of him. "You're good. I saw you, the night of the Harvest. That was good work, and Fork Guy as you call him, wasn't an easy kill either. But you're sloppy. You drop your shoulders, your kicks are all over the place and-"

She interrupted him. This was the last thing she expected him to say. "Hey, I don't see you slaying any vampires."

"You're right. But then you're stronger and faster than me. Still, I could get quiet a few hits passed you. Look, I'm not here to criticize, well, alright actually I am. But I can train you, make you better. If you think you're up to it?"

"I'm up to it. But if you think you have anything to teach me, you're wrong," who was this guy, thought Buffy. He thinks he can teach me how to slay vampires?

"My aren't we young and full of ourselves," he said, but he was smiling. He pulled a card out of his pocket. "Meet me at this address, oh, and I'd like my coat back."

God he's rude, thought Buffy. It's not like she'd intended to keep his leather coat, which looked so much better on her. She took it off and gave it to him. He put it on and she had to reappraise her opinion. Maybe it did look better on him.

******************************

As Spike entered his flat, he threw off his coat. It smelled of her, all over. He'd have to get the thing cleaned. What had she done? Slept in it?

He was angry. Very angry. But not at Buffy. What had he been thinking giving Nikki's coat to another Slayer. It's not as if she had been about to die of cold. Hadn't he done enough to Nikki without betraying her like that?
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date by icemink
A/N At this point I've started adding more of my own plot. However, Buffy and Owen do still go on their date, and most of the episode is unchanged.


Spike pressed the pause button on the remote control and went over to the fridge to pour himself some blood. Things were not going well.

He and the Slayer had agreed to start training together in a couple days. He knew he needed to prepare for it. He needed to be able to show her that he knew more than her about fighting, without tipping his hand to the fact he was a vampire.

Of course he'd known that would be a problem right away, so since he'd arrived in Sunnydale he'd taken to following her when she patrolled and filming her fights. The idea was that he would learn her fighting style. Be able to analyze her moves, find consistent mistakes.

What he hadn't counted on was the raging hard-ons he got every time he watched her fight. It shouldn't have surprised him, after all ever since that long ago night when Drusilla had turned him, he'd been attracted to violence and violent women.

Not that it was a problem here in his own home, but what would happen when he was training her. What if she noticed him hard then. She might be the Slayer, but she was also a teenage girl. He didn't want to offend or frighten her.

The microwave beeped, and he took his cup of blood back to the chair in front of the TV. He started the tape up again, took a sip of blood, and unzipped his jeans, slipping them down off his hips.

He wrapped his fingers around the length of his cock and began to stroke up and down as he watched the screen. That's it baby, he thought, show me what you've got. Show me all those beautiful muscles just begging to be used. The tape he was watching had been filmed right before she'd gone to the Bronze one night, and she was wearing one of those short little sun-dresses she loved and knee high boots.

What a show she must give them, he thought, what a way to go with your last sight being up that short skirt. His hand began to move faster. Whenever it reached the head of cock, he rubbed his thumb over the tip. He began to squeeze himself harder as his hips raised up off the chair.

Careful luv, he thought, she'd delivered a rather sloppy kick. Someone might grab that leg of yours and knock you to the ground.

His eyes lost focus. He was no longer watching the screen, but imagining her underneath him. Her tight, hot, slayer muscles squeezing his cock till he thought he would burst. Another few strokes and he came.

He sat there without moving for a few minutes. Just enjoying the sensation. He knew he'd have to do this several times before he fought her if he wanted to hide his lust from her.

********************************

After his unsuccessful night waiting for the Anointed One to rise, Giles opened his mail box. He had finally given in and let Buffy go to the Bronze. What would it take to get her to except the seriousness of her calling? Now she wanted to date?

Absently Giles looked through his mail, most of it was junk, then he came across a manila envelope that had come from England. His heart leaped. The diary he had requested had arrived! But why would the Council send it through the regular post? Such a valuable item surely should have been insured.

He carefully opened the envelope, but to his disappointment, instead of a small leather journal, he found only a letter, and a large stapled report. The letter read:

Dear Mr. Giles,

The Council regrets to inform you that at this time The Diary of Malcolm Forrester can not be released to the general public. However, The Council wishes to in no way impede the efforts of the Active Watcher, therefore we have sent you the official record on Nikki Wood. We wish you all the best luck.

Sincerely,
Quentin Travers

Bloody hell, though Giles. I don't need the official report. I don't need to know how many vampires she slew, or what demons she faced, I need to know how her Watcher dealt with her.

Giles was livid. He went to poor himself a drink. He'd been so proud of himself when he had remembered hearing his father talk about how much trouble Forrester had had dealing with his Slayer. Nikki Wood had been the last American Slayer, and it had occurred to Giles that perhaps by reading her Watcher's diary he could find some hints as to how to deal with his own reticent Slayer.

Why would the Council refuse to send him the diary? It was a common enough request, not to mention that Giles was hardly the general public, he was the Active Watcher. He was supposed to have all the resources of the Council behind him so that he could aid his Slayer in fighting the forces of darkness.

He could feel a little of his old rebellious streak returning. How dare the Council try and sensor him. What could possibly be in Forrester's diary that they felt they needed to hide from him?

He picked up the phone. "Hello yes, Mrs. Rosenberg, this is Rupert Giles from the school library. Is your daughter Willow there?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to check with her about a book she had requested we order for a history project."

"Yes, I can wait. Thank you."

"Willow,"

"No, it's nothing like that, actually I had a personal favor to ask of you."

"Yes, you see I'm trying to track down an old friend of my father's. His name is Malcolm Forrester."

"No, no idea. The last I heard from him he was living in New York City. But that was quite some time ago."

"Yes I understand. I'm sure whatever you can find will be a great help to me. Thank you."

********************************

This was the last place Spike wanted to be. He wanted to be back in his apartment *preparing* for his training session with the Slayer. Not looking for her in the Bronze to warn her of some silly prophecy that was supposed to have happened last night anyway. Either Malcolm was starting to slip, or he had decided not to give Spike a heads up, so that Spike wouldn't mess with his bloody prophecies. Spike didn't know which one bothered him more.

He saw Buffy standing by the stairs to the catwalk and headed over to her.

"Hello pet," Spike said to Buffy.

"Spike," she said, even colder than normal.

"I was hoping I'd find you here."

"You were?"

"There's supposed to be some new big noise, The Anointed One, out there. Thought you should know."

"No, not you, too," she said as she tried to leave.

"What do you know?"

"Pretty much what you said. Prophecy, Anointed One, yada, yada, yada. . . "

"So you know. Good. Just thought I'd warn you."

"Warn me? You see that guy over there at the bar?" she said, pointing out Owen, "He came here to be with me."

"You're here on a date?" he asked. He was a little hurt, but at the same time he was glad. It's not like she has anything more than a school girl crush on you, mate, he told himself. Much better for her to be pursuing guys her own age. Let her live a little before nasty death comes to get her.

"Yes! Why is it such a shock to everyone?"

"Here you go," Owen said returning.

"Oh," Buffy looked back and forth between the two men, "Um, Owen, this is Spike. Spike, this is Owen," she said putting her arm around him, "Who is my date."

"Nice to meet you," Spike said.

"Hey! So. Where do you know Buffy from?" Owen asked.

"Met her at her mum's gallery," Spike said. The moment he'd said it, he knew it was a mistake. Buffy had never mentioned her mom to him, and she certainly didn't know that Spike had gone to her mother's gallery to get in good with Joyce. He figured sooner or later his path was bound to cross with the older Summers woman, and life was always easier if a girl's mom liked you.

Luckily, before Buffy could question him, Willow and Xander came running up, out of breath.

"Buffy!" Willow said.

"Look at this. You show up everywhere. Interesting." Owen said.

Xander pointed at Owen, "You don't know the half of it," then pointing at Spike, "What's he doing here?"

"I guess it's the same thing you're doin' here," Spike said.

"Uh, excuse me, what are ANY of you doing here?" Buffy asked.

Xander started up, "Look, we gotta get to, uh. . . " Willow kicked him, "Uhhhh. We thought it'd be fun if, uh, we made this a double date!"

Willow and Xander put their arms around each other.

"I didn't know you guys were seeing each other." Buffy said, obviously not believing them.

"Oh, yeah, well, we knew it would happen eventually, so we figured, hey! Why fight it?" Willow explained.

"And you guys are thinking double?" Owen asked.

"Cause of. . . " Xander laughed nervously, ". . . the fun!"

Owen turned to Spike, "And you're here because of art buying?"

"Hey, maybe we should all go somewhere together," Xander said.

"Gee, that's so nice of you to ask," Buffy said, "but Owen and I were, well, sort of. . . Owen and I."

"You know what'd be cool? The Sunnydale Funeral Home!" Xander said.

"I've always wanted to go there!" Willow played along.

"The funeral home?" Buffy asked, unable to believe this was happening to her.

"Actually, that sounds kinda cool!" Owen said, "Do you think we could all sneak in?"

"We saw some guys in there before. They seemed to be having fun!" Xander said to Buffy.

"Bite me!" Buffy said to herself. Then she looked at Spike. He just shrugged and gave her his best apologetic look. Then she turned back to Owen, "Um, Owen, I gotta go."

"I thought we were going to the funeral home" Owen said.

"No, you can't. I'll tell you what. I'll be back in a little while" Buffy said.

"Buffy. . . " Owen said, leading her away from the others, "What's the deal? Do you wanna bail on me?"

"No! No. . . no. . . uh. . . You remember when you said I was like two different people? Well, one of them has to go. But the other one is having a really, really good time, and will come back. I promise."

Owen just nodded his head and watched her go. She came back and laid a kiss on him. Then she really left with Willow and Xander close behind.

Owen turned to Spike, "She's the strangest girl!"
The Pack by icemink
It was finally time. The night she and Spike had set for their first training session. She didn't know why she was going. Except she had told him she would when he looked at her with those dreamy blue eyes.

The address led her to what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. There were no lights on, just candles spread about in a large rough circle. In the middle of the circle was Spike barefoot in his jeans and t-shirt.

He wasn't idle. In his hands he had a wooden staff which he twirled about him expertly. She watched as he spun it around his body shifting his grip back and forth to strike at invisible opponents first with one hand, then with two.

Buffy had never seen anything like it. For the last year of her life she had spent most of her nights fighting for her life or training, but she had never watched anyone else fight or train. It was like a dance. Spike was all dangerous grace. Suddenly she wasn't quite as sure of herself. Sure she was the Slayer, but he was obviously a trained fighter.

"I see you found it pet," he said, pausing in his routine. He flashed her a smile that made her knees week.

This isn't going to work, she thought.

"You know, I'm not your pet."

"You're right, you're the Slayer," he said, putting down his staff and walking out of the circle of flames. "So ready for a little sparring, or do you want a chance to warm up first?" he asked.

"I don't need to warm up," there was no way she was going to let him know how unsure she felt. "So do we need weapons for this?" she asked.

"Nah, I just like them, they make me feel all manly," he said good naturally as she took off her shoes and socks to match him. Then he lead her into the circle of candles and fell into a fighters stance which she mimicked, "We're going to play a game of tag Slayer. Rules are simple, you try and touch me. If you succeed I'm 'it' and I try and touch you. You can block however without becoming 'it'. Got it?"

She nodded. For what seemed like an eternity they both just stood there, looking in each others eyes, sizing each other up. But according to the rules of Spike's game it was Buffy's move. She feigned with her right fist and struck with her left, but he didn't fall for it and backed out of her reach.

She tried a few more such experimental attacks, feeling him out, but he kept his distance. Then she decided to press the attack. She moved in close, instead of one punch at a time, she sent a rapid succession of punches. He could no longer simply dodge out of her way, but those blows he couldn't dodge, he managed to block.

It's not fair, she thought. She was scared to use her full strength. She didn't want to hurt him and she knew that even blocking could be painful if it was a powerful enough blow. Finally she managed to spin around him and hit his side.

He smiled at her. Then suddenly he was attacking her. He was fast, but Buffy was faster. On the other hand she was quickly realizing that defense was not her strong point. She had always been taught that the best defense was a strong offense. She had to remind herself that she wasn't allowed to attack, only to dodge, and it was throwing her off. In half the time that it had taken her to tag Spike, he had tagged her.

Back and forth they went. Each taking a turn. Soon Buffy stopped thinking about what she was doing and lost herself in the rhythm. To her delight the intervals when she was 'it' became shorter and shorter. Still she never seemed to be able to evade Spike's attacks for long.

She was enjoying herself. Fighting Spike was exhilarating. It made her kind of warm and tingly in places she wasn't quite ready to deal with. Then much to her dismay he called an end to the game.

"Tired?" she teased.

"I'm not the Slayer," he said, but he didn't look very tired, he wasn't even breathing very heavily.

"Well, it's a stupid game anyway. Restricting yourself like that, letting someone put you on the defensive."

"Lesson the first: There's always someone stronger and faster than you. When you fight them, you need to stay out of their way long enough to figure out their weaknesses. Lesson the Second: You are stronger and faster than most things you'll fight. That's not going to matter if you are sloppy and leave yourself open. So, let's see what we can do to keep you from telegraphing you're punches to the world, shall we?"

"Hey! I don't-" but he silenced her with a look.

For the next two hours they trained. Much to Buffy's disappointment, she didn't get to directly spar with Spike again. Still it wasn't all bad. More than once Spike stood close behind her, shaping her body to correct her stance. Where ever he touched her it seemed to spark, and butterflies would swarm in her stomach. She was tempted to purposely mess up just so he would touch her more, but her reward for impressing him was almost as good.

Unlike Giles or Merrik who always seemed unwilling to admit how good she was, Spike was as quick to praise her when she did well, as he was to criticize when she did something wrong. She felt hungry for his approval, for his smiles.

Finally he called it a night, went over to a cooler she hadn't noticed, pulled out two bottles of water, and handed one to her. Gratefully she accepted, guzzling down the water. She noticed that he only sipped his.

They sat down together to rest and she asked him, "So what's the deal. Did you go off to China and study martial arts in some secluded monastery for seven years?"

"I've been to China, but not to study. Monastery's not really my thing."

Looks like it's back to being cryptic guy, Buffy thought. Still she now knew he'd travelled, okay he was British and this was America, so obviously he'd travelled. Still Buffy couldn't help but wonder at what sort of far off exotic places he might have been to.

"What about this?" she said brushing her fingers over the scar on his eyebrow, "You're pretty good. Really good actually. So who got close enough to do that to you?"

"My ex, bad break up." he said looking away from her. Then he just got up and left. Disappearing into the darkness outside their small ring of fire.

Okay, thought Buffy, obviously hit a sore spot there.

*************************

Willow and Buffy made their way to an empty table at the Bronze.

"I thought Xander would be here by now," Willow said.

"Hmm, that'd make him on time. We couldn't have that," said Buffy.

"Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?"

"About what?"

"I dunno. He was quiet."

"I didn't notice anything," Buffy said as they sat down. Then smiling at her friend, "But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you."

"Hyperaware?"

"Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure. . ."

Willow grinned, "130 over 80!"

"You got it bad, girl!"

"He makes my head go tingly. You know what I mean?"

"I dimly recall."

"But it hasn't happened to you lately?"

"Not of late."

"Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man who you meet for secret training sessions?"

"Just tying to be the best Slayer I can be," Buffy joked.

"Come on, Spike pushes your buttons. You know he does."

"I suppose some girls might find him good looking. . ." Willow shot her a look. ". . . if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but. . . it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and. . . I, I just can't have a relationship. . ."

"There he is!"

"Spike?"

"Xander!"
Spike (Part 1 of 4) by icemink
"Ah, the fumigation party," Willow said watching as another girl got a free drink for catching a cockroach.

"Hmm?" a distracted Buffy said.

"It's an annual tradition. The closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches?"

"Oh," said Buffy, not really paying any attention.

"It's a lot of fun. . . What's it like where YOU are?"

Buffy looked up and smiled, "I'm. . . sorry, I was just. . . thinking about things. . ."

"So, we're talking about a guy?"

"Not exactly a guy. For us to have a conversation about a guy, there'd have to be a guy for us to have a conversation about. Is that a sentence?"

Willow smiled, "You lack a guy."

"I do. Which is fine with me, most of the time, but. . ."

"What about Spike?"

"Spike? I can just see him in a relationship. 'Hi, honey, you're in grave danger. I'll see you next month. Plus that scar he's got, he told me his ex gave it to him. Doesn't really make him sound like good boyfriend material."

"He's not around much, it's true."

"When he is around. . . " Buffy began, dreamily, "it's like the lights dim everywhere else. You know how it's like that with some guys?"

"Oh, yeah!" said Willow as she looked over to watch Xander dancing.

After a brief confrontation with Cordelia, Xander made his way over to the two daydreaming girls.

"Boy, that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. What are you vixens up to?" he asked.

"Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by," said Willow, "Oh, look, a cockroach."

Buffy lifted her eyes to look but then started staring at the table again.

"Whoa, well, let's stop this crazy whirligig of fun! I'm dizzy!" Xander said.

"Alright, now I'm infecting those nearest and dear to me. I'm gonna call it a night," said Buffy, getting up.

"Oh, don't go." said Willow

"Uh, yeah! It's early! We could, um, dance," offered Xander

"Rain check? Good night." Buffy said, as she left.

Buffy made her way out of the Bronze looking bummed. As she passed the stairs she didn't notice Spike watching her go. For a moment she thought she sensed something and turned to look right where he had been, but no one was there. So she headed home.

As she walked home she felt like someone was watching. She looked behind her, but again nothing was there. As she walked passed an alley however, she heard a noise.

"It's late, I'm tired, and I don't wanna play games. Show yourself," Buffy told the shadows.

A vampire roared and dropped down onto the sidewalk behind her. She reached into her coat pocket to pull out a stake, spinning so as to face her attacker, but another vampire appeared and grabbed her arm.

"Wuh!" she cried out, surprised.

A third vampire came out of the alley and grabbed her other arm.

"Ooo! Okay, okay, nice. . ." Buffy started.

They pulled her into the alley and up against a fence. The first one approached her menacingly.

"Okay, okay. . ." Buffy said, "Look, I really don't wanna fight all three of you. . . unless I have to."

With that she kicked him in the crotch, elbowed the third, and tried to punch the second. He blocked her swing and thrust his knee into her gut, slamming her into the fence. The other two recovered and grabbed her again.

The second one slowly approached her. The look in his eyes scared Buffy and she struggled to get away. But the vampire came up to Buffy, grabbed her head and moved in to bite.

Just when she thought she'd had it, Spike appeared behind him, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him off of her.

"Three against one, not the best of odds Slayer," Spike said punching the vampire he'd grabbed.

Buffy ignored him. Instead she used the two vampires holding onto her arms as support, she kicked up with both feet and hits them both in the face. One of them grabbed her again and held her against the fence while Spike continued to fight the other two.

Then one of them pulled a piece of iron bar off of a window.

"Look out!" Buffy warned.

Spike turned around, only to be sliced in the chest with the bar.

Buffy shoved an open palm into her assailant's chin, pushing him off of her, punched him once in the gut and then slammed both fists into his head. Spike was bent over in pain and was about to be stabbed again. Buffy quickly kicked his attacker in the face, and he fell back away from Spike.

"Run!" Buffy ordered, as she helped Spike to his feet. She lead him to her house, the three vampires still chasing them. "Get in! C'mon!" she said as she opened the door.

She rushed inside, Spike right behind her. Buffy slammed the door on one of the vampire's hands. He struggled a moment then pulled his hand back out. She shut the door and locked it. The vampire looked in through the glass while another one looked in through the window.

"It's alright. A vampire can't come in unless it's invited." Spike said.

"I've heard that before, but I've never put it to the test." She leaned on the door then she noticed his wound. "Oh. . . I'll go get some bandages, just. . . take your coat and your shirt off."

He followed her into the kitchen and took off his duster and t-shirt. Oh wow, thought Buffy. That's a nice chest. That's a really nice chest. She was terrified that she was blushing as she brought the first aid kit over, after all, if she bandaged him up she would be touching him.

"I was lucky you came along. How did you happen to come along?"

"I was following you."

"Stalker much? Not that I didn't have a feeling you were. So why where you following me?"

Before he could answer, Buffy heard the front door open. She quickly went to intercept her mother, and check on the three vampires they had left outside. She pulled her mom into the house.

"Hi. What are you doing?" asked her mother

"There's a lot of weird people outside at night. . ." Her mother started toward the kitchen, Buffy tried to slow her down. ". . .I just feel better with you safe and sound inside. You must be beat.

"I am. We're a little gallery. You have no idea how much-"

Buffy interrupted, "Well, then why don't you go upstairs and get into bed, and I can bring you some hot tea?"

"That's sweet," then she looked at her daughter suspiciously, "What'd you do?"

"Can't a daughter just be concerned about her mother?"

Spike entered behind Buffy. "Joyce?" he asked.

"Spike? What are you doing here?" Joyce asked.

"Joyce, I had no idea you had a daughter. Though I certainly see that she takes after you. I'm a tutor, I've been helping Buffy with her history."

"Really, that's wonderful. It's not Buffy's strongest subject."

"Um, how do you guys know each other?" Buffy asked.

"Spike comes by the gallery just before closing all the time. He knows a remarkable amount about native art for a college student. Well since you are here can I get you something? Some hot chocolate?"

That was the point at which Buffy's mind just stopped working. Her mother was making hot chocolate for Spike? Her mom liked Spike? Spike was the ultimate, guy you don't bring home to meet your mom, yet her mom seemed to really like him. She even gave him little marshmallows when he asked for them.

For about half an hour her mom and Spike discussed the gallery's newest collection. Then her mom said, "Oh dear. I've used up all your studying time. I'm gonna go to bed, and, uh, Buffy?"

"I'll say good night and do the same," Buffy answered as her mother started up the stairs.

"It was nice to see you again. I'm glad to know that Buffy has someone helping her with her history."

After her mom went up stairs, Buffy held open the door and said, "Good night! We'll hook up soon and do that study thing."

She closed the door which Spike had been standing behind, and they both quietly walked up the stairs to Buffy's room.

"Look, Slayer, I don't want to fall out of your mom's good graces," then he added as an after thought, "or get you in any trouble. . ."

"And I don't wanna get you dead. They could still be out there. Although what's with the thing with my mom?"

"Figured I'd be bound to run into her sooner or later. So I thought I'd set myself up with a nice cover story about being an art history student at UC Sunnydale. Would you rather I didn't get along with your mum?"

"No, it's just. . . creepy." Buffy moved in front of her bed and started at it. "So, uh. . . two of us, one bed. That doesn't work," she looked at him, "Um, why don't you take the bed? Y'know, you're wounded. . ."

"I'll take the floor."

"Uh, no, that's not. . ."

"Trust me Slayer," he smiled and said, "I've had worse."

"Okay. Um, then why don't you check and see if the Fang Gang is still loitering and, um, keep your back turned while I change?"

Spike went over to the window to look while Buffy changed. "I don't see them," he said.

"Y'know, I'm the Chosen One, it's my job to fight guys like that. What's your excuse?"

"I have really bad taste in women." Buffy was glad he couldn't see her wince right then. Not that he'd given her any real reason to think that he was interested in her, other than the stalking.

"Like the ex who marked the spot?"

"Yeah, she's a real loon that one."

"I'm not sure how that all leads to fighting the forces of darkness."

"It's a long story, started when a bitchy brunette broke my heart. I ran into a dark alley and met another pretty brunette of the undead variety. . ."

"And you got away, and couldn't stop trying to fight the bad things in the night." she finished, as she turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder so he would know that it was all right for him to turn around.

He just looked at her for several minutes. She could see the conflict rolling through his eyes, she didn't speak, didn't move, afraid to scare him out of whatever it was he was thinking of telling her.

"I didn't," he said at last.

"Didn't fight?"

"Didn't get away."

"That's silly. She was a vamp right? She would have killed you. That's what they do."

He took her hands in his, and sat her down on the bed, then he kneeled in front of her, looking her in the eyes. "I didn't live," He took her right hand and placed it over his heart.

"No," she whispered. His hands were so cold. She couldn't feel a heart beat. He wasn't breathing. His skin was so pale. How could she not have noticed all this before she wondered? Maybe he'd just been turned. She hadn't seen him in a few days. And yet he looked at her with those blue eyes, and he didn't seem evil, or dead. Instead he looked scared and hurt. "When did this happen?" She knew she should be reaching for a stake, or the cross she kept under her pillow.

"About 120 years ago, give or take."

"Do I have to kill you now?" It seemed such a stupid thing to say, but she didn't understand any of this. He didn't look threatening. He could have easily killed her before now. Instead he was helping her. And why was he telling her this? She felt so stupid for not knowing, but obviously she'd been too blinded by his good looks, if he'd kept quiet she might never have known.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't, Slayer. I'm not going to hurt you, or anyone else human."

"That. . . You don't make any sense. You can't be a vampire. Vampires attack people, eat them. They don't sit and have conversations and they certainly don't sit in your kitchen and have hot chocolate with your mom."

He put his hand on her face, and leaned in to kiss her. She knew she should back up, that she should pull away. But she couldn't. She had wanted this too many times and she still couldn't accept that he was a vampire.

His lips brushed hers. Without thinking she leaned in to his kiss and closed her eyes. His lips trapped her lower lip for a minute. Then she found herself opening her mouth so that her tongue could taste him. Her tongue ran over his satiny bottom lip, then his tongue was inside her mouth exploring her. Her hands went to his face, her tongue slipped into his mouth and he sucked on it drawing her deeper in.

Suddenly he pulled back away from her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to take that quite so far. I just needed a way to coax the demon out."

Confused, and desperate to get back to the kissing she opened her eyes and found herself staring not into blue eyes, but gold.

She jerked backward grabbing the cross from behind her and held it in front of her. He flinched and backed up.

"I'll just be going then," he said turning toward the window.

He really was a vampire, she thought. I've just been kissed by a vampire. I've just had the most amazing kiss of my life, and it was a vampire. None of it made any sense.

"Stop. You're not leaving until you explain what's going on. Or is your master plan to confuse me to death."

He turned back. He shook his head and the bumps, the fangs, and the golden eyes were gone. "Remember when I said I had bad taste in women?" she nodded, "A hundred years ago I decided to have a gypsy girl for a snack. Her clan got real angry about it, and they cursed me. Gave me back my soul."

Buffy's eyes went wide. "I'm not sure how that's curse."

"Before the soul, I was like any other vampire. I existed for the bloodshed, the pain, the violence. Loved it, exalted in it. I know, I remember every moment, every victim, every scream. And I care. That's my curse Slayer."

She stood up and put her hand on his face this time. She turned his head so that he was forced to look her in the eye. Studying him like this she understood. She understood why she hadn't realized he was a vampire. It wasn't his good looks that had distracted her, it was his eyes. The soul that resided behind them was plain to see.

She turned her back on him, pulled the comforter off the top of the bed, and handed it to him. "Here. Sleep tight." she said.

"Slayer, you don't un-" she put her hands to his lips to silence him.

"I do. You've done bad things, I get that. But if you were evil, I would have known. I'm the Slayer remember. Since I arrived in this town I've had nothing but dreams warning me of the Master. I'm going to have to fight him sooner or later. But I haven't had a single dream about you, and right now, you seem like the best person to help me defeat him. So I'm not sending you outside to get killed by those three vampires, and I'm not staking you myself. So go to sleep okay?"

He nodded, looking at her amazed. Then he lay down on the floor with the comforter.

She got into bed and turned off the light. "Spike?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you snore?"

"Don't know. You're just going to have to find out the hard way."
Spike (Part 2 of 4) by icemink
"He spent the night? In your room? In your bed?" Xander asked appalled as they sat around the table in the library.

"Not IN my bed, BY my bed." Buffy said.

"That is so romantic," Willow said, "Did you, uh. . . I mean, did he, uh. . ."

"There was a. . . uh good night kiss but still he was a perfect gentleman."

The two girls smiled at each other.

"Buffy, c'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book," Xander said.

Buffy squirmed a little. Her mind couldn't help but wonder if the whole thing was a way to get her to trust him enough that he could bite her. But every other part of her said that she could trust him. And she did. After all, he could have killed her in her sleep last night. That's why she didn't need to tell anyone about the part where he was a vampire. They just wouldn't understand him. Not like she did.

"What? Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?" Buffy asked.

"Duh! I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I-I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath," Xander said triumphantly.

"It was pretty impressive," Willow concurred, "Although later there was an ick factor."

Giles approached the library table, "Can we steer this riveting conversation back to the events that happened earlier in the evening? You left the Bronze and were set upon by three unusually virile vampires." He picked up a book and showed her an open page. "Did they look like this?"

"Yeah. What's with the uniforms?"

"It seems you encountered the Three." Giles explained, "Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong."

"How is it you always know this stuff?" Willow asked Giles, "You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on."

"Well, you weren't here from midnight until six researching it."

"No, I was sleeping," admitted Willow.

"Uh, o-obviously you're hurting the Master very much. He, he wouldn't send the, the Three for just anyone. We must step up our training with weapons," Giles said

Xander jumped in, "Buffy, you should stay at my house until these Samurai guys are history."

Buffy looked at him. "What?"

"And, don't worry about Spike," Xander continued, "Willow can run to your house and tell him to get out of town fast."

"Spike and Buffy are, are not in any immediate jeopardy," Giles cut in, "Eventually the Master will send someone else, but in the mean time the Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance."

**********************

Anxiously he waited for the sun to go down. He had to get out of here. Soon Buffy would return. What had he been thinking last night? Why couldn't he keep up the pretense? Why couldn't he continue lying to her? Or at least if he was going to tell her the truth, he should have told her the whole truth.

She would find out anyway. She probably already knew. She would go to her Watcher tell him all about the vampire with a soul and he would look it up in his books. Spike knew what he would find. Nothing about a vampire with a soul, only William the Bloody who had killed two Slayers in the last century.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice when she returned.

"Spike?"

"Slayer," she didn't look angry. Didn't look like she was about to kill him. Did she not tell her Watcher? Did she really trust him that much? His heart leapt at the thought, until he reminded himself that Nikki had also trusted him, and look where it got her.

"So, What'd you do all day?"

"I read a little," he said. She looked over at her vanity and spotted her diary. "Look, Slayer, there's something I still need to tell-"

"My diary? You read my diary?" She picked it up and put it in a drawer. "That is NOT okay! A diary is like a person's most private place! I. . . You don't even know what I was writing about! 'Hottie' can mean a lot of things, bad things. And, and when it says that your eyes are 'penetrating', I meant to write 'bulging'."

"Buffy-" he was trying not to smile. She was awfully cute when she was angry.

"And 'S' doesn't even stand for 'Spike' for that matter, it stands for. . . 'Sven', a charming foreign exchange student, so that whole fantasy part has nothing to even do with you at all. . ."

"Your mother moved your diary when she came in to straighten up. I watched from the closet. I didn't read it, I swear." Although he was starting to wish he had.

She looked at him for a moment, then looked down embarrassed, "Oh! Oh."

"Look, I should never have kissed you last night."

"What? Why not? Wasn't it. . . nice?"

He smiled at her. It was things like this that reminded him that however fast the Slayer might have had to grow up, she was still very young. "It was perfect."

"Then why. . ?"

"For starters, I'm old enough to be your ancestor. Not to mention you Slayer, me vampire, that can't end well."

"How do you know? I bet I'd be the first Slayer to date a vampire . . . not that. . . I mean when I say date. . ."

"I do know. You're not the first Slayer I've ever run across."

"So you're what a groupie?"

He was going to do this. He was going to tell her. "She's dead. I k-"

"Well yeah! Obviously! I'm the Chosen One remember? One Slayer dies, another's called. How. . . how long ago was this?"

"About twenty years ago. She-"

"So, she died, it's what Slayers do. I mean I don't know the history or anything, but I'm pretty sure there have never been any forty year old Slayers."

"That's not the point. I'm th-" She threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and silenced him with a kiss. It was sloppy at first, really more of a smooshing than a smooching. But then her tongue darted out, seeking to pry open his lips and he couldn't deny her. She tasted just as sweet as she had the night before. He was completely lost in her.

It was Buffy who ended the kiss when she was forced to breathe.

"If we weren't who we are would you, would you be interested in me?"

"Yes. But we are who we are, Slayer."

"I have a name you know, Buffy. But yeah, I am the Slayer. So I don't get to have what other people get. This isn't normal, I grant you, but normal isn't part of a Slayer's life. I could die any day. Shouldn't I get a chance to be happy while I can?"

He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face, and looked at her. So young, so eager, so full of life. And she was right, that life was going to be short, if Malcolm was right, she had only two months to live. Could it really be wrong to try and make her happy, try and make her life easier for the little time she had left. "You been working on that all day?"

"Since last night actually."

"It's only fair I tell you, I wasn't planning on staying. When the Master is dead, I was planning on leaving Sunnydale."

"Well, who knows when that will be? After all, the Master's been alive for centuries. I'm willing to risk it."

He kissed her gently on the lips, pulling away before she could make it more. "I should get going. You still willing to train with me?"

"Yeah, Thursday night. I'll see you then?"

He nodded, and made his way out her window, so as not to let her mother know he'd been there all day.

He made his way home, unlocked the door to his apartment and went inside. He reached over to turn on a lamp, then he stopped and straightened up, sensing he was not alone.

"Who's here?" he asked.

"A friend," said a woman's voice.

He turned to face the voice, and lit a cigarette as he looked over the small blond woman in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Darla.

"Hi. It's been a while," Darla said as if they had been old friends.

"Hi? That's what you got to say after all this time? I'll be the first to admit I deserved the torture. But you left me out in the sun to burn."

"You got over it. You got away. Besides, we were doing you a kindness. Or are you having fun with that soul of yours? Look at you, you're living above ground, like one of them. You and your new friend are attacking us, like one of them. But guess what, precious? You're not one of them. . ."

She reached into a the pocket of her sweater with a handkerchief, and threw something at him. Instinctively he caught it. Then cried out in pain as he dropped the small cross.

". . Are you?" she finished.

"No. But I'm not exactly one of you either."

She walked over to the fridge, "Is that what you tell yourself these days?" She opened it and looked at the jars of pig's blood. "You're not exactly living off quiche." She closed the refrigerator door. "You and I both know what you hunger for. What you need. Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's who we are. It's what makes eternal life worth living. And you got such a brief taste of that. Only. . . what was it twenty years? But you can only suppress your real nature for so long. China proved that. You know, you broke poor, mad Drusilla's little heart."

"She broke mine," he whispered.

"Always the suffering poet. Tell me, does she find it poetic? A vampire with a soul. Does she think it romantic how you drained that Slayer in China. Does she think you'll come rushing to her aid like New York?" He looked away from her. "Oh yes, I know all about that too. Angelus told me. I wonder what he would think if he knew you had a new Slayer?" she perked up and clapped her hands together as if she had a wonderful idea, "Maybe we should tell him?" She gave him a sweet smile.

Mad with fear and rage, he roared as demonic features covered his face. He rushed the length of the room towards her, but she side stepped him coming around behind him and knocking him to the ground. As he hit the floor, she planted her foot in his back. The older vampire was able to hold him to the ground.

"I'm not afraid of you. I bet she is, though," Darla said.

"You think I didn't tell her? She knows all of it."

"Does she now. Hmm, maybe you did. But I bet she doesn't really trust you. You were one of us. You really did have potential you know. Taking that gypsy girl knowing exactly . . . well none of us knew exactly what would happen. But you knew what I would do didn't you. Actually, now that I think of it, I should really thank you for that, shouldn't I William? It could have been Angelus," she paused smiling, "When she turns on you, you know where to find us William." With that she gave him one good kick to the ribs, and left.
Spike (Part 3 of 4) by icemink
Darla stood before the Master. "Don't think I'm not grateful, you letting me kill the Three."

"How can my children learn if I do everything for them?"

"But you must let me take care of the Slayer."

"Oh! You're giving me orders now!"

"Okay, then, we'll just do nothing while she takes us out one by one."

"Do I sense a plan, Darla? Share..."

"Spike kills her and comes back to the fold."

The Master considered this, "It is true the boy bears our blood. Do you think he can be brought back? And yet why would he kill her if he feels for her?"

"To keep her from killing him. His desire to live is strong. We tied him to the ground and left him for the sun when the gypsies cursed him with that foul soul, and still he lived. He killed the Slayer in China for Drusilla. He'll kill this one for himself."

The Master turned to the boy vampire that sat at his feet, "Hmm. You see how we all work together for the common good? That's how a family is supposed to function!"

China 1900 The Boxer Rebellion


In the midst of all the chaos no one paid any attention to the pale Englishmen who rushed through the crowd searching for someone.

He was so close he could feel her. His dark princess, his love, his salvation. He knew that if he could just find her, get her away from the others, she could help him. He had seen her lure others into sure death with her eyes and her voice. Seen her make them believe she was their loved ones. He would look into her eyes, and she would make him better. Make all the pain go away.

He was sure of it. It was the only thought he'd held in his mind for the last two years. Ever since the gypsies who had cursed him, had freed him from where the others had tied him down and left him for the sun. Ever since he had crawled into the Romanian woods, still weak from the beating given him by Darla, and the torture visited upon him by Angelus, all for stealing his gift.

He heard a woman scream. A scream was nothing special on this night, but he knew that scream, knew it was her.

He took off at a run. Using every bit of speed he had as a vampire. In moments he found her. For a few seconds all he could do was watch. There she was, as beautiful as ever, with her golden eyes flashing in the moonlight. She cradled her left arm which had been cut, and snarled at her attacker.

Spike never wondered who she might be. This Chinese girl who calmly stood and faced a vampire, sword in hand. If he had thought about it at all, he would have assumed that she was one of the Boxers. But he didn't, all he knew was that he had found Drusilla at last, and this woman was threatening her.

He leapt snarling at the Chinese girl, grabbing for her sword. At the last moment she turned it, raising it against him. It was too late for him to change his momentum, so instead he forced himself onto the blade, feeling it bite deep into his side. Pain ripped through him, but he had become used to worse over the last two years. He twisted his body before she could pull the sword back out and disarmed her.

Startled the girl spun in the air, kicking him in the face, and throwing him to the ground. But he didn't care. 'Now she's safe,' he thought, 'she can't hurt Dru now.' Indeed, in the back ground he was aware of Dru calling to him in her sing-song voice, "Is it him? Is it my knight. Has my sweet William come back to me?"

But the girl didn't run. She didn't leave; instead she pulled a wooden stake from her belt and raised it toward him. For a moment, his thoughts connected into one word, Slayer, but then she was advancing on him, about to end his existence before killing his love. He fell backward away from the blow, kicking his feet out to trip her up.

She fell and he scrambled on top of her, ignoring the pain as the sword was driven deeper into his gut, the demon driven closer to the surface. He struggled to hold her down as she tried desperately to get back up. Somewhere behind him Dru was chanting, "Kill her my William. Kill her for me. Kill her for princess."

Then she saw her stake out of the corner of her eye, desperately reached for it, and in that moment he had her. His fangs sank into her neck.

It was like nothing he'd ever tasted. Her blood flowed hot down his throat and he thought that his heart might start beating from the force of it. Power and strength flowed into him. Her heart beat thumped in his ears, loud and strong, then weaker and weaker.

And suddenly he knew, knew he was killing her. From somewhere deep down inside he screamed, pulling away in horror from his victim. This poor young girl he had killed. "No, no, no, no," he began to cry as he pulled away from the body.

But she wasn't dead yet. Her lips moved and a few silent words in Chinese fell from them like her blood in the dust.

"I'm so, so sorry. I don't speak Chinese." If only he knew what she had said. Somehow he could make it right then, but he had no idea what the words meant.

Then from above him he heard a scream of rage. "NO! It's not my William. Horrid thing, you took my William and gave him to the rats." Drusilla was standing over him, her eyes burning with fury. She grabbed the handle of the sword that was still sheathed inside of him, and pulled hard, drawing it out.

She held it in front of her, as if she were afraid of him. She swiped at his head, two blows in quick succession. He pulled back, but the tip of the sword still cut him above the eye in two quick strokes. The cross shaped wound burned him. And that was when he knew. Knew that whatever else he was, he could never be what he used to be. She would never take him back.
Spike (Part 4 of 4) by icemink
Spike hurried to the Summers house. He'd been so worried after Darla's visit the night before, that he hadn't been able to get to sleep until almost noon. Then he'd slept in well past sunset. Darla was up to something, of that he was sure. But he had no idea what.

Just as he approached the house he heard a scream from around the back. He ran around the house and kicked in the back door. There was Darla biting Joyce.

"Let her go!" Spike yelled.

"I just had a little, there's plenty more. Aren't you hungry for something warm after all this time? Come on, Spike. Just say 'Yes'!" With that she shoved Joyce into his arms so that her bleeding neck was offered up to him. The smell of blood called out his demon and he felt his fangs come forward.

He growled at Darla, but she only smiled at him and said, "Welcome home." She walked around him and then left the house.

Just as he was about to put Joyce down and call for an ambulance, he heard Buffy call, "Hey! I'm home." As she walked into the dinning room and saw them. Her eyes went wide. Before he could do or say anything, she barreled into him, sending him flying out the back door.

She stood over her mother and yelled, "You're not welcome here. You come near us and I'll kill you."

********************

Buffy grabbed the phone and dialed 911, then she rushed back to her mother.

"Mom! Mom, can you hear me?! Yes, I need an ambulance, 1630 Revello Drive! My mother cut herself, she lost a lot of blood! Please, please hurry!" she cried as she dropped the phone, "Mom!"

"Hey, Buffy!" she heard Xander call from the front of the house. As she looked up both he and Willow came through the kitchen door. "Oh my God!"

"What happened?" asked Willow.

"It was Spike. God this is all my fault."

"Spike? What do you mean?" asked Willow.

"I knew that guy was no good," said Xander.

Then the sound of an ambulance came down the street. "I'll explain later," Buffy said as the paramedics came through the door.

***************

"Do you remember anything, Mom?" Buffy asked as the doctor left the room.

"Just, um, your friend came over... I was gonna make a snack... "

"My friend? I thought you and Spike went way back?"

Just then Giles arrived.

"No, not Spike, Darla. Poor thing, I must've frightened her half to death when I fainted." "

Buffy's eyes went wide. Was it possible? She had wanted so desperately to believe that Spike was good. Seeing him with her mother had been devastating. Now to be offered the chance to believe that her trust hadn't been misplaced.

"Someone should really check and make sure she's all right," Joyce continued. "I guess I slipped and cut my neck on... The doctor said it looked like a barbecue fork." She looked at Buffy strangely, "We don't have a barbecue fork." Then she looked at Giles, "Are you another doctor?"

"Oh! Um... No, Mom, this is Mr. Giles," explained Buffy.

"Oh, the librarian from your school," Joyce said confused, "What's he doing here?"

"Uh, I-I just came to pay my respects; wish you a speedy recovery."

"Boy, the teachers really do care in this town."

"Get some rest now." Buffy kissed her mom and she and Giles went out into the hallway of the hospital. "She's gonna be okay. They, they gave her some iron... Her, uh, blood count was a, a little..."

"...a little low," Giles finished for her, "It presents itself like mild anemia. I would say that you were lucky you got to her as soon as you did, however Willow and Xander said something about Spike being a vampire?"

"I'm sorry Giles, I know I should have told you. He told me, the other night, after we fought the Three."

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Xander interrupted. "You knew he was a vampire and you let him stay in your room?!"

"It wasn't him, Xander. My mom said something about someone named Darla. As for Spike, he explained it all to me, there's these gypsies and a curse, and he has a soul. It's a thing."

"Be that as it may," Giles interrupted, "I'm your Watcher. You should tell me about anything dealing with vampire's at once."

"Hold on a minute, why'd you tell Willow and me that it was Spike?" Xander asked.

"When I got home he was holding her. He must have chased Darla away. Oh my God! He probably saved my mom's life and I attacked him and told him I'd kill him if I saw him again. I-"

"It's about time you figured that out," came a British voice. They all turned to look, as Spike casually walked around the corner. "How's your mum?"

"She's going to be fine. I'm so sor-"

"No worries, Slayer. What's important now is stopping Darla before she comes after you or your mum again."

"And why exactly should we trust you?" Giles asked.

"You shouldn't, but you don't have much choice." Spike handed Giles a card, "I'm sure the first thing you'll want to do is look me up in your books. He should be able to tell you where to look."

"Malcolm Forrester?! How did you know I was trying to contact him?" Giles asked surprised.

"Didn't. You're more on top of things than I thought, Watcher. Let's just say Malcolm's the whole reason I'm involved in any of this, so he can have the pleasant job of convincing you to trust me."

"Do you know where we can find Darla?" Buffy interrupted.

"I have a good idea. But I need to warn you, she's most likely going to say things-"

"Lies to make me not trust you. Yeah I get it Spike. Don't worry, I fell for that once. I won't again."

"It's not the lies I'm worried about, it's the truths."

*****************

Reflexively her eyes closed as Darla exploded into dust. When she opened them she could see Spike leaning heavily against the wall. His t-shirt was torn in several places, but the dark blood from the bullet wounds made it look almost whole.

"Are you. . ?"

"I'm fine Slayer. Hurts, but it'll heal. It's hardly the first time I've been shot."

"That's good. I mean the healing not the. . . It's not true is it? I mean you couldn't have. . . "

"Killed a Slayer? It's true. Now why don't you run on back to the hospital and check on your mum?" His voice was cold, detached. "I'm think I'm just going to lay down and bleed for a while."

Buffy was torn. On the one hand not only did she want to see her mom, but she also wanted to get away from Spike. She was beginning to feel like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between trusting Spike and not trusting him. She needed time to think.

On the other hand, the part of her that not only trusted him, but was deeply attracted to him wanted to stay and take care of him. After all, he had just taken several bullets for her and distracted Darla enough for Buffy to get close enough to stake her without getting shot.

"Mom's not going anywhere, and someone should bandage you."

"You don't have-"

"Yeah, I do."

Sri Lanka


Angelus jerked awake. He felt like he had been stabbed, as if someone had cut something inside of him. Something was missing, but he couldn't tell what.

The woman next to him in the bed began to whimper, "No. Grand-mum? They've taken her all away."

Then Angelus understood. Darla. She was gone. Even on the other side of the world he always had a dim awareness of his Sire. That connection had now been severed.

It was an absolutely stunning thought. He would never see Darla again. It had been decades since she had gone back to the Master, but it had never occurred to Angelus that he would never see her again.

"What happened Drusilla? Do you know?" he asked his companion.

"All the ladies dance around. But they always fall down."

Angelus sighed. If Drusilla knew anything useful he wasn't going to get it out of her. His mind still couldn't grasp it, Darla gone. She had always been a survivor. What could have killed her? He had to know.

It would be a difficult trip. Last he heard of her she had gone to California, and making that trip with Drusilla as weak as she was would be difficult.

Drusilla had become more and more agitated. There was no way she would go back to sleep now. Sighing he tore off several strips from the sheets. Then he gagged and bound her, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her into the next room.

Normally the flimsy bonds would not have been enough to hold the mad vampire, but ever since Prague she had been weak. He threw her down onto the floor among the bodies of the demon monks who had failed to cure her.

If he remembered correctly the town Darla had been going to was supposed to be on top of a Hellmouth. If he was lucky he might stumble across a cure for Drusilla there. Otherwise he might just abandon her and find himself a new companion. He would make this last attempt to cure her since he now had other reasons to head to the Hellmouth, but her sickness was beginning to make her more trouble than she was worth.

Sunnydale, CA


"Did you find anything out last night Giles?" Buffy asked as she entered the library the next day.

"Quite a bit actually. Mr. Forrester was quite helpful, and all my other sources seem to confirm what he told me. Were you able to find Darla?" He was worried about her. Buffy did not seem her usual perky self. Last night had obviously taken its toll on her.

"Found her, staked her. Found out the guy I have a crush on killed a Slayer. He wouldn't talk about it, Giles. She said it, and he didn't deny it; he wouldn't say anything. How could he. . ."

"I'll tell you what I can," he said gently. "You already know about his soul."

Buffy nodded.

"When his soul was restored, his Sire and the other vampires of his clan left him to die. He spent the next few years looking for his Sire. When he finally found her, she was battling a Slayer. He stepped in and killed the Slayer to save his Sire, but she rejected him again. After that it seems he decided to take to killing vampires, as a way of . . . atoning I suppose."

"So how does this Forest guy know all this? Why should we trust either of them?"

"Forrester. He was the Watcher of a Slayer about twenty years ago. His Slayer and Spike crossed paths. They began to work and train together. They worked as a team for several years until Spike's 'family' heard about it. His Sire and Angelus, one of the most vicious vampires of all, hunted the two of them down and killed the Slayer. Evidently Spike has always consider this his fault.

"Mr. Forrester has been studying several old texts and realized that the Master was trying to open the Hellmouth so he sent Spike to help stop it. . ." Giles paused, waiting for Buffy to say something. It was obvious that she was having a hard time dealing with Spike's past.

"Buffy, I'm not happy that you hid what you knew about him from me. . . But I think we should work with Spike. The Master is a powerful foe, and if he gets free. . . We will need all the help we can get. However I'm not sure I approve of you carrying on a . . . relationship with a vampire, whatever the other circumstances are."

"You're right, Giles. I should have told you, and Spike and me? It's ridiculous! So I'll. . . I've got class."

Giles watched as Buffy got up and left. He was glad she hadn't pushed him for too many details, or asked if Forrester had told him anything else. He was also glad that she had agreed to work with Spike. Trusting a vampire went against everything that Giles had ever been taught as a Watcher, and yet both what Forrester had and hadn't said told Giles all he needed to know.

First of all, Forrester had also told Giles about certain prophecies he'd found, 'The Slayer shall die, and the Master shall rise'. He had sent Spike to stop the Master once Buffy died. However, Forrester had also indicated that Spike didn't believe in the prophecy and wanted to prevent it. That alone would have given Giles good reason to treat Spike as an ally. While Forrester was willing to let the prophecy play out, Giles was determined to stop it and if the vampire could help, then so be it.

Secondly, whereas Forrester had glossed over Nikki Wood's death, saying simply that she had lost a fight to Angelus, the report the Council had sent him was far more detailed, if just as misleading.

It talked about a 'demon hunter' named William that she had trained with, never mentioning that William was a vampire. The report's description of her death read:

According to witnesses Nikki Wood was last seen in the company of a large, well-dressed, Caucasian male with dark brown hair. She and the man were said to be engaging in intimate behavior when they were interrupted by a short caucasian male with white hair and dressed in 'punk' clothing. This second man has been identified as the vampire known as 'Spike' who is reputed to have killed the Slayer Xin Rong in 1900.' Witness accounts say that the two men fought, when the first man ran off, Spike decapitated Nikki Wood with her own sword.

Even Giles, had he read the report before speaking to Forrester, might have assumed that the brunette man was the demon hunter William. However, having learned of Spike's other appellation - William the Bloody - he saw a different chain of events.

Angelus had drained Nikki, and possibly turned her. Spike had attacked him, driven him off, then cut off Nikki's head to save her from becoming a vampire.

It was that act that earned Spike Giles' respect. More than once Giles had had to burn or decapitate the bodies of friends so as to spare them the awful fate of rising again. If Spike, a vampire, viewed that fate with as much horror as Giles did, then Giles felt he could be trusted.
Nightmares by icemink
A/N A special thanks to Peta whose suggestions gave me the idea for this chapter.

He was running as fast as he could. He leapt over the turnstile, dashed up the stairs, and out of the subway. Behind him he could hear the soft whisper of the man's footfall and the clip-clop of the woman's boots.

He emerged from the subway into the cold brisk air of the Brooklyn night. Down the street he ran, knocking over the people who got in his way. Still they came, clip-clop behind him.

How could they still be there? He turned to look to see if they were gaining on him and he tripped, falling hard to the pavement.

"Now now, William, me boy. Is that any way to greet the newest member of our family?" came the deep Irish brogue. People walked by, but no one seemed to think the 19th century Irish gentleman was out of place.

They stood over him, and the woman pressed her heel into his chest, slowly, seductively. Golden eyes smiled at him from the dark, distorted face he had known so well. "Give us a kiss, lover?" came her beautiful alto.

"Nikki!" Spike cried as he sat straight up in bed. He was shaking. No matter how many times he dreamed it, the nightmare's effect never lessened. This time it had been worse. For just a moment, he had thought there was a third figure. A small blond girl with golden eyes.

*************************

Just when she thought she was getting the hang of life on the Hellmouth, everything went to, well, hell. The last few weeks had been weird to say the least. A demon got onto the internet, the computer science teacher was a techno-pagan, living puppets, talent shows, and Principle Snyder. None of that had prepared her for what was now happening.

All around her, people's worst nightmares were coming true. Her worst nightmares were coming true. And all because of a boy, Billy, in a coma whose nightmare monster, the Ugly Man, was now chasing her. Buffy had tried fighting the thing, but it was too strong for her. She hoped that if she found Giles and the others they would be able to find a way to stop the nightmares and defeat the Ugly Man.

The Ugly Man had forced them to run across the school lawn. Buffy pushed Billy ahead of her through some bushes. As soon as she followed the world went dark. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she realized she was in a cemetery.

"Is this where your friends are?" asked Billy.

"No, it's not," she said looking around, "I don't see the Ugly Man. I also don't know where the sun and the rest of the world went."

"Look out!" Billy cried. She had been so busy looking around for attackers that she didn't see the open grave until it was too late.

Just as she was about to tumble into it, a strong hand caught her about the waist. She steadied herself and looked up.

"Spike?" She hugged him; she was so relieved to see him.

They had continued to train together since she had learned he was a vampire, but it was no longer a secret - or private. Giles was now part of their training sessions, and very enthusiastic about the whole thing. Somehow Giles' presence had defused the intensity of their training. At times Buffy thought that was a good thing.

Things had been a little strained between them the last couple of weeks. They would be training or patrolling and everything would be fine. She'd feel really comfortable and then suddenly she would remember that Spike had killed a Slayer. It was somehow different than knowing he'd killed some other abstract people. It made it all the more real, almost personal. Not to mention he'd had a soul at the time.

Still, right now all she cared about was that she had an ally against the nightmares that were pulling at her from every direction. For just a moment she didn't have to be the strongest person around. It was nice. That one moment of weakness. The one moment when she just pressed her face into his chest, and knew that it would be all right.

It was only a moment though. She pulled away from him ready to face the evil again and noticed for the first time that he was in his game face. Do vampires have nightmares, she wondered? It was not a very comforting thought.

"We have to find Giles and the others, Spike. People's nightmares are coming true. It has to do with this boy, Billy. Hey, where'd he go?" she said looking around and noticing for the first time that Billy had disappeared.

"Something must have scared him off," Spike said as if he didn't care. His hands were still on her waist, and all of a sudden, his mouth was on her neck.

"Spike. . ." she giggled as his tongue began to trace an invisible line on her neck, "Hey, now's not the time for-Ahhh," she screamed as she suddenly she felt his fangs plunge into her throat. For a moment there was nothing but pain, then he pulled out his fangs and began to suck on the wound. With each suck a shiver of pleasure ran through her body from her neck down to between her legs.

She knew she should fight this. That what he was doing was wrong, but she had no will to fight him.

Somehow he had backed her up against the side of a crypt, and she felt something hard pressing against her stomach. Oh my god, thought Buffy, is that his. . . is he. . ? She was aware of a growing dampness between her legs as they seemed to move of their own accord and wrapped themselves around his waist. Now every time he sucked at her neck he also pushed himself against her, driving his hardness against her and rubbing her in the most unexpected ways.

It excited her even more. She had never felt anything like this, never done anything like this. Her body had taken over from her brain, and she was pushing back against him. Rubbing herself against him, using her hips to urge him on to push against her harder. One of her hands grabbed him by the shoulder to steady herself against him, while the other one held his face against her neck.

Her eyes were closed. Everything was forgotten. Her whole world had collapsed until it contained nothing but the two of them. It centered on her neck - where he drew the life out of her - and her sex, where he thrust against her. Even so she could feel his hands as they moved across her body. One of them gripped her thigh, while the other was squeezing her breast through her clothing.

"Oh God! Spike!" she cried as the orgasm shook her body. But he didn't stop. He was still pulling at her neck, still rubbing his erection against her throbbing clit.

She was getting weaker. She could no longer hold her legs around his waist. She could feel pinpricks in her fingers.

"Spike stop," she said without any real urgency. Then her eyes fluttered open and she screamed in terror.

Standing only inches away from the two of them was the Master smiling gleefully.

"This isn't real," Buffy said.

Spike finally pulled his face away from her neck. His lips were red from her blood.

"You still don't understand do you?" said the Master, "I am free because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Because he fears it, he is one of us again. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have little Billy to thank for that."

"This is a dream," Buffy insisted.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes. This is real life. Come on, Slayer! What are you afraid of?"

Suddenly Spike had his wrist pressed to her mouth. She hadn't noticed that while she was talking to the Master he had slit his wrist on his own fangs.

Blood ran into her mouth, it's coppery taste choking her. She didn't want it and yet she couldn't help but drink it. 'God, please not this,' Buffy thought as she slipped into the darkness.

****************************

Willow, Xander, and Giles came running out of the High School after escaping from Xander's nightmare clown.

"Things are getting worse. In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares," Giles said.

"Well, what do we do?" Willow asked.

"The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy," Giles responded.

"Uh, no, we can't leave without Buffy," Xander said.

"Agreed, but who knows where she might have gone?" said Giles.

Willow looked across the street and noticed that there seemed to be a tear in reality through which a graveyard at night was visible.

"Excuse me, when did they put a cemetery in across the street?" she asked.

"And when did they make it night over there?" Xander added.

The three of them stepped through the tear and out of the sunlight into the night.

"Whose nightmare is this?" Xander asked.

Giles was looking at a gravestone over a fresh grave. The headstone read: Buffy Summers 1981 - 1997

"It's mine," Giles whispered. He knelt by the grave as the others gathered around the grave. "I've failed... in my duty to protect you. I should have been more c... cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so
gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry..."

He was almost in tears as he laid his hand on the newly disturbed earth. As he started to get up a hand reached up through the soil and grabbed his.

Willow screamed, Giles tore himself away as Buffy emerged from the grave and brushed herself off.

"Buffy?" Giles asked hopefully.

"Please. Don't look at me!" she said turning her face away from them. He could hear in her voice that she was trying to keep from crying.

Giles reached out to her, placing a gentle hand on her cheek and turning her face toward them.

"You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire," he said softly.

"This isn't a dream," she said.

"No. No, it's not," Giles agreed. "But there's a chance that we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if, if we can only wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now! I need you to hold together long enough to help us. Can you do that?"

Buffy nodded, "Yeah. I think I can."

"It's okay," said a voice from behind a crypt. Spike walked around the crypt into their view. "She's still got her soul, otherwise she would have attacked you lot first thing."

"I don't know, Spike. I . . . God, I want to. . ."

"Shh," he said taking her hand. "I know. The hunger, the blood lust, it's always there. But if you were a proper fledgling you would have attacked the first thing with a pulse that walked by. Now, let's see if we can wake this kid and put you back, right and proper."

*************************

Spike downed his third cup of blood. He couldn't seem to drink enough - or rather, pig's blood no longer seemed to satisfy him. He was considering heading to Willie's for a cup of O neg, but he knew even that would not satisfy him.

He could still taste her blood, Slayer blood. As horrific as the experience had been - his soul forced into the back seat while the demon controlled him - the memory of her blood still thrilled him.

If that was all it was, just simple blood lust, he could have handled that. He had denied himself human blood for almost a century, since he had killed that other Slayer. He could do it again.

But there was a deeper pain. A deeper need. The Sire-Childe bond between him and Buffy had been strong and he had been overcome by her love for him. Never had he felt anything like that. He had only ever sired one other vampire, his mother, and he had been so new himself, that his blood was too weak to create a bond between them.

He had never imagined anything like it, and yet his whole life he had been seeking that kind of love. Now it was gone. When Billy had awakened, the world had gone back to the way it was supposed to be, and Buffy was no longer a vampire, no longer his Childe.

It was bad enough to be denied that physical knowledge of her love, bad enough to know that Drusilla must have felt that from him and still she had rejected him. But the worst was knowing that he had lost any chance of ever receiving that sort of love from Buffy. He was sure her love was nothing more than a product of his siring her. But more than that, he had been the instrument of her nightmare. He had killed her. She had seen his true self and she would never trust him again.

Part of him was glad. It was better for her, safer for her, to forget any feelings she might have had for him. But most of him just wanted her back. Wanted to kill her all over again and make her his. If he hadn't known that it couldn't work, he might have done it, but if he were to sire her in fact, and not in some dream, she would lose her soul. Bond or no bond, the demon that would take her over would force her to kill. It would drive her away from him because he would not.

Yet he couldn't stop thinking of it, dreaming of it. To have her for all eternity. To not have to spend the rest of his immortality alone, to be loved forever.

There was a knock on his door. He got up and opened it to find Buffy standing there.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure," was all he could think of to say. She had avoided him for the whole weekend, and now she was here. Had she come to kill him? Had she needed that time to work up the courage to face him?

He stood to one side to let her enter, then shut the door behind her.

"If you're here to kill me, I understand. I won't stop you." He deserved to die, he knew that now. Nothing could ever redeem his soul, the soul that wanted to kill her and keep her. He was the worst sort of monster now. He was the monster that knew right from wrong, and didn't want to do right.

"What? No, why would I kill you?" Buffy asked, surprised and confused.

"Well, I killed you, seems fair. Besides, I know you can't trust me now."

Buffy laughed. "You're kidding right? I trust you more than ever. I know what it's like now. Hearing their hearts beating, smelling their fear. I. . . I wanted to kill my friends. I never even tasted blood and I wanted it more than I've ever wanted anything. And you deal with that everyday. And you don't kill people."

He looked at her unbelieving. Part of him wanted to shake some sense into her, the other part wanted to fall on his knees before her and thank her for her forgiveness.

"Then why did you come here?" he asked instead.

"I wanted to talk about. . . you know. . . I mean. . ."

Spike laughed. Buffy was turning a brighter and brighter red. Here he had been so worried about how she would react to her death that he had forgotten that she was not only the Slayer but also a very young girl. Death was not new to her, but that sort of sexual experience probably was.

Seeing that she was hurt by his laughter he quickly told her, "I'm sorry. I just forget how young you are. It's not the way I killed you that bothers you, is it, Slayer? It's the way I touched you."

"I wasn't bothered. . ." she said, but she wasn't willing to look at him straight on.

"But it was more than you were ready for." He took both her hands into one of his, then he turned her face so that she had to look him in the eye. "I don't expect anything from you. That wasn't anything I planned for, or intended. We can forget it ever happened."

"Oh? I thought. . . I mean. I thought you liked me."

He looked at her. She was almost like another person. No longer the strong confident Slayer, but just a young girl. She looked so fragile, like his words might shatter her. It was a feeling Spike knew well. And he began to hope. Hope that for the first time in his life, someone might love him. It was frightening. He wasn't worthy of her love. He was as far beneath her as was possible. If he were a better man he knew he would break her heart now. That he would leave before he destroyed her life.

"I don't like you," he said firmly. He could see the breaking of her heart in her eyes. She tried to look away from him to hide her tearing eyes, but he wouldn't let her. "I think maybe I love you. I shouldn't I know. It's wrong, but I can't seem to help it."

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she smiled. Then next thing he knew she was kissing him.
Prophecy Girl (Part 1 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 11: Prophecy Girl (Part 1 of 3)

"Three in one night. Giles would be so proud," Buffy said as she brushed vampire dust off of herself. "Crap, I broke a nail."

"Let's hope that's all you ever break, Slayer," Spike said.

"You know, you could actually help instead of just standing there watching me."

She was just teasing him. He'd given her the lecture many times on how it was important she knew that she could handle things herself. Most nights Spike wouldn't even come on patrol with her, claiming that if he was there she would expect him to jump in at the last moment and save her.

"I like watching," he said, looking her over in a way she would have found highly inappropriate if it had come from anyone else.

"Well, I think I've done my sacred duty for tonight, and it seems a shame to let a perfectly good lover's lane go to waste."

She walked over to him and pulled him into a kiss. He pretended to resist for a moment, then his arms snaked around her and he held her tightly against him. She began to lose herself in the kiss. As his tongue explored her mouth, she suddenly felt as if the whole world was shaking.

He broke off from her suddenly, a look of fear in his eyes as he clutched her tightly.

"And here I thought that whole earth moving thing was just a metaphor," Buffy said as car alarms went off all around them.

*******************

The Master stood with his arms spread above him as the earth shook.

"Yes! YES! Shake, Earth! This is a sign! We are in the final days! My time has come! Glory! GLORY!" he cried out.

The earthquake ended as quickly as it had started. The Master looked over at Collin, the young vampire boy who was the Anointed One.

"Whadaya think? 5.1?" the Master asked him.

*******************

Buffy opened her gym locker and began to change into her training sweats. On the bright side, training meant more time with Spike. If she was lucky she could corner him away from Giles and find a way to ask him to the Spring Fling. She had meant to do it last night, but the earthquake had shattered the mood.

Buffy had shrugged it off. She'd been raised in California, and it was hardly her first, or the biggest earthquake she'd been in. But, she figured, they must not have them in England. The earthquake had given Spike a major wiggins.

Giles seemed to suffer from the same thing. When she'd checked in with him that morning, he seemed distracted. He didn't even seem to care about the mess Mother Nature had made of the library.

Still, she had more important things to worry about than Giles. Like how to ask Spike to the dance. And whether her friendship with Xander was going to be okay.

Earlier in the day he had asked her to the same dance. She'd turned him down, and had tried to be as nice about it as possible. Still she had been able to see the hurt in his eyes. Rejection was never easy. Although she felt badly about hurting Xander, she knew it was better for him to understand that she just didn't feel that way about him than to let him think that there was a chance.

She also felt bad for Willow. She knew her best friend had a huge crush on Xander, and now she felt guilty for not realizing that Xander was attracted to her. Maybe if she'd noticed sooner, she could have explained her feelings to Xander sooner and he would have noticed Willow.

She shut her locker door, and played with the stake in her hand. She set it down on one of the sinks, turned on the water, and looked in the mirror, wondering how life could be so complicated.

She looked down and saw blood pouring out of the faucet instead of water. 'Eeww,' she thought. 'Can't a girl wash her hands without the Hellmouth busting in.'

She instantly ran to the library. As she opened the doors to the library she said to herself, "Giles, you are not gonna believe this."

Then she stopped, realizing Giles was in his office talking to someone.

"It's clear. It's what's gonna happen. Uh, it's happening now!" Giles said, clearly upset.

Spike moved into her view and pointed to a book.

"I know what it says. It's why I'm bloody here," Spike told the Watcher.

"Spike?" Buffy said to herself.

Spike continued. "Look, Watcher, Buffy's good. Real good. She'll come through okay; we just have to trust her."

"Listen. Some prophecies are, are a bit dodgy. They're, they're mutable. Buffy herself has, has thwarted them time and time again, but this is the Codex. There is nothing in it that does not come to pass." Giles insisted, emphasizing his point with vigorous finger pointing.

"I've heard the whole thing from Malcolm, and you know what? I don't believe your prophecies. You're wrong."

"I wish to God I were! But it's very plain! Tomorrow night Buffy will face the Master, and she will die," Giles said angrily.

For a moment Buffy was stunned. She couldn't believe what they were talking about. Then she began to laugh. The two Englishmen suddenly became aware of her presence and looked at each other. Buff started to walk slowly away from the office, gasping for breath. When she got to the table she turned to face them. Tears glittered in her eyes.

"So that's it, huh? I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, next one's called! Wonder who she is?" she asked with an edge of anger in her voice. "Will you train her? Or will they send someone else?" Buffy asked her Watcher.

"Buffy, I. . ." Giles started but he couldn't find the words.

"They say how he's gonna kill me? Do you think it'll hurt?" she asked. Her voice was choked with fear. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Spike tried to hug her but she stepped away.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled at him. "You knew. This whole time you knew. Were you even gonna tell me? Either of you?" she asked, hurt.

"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to," Giles explained. "That there was. . . some way around it. I. . ."

"I've got a way around it. I quit!" Buffy said defiantly.

"It's not that simple, pet." Spike said.

She wanted to hit him. He hadn't called her pet since their first training session together. It had always been Slayer. Now that she was being asked to die suddenly she was pet again?

"I'm making it that simple! I quit! I resign, I-I'm fired, you can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over! That's what you came to do, isn't it, Spike? So go do it. I'm tired of fighting all the battles."

"I'm not sure that anyone else can," Giles said sadly. "All the. . . the signs indicate. . ."

"The signs?" She threw a book at him. "READ ME THE SIGNS!" She threw another one. "TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL SITTING HERE WITH ALL YOUR BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOTTA HELP!"

"No, I don't suppose I am." Giles said quietly.

"I know this is hard," Spike tried to reason.

"What do you know about this? You're never gonna die!" she yelled at him.

"You think I want anything to happen to you, pet? Why do you think I've been training you? Do you think I could stand it? We just gotta figure out a way. . ."

"I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!"

"Buffy, if the Master rises. . ." Giles said.

Buffy ripped the cross from her neck. "I don't care!" She calmed down. "I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."

She was on the verge of tears again. She threw her cross down and ran from the room. She could hear Spike calling out behind her, but she didn't care. She put on a full burst of Slayer speed and ran for home.

Her only thought was of Mr. Gordo. At least he didn't lie to her and expect her to give up her life to protect him. All he wanted was a good snuggle.
Prophecy Girl (Part 2 of 3) by icemink
Disclaimer: The characters all belong to Joss.

Chapter 12: Prophecy Girl (Part 2 of 3)

A/N Prophecy Girl is one of those pivotal episodes of Buffy for Buffy. I didn't think I could do it justice by summarizing it, so this next chapter is both long and mostly straight from the show. Don't worry though, if you don't feel like reading what's more or less a transcript, just look for the &&&&&&&&& section break. That's the point at which I start rewriting.

Buffy sat in her room looking through a photo album and listening to the radio.

Her mother knocked on the door and peeked in.

"Hi, honey. You alright?"

"Sure," Buffy said without emotion.

"Probably just full from that bite of dinner you nearly had."

"Feel like telling me what's on your mind?" her mother asked concerned.

Buffy spun around excitedly to face her mom, "Mom, let's go away!"

"What?"

"Anywhere, just for a while, all weekend!" She was desperate to convince her mother.

"Honey, I-"

"No, it'll be great!" She was more and more excited by the idea. "You and me, a mother-daughter thing. . . We can talk about all the embarrassing things you love to bring up."

"You know the gallery's open on weekends."

Buffy's face fell. "Mom, please!"

"Isn't the Prom tomorrow night? Or Spring Fling, whatever they're calling it?"

"I-I guess."

"Nobody asked you?"

"Oh, someone. . ."

"But not the right someone. See, sometimes I actually do know what you're thinking." Joyce went over to Buffy's closet. "Well, then, uh, this probably isn't the best time for this, but, uh. . ." Joyce was smiling in anticipation of her daughters reaction.

She opened the closet to reveal the beautiful white sleeveless gown that Buffy had been desperate to have.

"I saw you eyeing it at the store. I figured. . ."

Buffy got up. She couldn't believe her mother had gotten the dress for her. "Mom, we can't afford this."

"The way you've been eating, we can afford it."

Buffy ran the shimmering fabric through her fingers. She was so touched by her mothers gesture. Her understanding.

"It's beautiful," was all she could say.

"I think you should wear it. To the dance."

"No, I-I can't go to the dance," Buffy said. Her eyes tore away from the dress toward the floor.

"Says who? Is it written somewhere? You should do what you want. Homecoming, my freshman year of college. I didn't have a date, so I got dressed up and I went anyway."

"Was it awful?"

"It was awful," she paused dramatically, "For about an hour."

"Then what happened?"

Joyce wore a big grin, "I met your father."

"He didn't have a date either?" Buffy smiled, her mother's story taking her thoughts away from her doom for the first time.

"He did. And that's a much funnier story that you will NOT get to hear. Oh, but it was a beautiful night!" Her mother exhaled; a dreamy look crossed her face.

"And you had your whole life ahead of you," Buffy said, wistfully.

"Yeah."

Buffy looked away. "Must be nice."

**************************

Cordelia and Willow walked down the stairs of the high school.

"Oh, Kevin said that he'd bring everything to the Bronze last night. He promised! We'll never get everything ready in time," Cordelia said.

"He probably forgot. It's not THAT big a deal." Willow said.

"Uh, you don't understand. I'm not mad! He totally flaked on me. On me! And I don't even care. God help me, I think it's cute! Oh. . ."

Willow smiled. Cordelia in love, who would have thought it possible. It was almost human. They reached the Audio-Visual room. Through the window they could see Kevin and his friends lounging about the room.

"There they are! They're watching cartoons. That's so cu. . ." Cordelia caught herself. "That's not cute. That's annoying. I'm annoyed."

"Right. I'm furious," Willow humored her.

"Men. I don't know why we put up with them."

"I hear ya."

"Obviously, Kevin has underestimated the power of my icy stare," Cordelia said.

As she opened the door Kevin's body fell into the hall, dead, a bite visible on his neck.

Cordelia screamed. "Oh, my God! Kevin!" She knelt by him. "No!"

Willow looked up from the pair and went hesitantly into the room, taking in the site of the dead teenagers, and their blood spread around the room. She noticed a bloody hand print on the TV behind which Looney Toons was playing.

"Kevin!" Cordelia cried.

*****************

Buffy stood before the mirror in her room, admiring her new white dress, wondering what Spike would think if he saw her in it.

Her mother ran into the room. "Buffy?! There's something on the news. Willow."

*******************

Buffy sat next to Willow on Willow's bed. The light from the setting sun offered little illumination.

"I've seen so much," Willow said blankly. She was hugging her knees and it was obvious she had been crying. "I thought I could take anything. But, Buffy, this. . . this was different."

"It'll be alright." Buffy comforted her friend.

"I'm trying to think how to say it. . . to explain it so you understand."

"It doesn't matter as long as you're okay."

"I'm not okay. I knew those guys. I go to that room every day. And when I walked in there, it. . . it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun." A tear rolled down her cheek. "What are we gonna do?"

"What we have to," Buffy said. Her friend didn't hear the slight edge of fear in her voice. She got up off the bed. "Promise me you'll stay in tonight, okay?"

Willow nodded. Buffy started to go.

"Buffy?"

Buffy stopped and turned back.

Willow smiled through her tears. "I like your dress."

Buffy looked down at it and smiled weakly, then she looked back up.

"Take care," she said as she left.

**********************

Giles was getting weapons out of the cage in the library and preparing them as Ms. Calendar watched.

"Okay, so this Master guy tried to open the Hellmouth," said Ms. Calendar. "But he got stuck in it, and now all the signs are reading that he's gonna get out, which opens the Hellmouth, which brings the demons, which ends the world."

"Yes. That about sums it up, yes." Giles nodded.

"The part that gets me, though, is where Buffy is the Vampire Slayer. She's so little," Ms. Calendar said crinkling her nose.

"You know how to get in touch with this, uh, brother Luca chap?" Giles said, referring to the monk who had read several of the portents of doom.

"Hmm. As far as I can tell, no one can. He's disappeared. Did send out one last global though. A short one.

"What did it say?"

"Isaiah 11:6, which I dutifully looked up." Ms. Calendar picked up the Bible she had marked, prepared to tell Giles what she had found.

"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, the lion and the fatling together, and the little child to lead them." Giles quoted.

"That's kinda warm and fuzzy for a message of doom."

"Well, that depends where he's leading them to. Aurelius wrote of the Anointed One, 'The Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell.'"

"So Luca thinks the Anointed is a kid."

"If the vampire that Buffy killed was in fact not the Anointed, then it may well be." Giles unsheathed a knife and examined the blade.

"Well, then we need to warn her."

"I don't intend involving her at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Buffy's not gonna face the Master. I am."

"No, you're not," said Buffy as she entered the library. Her hands were on her hips. All traces of her former fear were gone. "So, I'm looking for a kid, huh? And he'll lead me to the Master?" she asked business like.

"Buffy, I'm not gonna send you out there to die," Giles told her firmly, "Now, you were right. I-I've waded around in these old books for so long, I've forgotten what the real world is like. I-it's time I found out."

The Slayer and the Watcher faced off.

"You're still not going up against the Master," Buffy insisted.

"I've made up my mind."

"So have I."

"I made up my mine first! I'm older and wiser than you, and just. . . just do what you're told for once! Alright?"

"That's not how it goes. I'm the Slayer."

"I don't care what the books say. I defy prophecy, and I am going. There's nothing you can say that will change my mind."

"I know."

She pretended to turn and go, but instead punched him in the face, knocking him out. He fell backward to the floor. Ms. Calendar scrambled to his aid.

Buffy picked her cross up off the table and put it back on.

Ms. Calendar lifted Giles' head into her lap. She looked up at Buffy.

"When he wakes up tell him. . . " Buffy realized she didn't want to think about what her last words to her Watcher might be. She couldn't think of anything that could encompass how she felt about everything he had done for her. "I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it."

"You fight the Master, and you'll die," reasoned Ms. Calendar.

"Maybe." She picked up the crossbow Giles had been preparing. "Maybe I'll take him with me."

She left the library and the school. As soon as she got outside Buffy saw a young boy on the front lawn.

"Help me. . ." said the boy.

She lowered the crossbow and walked over to him.

"It's okay. I know who you are," she told him.

The boy vampire held out his hand. She took it, and he lead her away.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

As soon as the sun had set, Spike had set off in the direction of the Summers' house. He didn't know what he was going to say to Buffy. Half of him wanted to run off with her out of this town, away from all duty, responsibility, and the cruel whims of fate. He would have, too - if he thought they could run far enough.

He knocked on the door and Joyce answered.

"Hello, Spike," she said smiling.

"Hello, Joyce. Is your daughter home?"

"No, she just left. There was. . . there was an attack at the school. Willow was there. . ."

"Willow? Is she all right?" Spike was ready to bolt. He didn't actually know the red-headed girl but he knew that she was Buffy's friend, and that was enough for him.

"It's okay. I mean, why don't you come in?" Joyce moved aside so he could enter. He nodded and followed her inside. "She wasn't there during the attack, she found the bodies."

Spike breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't notice how closely Joyce was scrutinizing him.

"It's you, isn't it?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Buffy. Earlier, she said that the wrong boy asked her to the dance. You're the one she wanted to ask her."

"I didn't know about any dance, but um, maybe. Look Joyce-"

"She's too young for you."

"I know, Joyce, I. . . I'm sorry about this. It wasn't anything I intended. Your daughter, she's. . . she's Buffy. You know?" he cocked his head at her. So much for the poet. He couldn't even think of a single adjective to describe Buffy.

Joyce smiled at him, "I know. So you love her?"

He nodded.

"Hurt her, push her too far, and you'll regret it. But I don't think you'd do that."

"Perfect gentleman, I promise you. I wouldn't want to hurt her anymore than I'd want to ruin our friendship. We are still friends aren't we?"

"Yes, Spike. Just remember how young she is." The older Summers' woman smiled at him.

He smiled back. Vampire or not, he thought she would manage to make him suffer if he hurt her little girl.

"I need to find her Joyce. . . I'll see you around."

He left the Summers' house and got back into his DeSoto. He felt awful for lying to Joyce, about who he was, and about hurting her daughter. He'd already killed her once, even if it was only a nightmare. Now he was trying to send her off to her death.

He drove to Willow's house, but found out that Buffy had already left there. He was driving to the school when he noticed Buffy's other friend Xander. He pulled over and got out of his car.

"Just the dead guy I was looking for," said Xander.

"Hello to you too. Do you know where Buffy is? I have to find her."

"She's gone."

Spike's withered heart contracted even more. It was too late. She had already been killed.

"No," he moaned.

"Buffy, she's gone to fight the Master," Xander continued.

Spike could have hit the whelp.

"Look, I know you can find this Master guy. He's underground, right? Take me to him." Xander demanded.

Spike looked the boy over. He wasn't much to look at, but he had guts. Spike could appreciate that. Still the boy was going to get himself killed.

"You're way outta your league, whelp. The Master'll kill you before you can even breathe. If you're lucky."

"How can I say this clearly?" Xander said as he held up a cross.

Instinctively Spike growled and backed up. 'The whelp's not totally daft,' he thought. He had to admire him.

"I don't like you. At the end of the day, I pretty much think you're a vampire." Xander lowered the cross. "But Buffy's got this big old yen for you. She thinks you're a real person. And right now I need you to prove her right."

Understanding dawned on Spike. "You're in love with her."

"Aren't you?"
Prophecy Girl (Part 3 of 3) by icemink
Disclaimer: The characters all belong to Joss.

Chapter 13: Prophecy Girl (Part 3 of 3)

A/N Okay, once again this chapter is really close to the original episode. I didn't make any major changes, but I still feel this stuff is really important. Although I have changed some things, it's similar enough that if you want you can skip down to the &&&&&& again, where my story line takes back over.

The vampire boy lead Buffy to the entrance to the Master's lair. He stopped and Buffy looked at him. The boy pointed, inviting her to enter. Then he left, going back the way they had come.

Buffy watched him go. Then she turned and made her way down into the lair, her crossbow at the ready. She looked around at the hundreds of candles burning everywhere.

"Welcome," invited the Master, his voice seeming to come from all directions.

"Thanks for having me." Buffy looked around trying to find where he was. "Y'know, you really oughtta talk to your contractor. Looks like you got some water damage," Buffy quipped.

"Oh, good. The feeble banter portion of the fight. Why don't we just cut to the. . ."

Buffy spun around and launched a bolt in the direction of his voice. With his lightning fast reflexes the Master caught it just before it entered his chest. Buffy quickly reloaded the bow.

"Nice shot," the Master said appreciatively. "You're not going to kill me with that thing." He snapped the bolt in two and slipped back into the shadows

"Don't be so sure."

"You still don't understand your part in all this, do you? You are not the hunter. You are the lamb."

"You know, for someone who's all powerful, you sure do like to hide." Buffy was getting frustrated. She had been training for this moment for over a month now.

"I'm waiting for you. I want this moment to last."

"Well, I don't."

She kept searching the shadows of the cave. Suddenly the Master was right behind her.

"I understand," he said.

She turned around, but before she could fire the Master knocked the crossbow out of her hands. He grabbed her by the neck. She swung up with her arm, knocking his hand away.

She ran a few steps then turned to face him. She was ready for this she told herself.

He held his hand out toward her and suddenly she couldn't move. Her body relaxed leaving its fighter's stance.

He approached her, making slow twisting motions with his hand. She knew she needed to run. She knew he would kill her if she just stood there.

He came up behind her, "You tried. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." He whispered in her ear, "You're the one that sets me free! If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that!"

Anger and fear coursed through Buffy. Stupid Watchers and their stupid prophecies. Not to mention stupid Spike. All that training was turning out to be for nothing. No one had warned her about this thrall thing.

The Master bent down and bit her at the base of her neck. It was nothing like when Spike had bitten her. It was less painful, but by the same token there was none of the euphoria.

Try as she might, she couldn't seem to fight him. He drank only a few sips of her blood before he broke off.

"Oh, God! The power!" he cried in ecstasy.

He released her shoulders and she fell face first into a pool of water. She couldn't move, as water forced it's way into her mouth and throat.

"And by the way. . . I like your dress."

He stepped over to the edge of his confines and pushed against the field. He forced his hand through, and the mystic barrier burst in a flash of light and energy. He climbed up out of his lair.

***************

Spike and Xander saw the light coming out of an adjoining tunnel.

"What was that?" Xander asked.

"It's too late. He's broken free. Buffy's. . ."

They both took off at a run in the direction of the flash. Spike got there first and saw Buffy lying face down in the pool of water. He pulled her quickly out of the water and cradled her in his arms. He didn't need to check to know that her heart was no longer beating. Sobs broke from Spike's throat and tears rolled down his face.

"She's dead!" he moaned.

Xander looked down at them and swallowed hard. Then he seemed to muster his strength.

"No. She's not dead." Xander insisted.

"She's not breathing."

"But if she drowned, uh, there's a shot! CPR!" Xander said hopefully.

Spike nodded and gently lay her body down.

"You have to do it. I have no breath."

Xander took off his jacket and laid it over her. He knelt down by her face and looked at her a moment, then he bent over her and began CPR.

"C'mon. C'mon!" Xander begged.

Spike had given up though. He began sobbing again. Death was too familiar to him; an old friend he knew too well.

Xander refused to quit though. "C'mon! Breathe!"

Suddenly Buffy opened her eyes wide and she drew a sharp breath.

"Buffy?" Xander asked.

She turned her head to the side and coughed out a bunch of water. Xander and Spike looked at each other and smiled in relief. Xander stroked her hair gently. She looked up at him, surprised to see him.

"Xander?" she asked.

"Welcome back," Xander said, a huge smile across his face.

Xander and Spike helped Buffy up. She seemed dazed as if her mind was someplace else.

"Easy. Easy," said Xander.

"The Master?" Buffy said, but she didn't seem to be addressing either of the two men. Her eyes were fixed above her as if she could see him.

"He's gone up," Spike said.

Buffy started to leave the lair.

"No. You're still weak," Xander insisted as she pulled out of their grip.

"No. No, I feel strong." She smiled. "I feel different." She looked at them over her shoulder. "Let's go!"

Buffy marched determinedly toward the school with Xander and Spike close behind.

"So, how do you know where the Master's going?" Xander asked.

"I know." Buffy said assuredly.

A vampire tried to block their way into the school.

"Oh, look, a bad guy." Buffy said flippantly.

She punched him on her way by, and he fell flat on his back. They entered the school and headed to the stairway that lead up to the roof. A hole was visible in the door where someone had punched through the hollow core to unlock it.

"Okay, you two wait here, keep the rest of the vampires off me," Buffy told them.

"Right," said Xander.

"Spike, better put on your game face."

He vamped out. "I'm ready. Don't worry, we'll take care of the clean up down here."

"One way or another, this won't take long," Buffy said as she lifted her long skirt and ran up the stairs.

**********************

Inside the library, Cordelia was trying to barricade the door and keep out the horde of angry vampire's outside. Up in the stacks Willow and Ms. Calendar were also trying to keep out the vampires that had found the back way in.

Although they had started to realize that the Hellmouth was actually located somewhere inside the High School, none of them had noticed the tentacles that came out of the cracks in the floor caused by the previous night's earthquake.

A hand reached through the broken window of the library door and tried to grab Cordelia. She hit the vampire's hand and then when that didn't work, bit it. The vampire screamed and let go.

"See how YOU like it!" Cordelia yelled.

"This won't keep 'em out for long!" Willow shouted over the din as she tried to brace the door.

She looked down just in time to see a tentacle wrap itself around her ankle. She screamed.

Ms. Calendar turned at the sound of Willow's scream and grabbed hold of her.

"GILES! GILES!" the teacher screamed.

Giles came running out of his office in time to see a huge, green, multi-headed and tentacled demon burst through the floor.

"The Hellmouth!" he said in awe.

Up above all of it, the Master looked in through the skylight and clapped his hands.

"Yes. Come forth, my child. Come into my world." He tried to raise it up with the sound of his voice. He was so intent on the scene below he didn't notice that he was no longer alone on the roof.

"I don't think it's yours just yet," Buffy said.

The Master turned his head and stared at her in surprise.

"You're dead," he said unbelieving.

"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you." All trace of her earlier fear was gone. She knew with absolute certainty that this was her moment, and she was ready.

"You were destined to die. It was written," said the Master clearly annoyed.

"What can I say?" Buffy shrugged. "I flunked the written."

The Master growled and reaches his arm out to try his hypnosis on her again. The force of his will caused her body to jerk.

"Come here!" he ordered.

Down below them Willow continued to scream as the tentacled demon tried to drag her into the earth.

"GILES!" Ms. Calendar screamed again.

Giles grabbed an ax from the table and rushed up the stairs to help them.

"GILES!"

He swung the ax into one of the heads, and the creature roared in agony as the two women kept screaming.

Above the Master's thrall seemed to be working on Buffy as she slowly approached him. He grabbed her by the throat again.

"Did you really think you could best me here when you couldn't below?" Arrogantly he let go of her throat to emphasize his power over her.

Buffy looked at him curiously. "You have fruit punch mouth."

"What?"

She took advantage of his confusion and punched him in the mouth, throwing him to the ground.

"Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists," she said as she spun around to kick him as he rose. She was ready for this, it was what she'd trained for.

He tried to punch her several times, but she was too fast for him. Every time he swung at her, he only left himself open to her attacks.

Inside the library, Giles continued to hack away with his ax at the huge demon. One of the tentacles smashed into him and sent him flying into the table. The table cracked in half and one side stuck up in the air like a giant spike.

Cordelia was still backed against the main doors of the library trying to keep the vampires out. She heard some grunts and screams from the hall along with several crashing sounds. All of a sudden no one was pushing on the door anymore.

"Let us in," came Xander's voice.

Cautiously Cordelia looked into the hall, no one was there but Xander and Spike. She opened the door and the two men came running in.

Both Spike and Xander came to a dead halt as they saw the hell-beast that had emerged from the library floor.

"Well, that's something, isn't it?" Spike said a moment before he rolled across the floor to grab one of the swords that had been scattered by the demon. He came up on his feet, sword raised, and began to try and distract the demon from the librarian and the two women above.

On the roof, Buffy and the Master continued to fight. Despite her skill Buffy realized she'd forgotten the first rule of Slaying. Always have a stake.

As she spun around the Master she noticed the upended table through the skylight. She laughed in triumph.

"You laugh when my Hell is on Earth?" the Master demanded.

"You're that amped about Hell. . ." she grabbed him by the neck, and threw him through the skylight. "Go there!"

He crashed through the glass and impaled himself on the broken table. The Master didn't simply explode into a pile of dust. His ashes rose off his body high into the sky, leaving his skeleton behind. As he died the demon screamed in anguish as it lost its hold on this reality and was sucked back down into the Hellmouth.

Buffy watched from above. She waved down to Giles and Spike, "Hi guys. How's it going?" Then she headed back down the stairs.

"The vampires?" Giles asked.

"No worries, Rupert. The whelp and I took care of them," Spike said. He hated to admit it, but the boy was starting to grow on him. He had balls; maybe there was some hope for him.

Buffy entered the library and stared at the skeleton of the Master lying in the center of the room.

"Buffy. . . Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Oh, sorry." She was smiling and tearing up all at once. "It's just been a really weird day."

"Yeah! Buffy died, and everything," Xander said matter of factly.

"Wow. Harsh," Willow commented, still a little in shock.

"I should have known that wouldn't stop you." Giles smiled as he tried to make light of the not so funny situation.

Buffy smiled up at him again.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Ms. Calendar looking at the rubble.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to get out of this place. I don't like the library very much anymore," Giles revealed sullenly.

"Hey! I hear there's a dance at the Bronze tonight. Could be fun," Xander suggested.

"Yeah!" Cordelia smiled and agreed.

"Buffy?" Willow asked smiling.

"Sure! We saved the world. I say we party." Giles looked at her incredulously. She looked down at her dress. "I mean, I got all pretty."

"And what about him?" Ms. Calendar asked nodding toward the Master's skeleton.

"He's not going anywhere," Buffy said looking down at him. "Loser."

They all started toward the door at once, talking over each other.

"I'm not dancing, though," Giles told Ms. Calendar.

"We'll see," she smiled at him.

"You can come with us, Spike," Willow offered.

"I'm hungry," said Buffy.

"Get something to drink," Willow advised Spike.

"Is anybody else hungry?" Buffy asked.

"Well, no, don't do that. Just hang," Willow replied to whatever Spike had told her.

"I'm really, really hungry," Buffy said.

Spike hung back to speak with Buffy. "By the way, I really like your dress."

"Yeah, yeah. Big hit with everyone." Buffy said, taking one last look at the Master's skeleton.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy clutched the leather duster around herself as she and Spike walked back to her house from the Bronze. Once the Master had been defeated it had become a magical evening, magical in the good sense. Sadly now it was coming to an end.

There was a silence between them as they walked down the street. At the Bronze they hadn't needed to say anything. He'd just held her as they danced, her face pressed against his chest, his hands on her waist.

Finally Buffy couldn't take it anymore and she broke the silence.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, pet, I have to."

"But why? Why can't you just stay. I know the Master's dead, but there's sure to be more badness. . . "

He stopped and turned toward her, placing his fingers on her lips to silence her.

"It has nothing to do with that. If I could, if it was just me I would stay. But. . . I have family to attend to."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Oh, I always assumed with how old you were that you didn't have any family any more. That and the whole cryptic loner thing."

"Yeah, well it was just my mum and me, back when I was alive. And you're right, she's long since dust. But family's more than just that. It's blood between you and people, and there's still blood between me and some."

'Oh look, it's the return of cryptic guy,' Buffy thought.

"So that's it then?" she asked. "I'm never going to see you again?"

"Didn't say that pet. I'm just not sure when I'll be back. Maybe next fall. . ."

"Well that's okay," she tried to grab onto that one piece of hope. "I'm going to spend my summer in L.A. with my dad anyway. So, I mean. . . I guess I'm going away too. But you're coming back, right?"

He smiled sadly and gently kissed her lips. "I hope so, pet."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Reluctantly, Spike made his way back to his apartment - but he didn't go inside. Everything he would need was already packed in the DeSoto. He had paid the landlord in advance for the next several months. He hoped that having a place ready and waiting would help him justify coming back to Sunnydale.

He got into his car and set out north for Stanford. It would be a long drive if he wanted to make it there in time for the graduation. He was filled with both bitterness and anticipation. He couldn't actually attend the ceremony since it would be held in the broad daylight. Even so, soon he would see his son again.
When She Was Bad by icemink
Chapter 14: When She was Bad Buffy was sitting alone on a couch in the student lounge, staring into space, when Willow and Xander found her. "Buffy!" Xander called, but she didn't seem to hear him. "Buffy!" "Fine! I'm fine." Buffy said, snapping out of her reverie "Good. It's good that you're fine," said Xander as he sat next to her on the couch. Willow sat down on the couch opposite Buffy and pulled an apple out of her bag. "What were you thinking about?" Willow asked. "Nothing." "Oh, c'mon, you can tell us. We're your bosom friends. The friends of your bosom," Xander said, smiling at his own joke. He pulled a power bar out of his bag. "Xander," Willow admonished him. Xander winced at his power bar. Willow frowned at her apple. They tossed them to each other over the table. Buffy smiled at them. "I wasn't thinking anything, really." "What'd you do last night?" Willow asked excitedly. "Mm. Slept. I had weird dreams," replied Buffy. "Dreams are meaningful," Xander said in his important voice. "Tsh! Tell me about it. The other night I dreamt that Xander..." Willow stopped, blushing. "Uh, I-it wasn't Xander. I-in fact it wasn't me. It was a friend's dream, and she doesn't remember it." "I bet she doesn't," Buffy told her friend. Just then Giles came up the stairs. "Buffy!" he called. "Giles!" Buffy got up. "What is it? You look worried." "This vampire activity, I think I know what they're up to," he told her worriedly. "Well, we'll deal with it," she said trying to calm him. "I hope it's that simple," worried Giles. "It is not to worry. Trust me," she said casually. "Oh, I don't know. I mean," Giles chuckled, "I've killed you once, it shouldn't be too difficult to do it again." "What?" Buffy said, her eyes wide. Giles swung at her, knocking her down onto the table between the two couches. Then he was on top of her his hands around her throat. Xander and Willow just sat on the couches, munching their food. Willow smiled at Xander. Buffy struggled against Giles, but she couldn't break free of his grasp. She clawed at him, and his skin tore away. Underneath was the Master's face. Buffy stared at him with terror. Her eyes shot open and she looked around her bedroom. Sighing, she turned on the light. 'The Master comes back and kills me dream #34,' she thought. She picked up the envelope that was lying on her bed stand and looked at the strange colorful stamps. There was no return address on it, and the stamps had characters in a language Buffy couldn't identify. She supposed Giles would know what it was, where it had come from. But he would want to see the letter, and that was just for her. She pulled it out and looked over the elegant cursive script again. Dear Buffy, With any luck this letter finds you happy and well. I'm sorry to have to send you this letter. It would seem more polite to call, but I don't have access to a telephone right now, and I assume that you are still at your father's. Hopefully this letter will reach you soon after you return to Sunnydale. When I left I told you that I had family matters to attend to. I thought they would be of the routine nature and that soon I would be able to return to you. An unfortunate turn of events has resulted in someone quite close to me being in mortal peril. I have no idea how long it will take to resolve this situation, or even what part of the world I may find myself in. I can no longer promise to return to Sunnydale in the near future, for this I apologize. Of course, I in no way expect you to wait for me, but know that you are never far from my thoughts. Love, Spike This must have been the twentieth time she had read the letter. It still made very little sense to her. Was it really from Spike? It sure didn't sound like Spike. Then again, if someone had kidnapped Spike and was sending her the letter to throw her off the track, then you'd think they'd at least throw in a 'bloody hell' or a 'bollox'. Or maybe write it in his accent or something. Maybe it really was Spike. Maybe he didn't have a family at all, but a girlfriend somewhere and he hadn't wanted to tell her about it so he was making up this whole family thing. Maybe he just realized that he didn't really like her after all, or he'd met someone new. Once again she reread the letter, hoping to find some clue, to find something to comfort her. To make her feel a little less alone. No amount of checking helped her find it.
School Hard (Part 1 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 15: School Hard (Part 1 of 3)

A vampire with a goatee came to stand before the Anointed one. "The Master is dead. Someone has to take his place."

Another vampire broke in, "As long as the Slayer's alive, whoever takes his place will be sharing his grave."

"Then let the soul who kills her wear his mantle," said the first.

"Can you do it?" asked the Anointed One.

"Yes," the first vampire replied. "This weekend, the night of St. Vigeous, our power shall be at its peak. When I kill her, it'll be the greatest event since the crucifixion. And I should know. I was there."

"Now that is what I call hyperbole," said a new voice with an Irish brogue "After all, ye have to figure, a Slayer dies, what every five years or so. But the crucifixion was a one time event."

The new arrival casually strolled into the main part of the factory. The stranger was well dressed, as if he was a person of importance who moved freely among human society. Unlike these other vampires who lurked around the edges. He wore a black silk button down shirt, with a black blazer and matching slacks that had obviously been tailored for him.

"I oughta rip your throat out," challenged the first vampire.

"Not that I haven't been guilty of an exaggeration or two me-self," said the new arrival, turning his back on the others. "But I think ye'd agree that stretching of the truth is the least of me sins."

The vampire who had challenged him rushed him from behind. Without even looking, the Irish vampire swung his fist, knocking the other vampire out.

"Who are you?" asked the Anointed One, intrigued.

"Ye don't know who I am? I'm hurt. To be forgotten by yer own family. I'm Angelus, lad. And you must be the Anointed One. I remember Darla mentioning something about it in one of the Master's beloved prophecies. Fat lot of good they did him, eh?"

"Bite your tongue," demanded the Anointed One.

"Now, now. That's no way to be speaking to yer elders, lad. But I'm not here because of any of that rot. Would I be wrong in guessing that it was this Slayer that killed me poor Darla?"

"Her and the traitor Spike."

"Spike is here?" Angelus demanded.

"No, but he comes back, clipity-clop clipity-clop to catch the bird that's flown the nest," came a woman's voice.

Angelus sighed in exasperation. "Drusilla, I thought I told you to wait outside."

"Look at all the people. Are these nice people?" she asked.

"We're making friends right enough," Angelus told her.

She stared at the boy vampire, "This one has power. I could feel it from the outside." She walked over to the boy. "Do you like daisies? Hmm? I plant them, but they always die. Everything I put in the ground withers and dies." Her eyes lost focus for a minute as she stared into space. "Daddy? I'm cold."

"That's because ye're dead Dru." Angelus turned his attention away from the whimpering vampiress and back to the Anointed. "I'll tell you what. Seeing as how your Slayer offed me Sire, I'll do ye a favor and take care of her for ye.

"Can you?"

"Aye, that I can. Not twenty years ago I got rid of one in New York. This one should be no problem."

*************************

Angelus watched as the Slayer and a redheaded girl sat at a table in the Bronze pouring over a French book.

"La vache... doit me... touche... de la... jeudi." The Slayer looked at her friend. "Was it wrong? Should I use the plural?"

"No. But you said, 'The cow should touch me from Thursday.'"

"Maybe that's what I was feeling," Buffy said, defensively.

"And you said it wrong."

"Oh, je stink."

"You're just not focused. It's Spike missage."

"Yeah, I just wish I knew if he were safe, or what part of the world he was in, or something."

Just then a boy approached the table from the dance floor.

"Guys, I'm all alone out there. Somebody has to dance with me," he pleaded.

"Well, we are studying," the red-head insisted.

"C'mon, one dance. You've been studying nearly twelve minutes."

"No wonder my brain's fried," the Slayer said as she got up.

The other girl started to protest, but the Slayer and boy drug her along with them. None of them noticed the vampire watching them.

Angelus watched them all with mild fascination. He was so intent on watching her, he didn't notice the young black man watching him.

What a silly creature the Slayer seemed. As if she didn't take her duty seriously. Still, he had to know how dangerous she was, so he went over to the bar where the vampire who had been bragging earlier stood.

"Why don't you get yerself something nice and young to eat."

Angelus waited a few minutes before walking to a group of people near the Slayer, and said loudly in his most regular American accent, "Where's the phone? I need to call the police. There's some big guy out there trying to bite somebody,"

The Slayer overheard him and ran for the door. Giving her just a moments head start he followed. He got outside just as the other vampire rolled to his feet.

"Slayer!" cried the vampire.

"Slayee!"

She spun around and kicked him in the face. To his credit, the vampire only flinched a bit. He swung at her but she sidestepped the blow. As she swung at him, he grabbed her arm and threw her into a warehouse loading door. She fell to the ground, but quickly got up again. He swung again and hit the metal door with his fist when she ducked.

At that moment the boy and girl she'd been dancing with arrived. The Slayer blocked the vampire's punch and held on to his arm. She looked behind herself at the others.

"Get her out of here!" She told her friends.

Then she began to punch the vampire repeatedly in the face.

As the young red-head grabbed the near victim and pulled her out of the way, the Slayer yelled over her shoulder, "And a STAKE would be NICE!"

The goofy looking boy ran inside.

Angelus was torn between being impressed by her skill, and thinking her stupid for rushing outside without a weapon. 'She obviously depends on her friends,' he thought. That could be used against her.

The vampire pulled free from her grasp and punched her in the face hard enough to send her spinning to the ground.

Then the fool loomed over her and said, "I don't need to wait for St. Vigeous. You're mine."

'Idiot,' Angelus thought. 'If he'd just snapped her neck, or bit her, she wouldn't have had time to recover. But instead he had to hear himself talk.'

The vampire bent down to get her, and she kicked him in the face. He staggered backward as she got to her feet.

"Angelus! Gimme a hand!" he cried.

At that point Angelus had half a mind to stake the vampire himself. To his dismay, the Slayer followed the vampire's gaze and saw him in the shadows.

The boy had returned with a stake. "Buffy!" he yelled as he tossed the stake to her.

She turned to catch it, and Angelus used that opportunity to leave, he'd already seen everything he'd needed to.
School Hard (Part 2 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 16: School Hard (Part 2 of 3)

Drusilla picked up one of her dolls and turned it so that it faced the wall of the room she and Angelus had settled into.

"Miss Edith speaks out of turn. She's a bad example, and will have no cakes today. Shhhh."

Angelus entered the room, dragging a bound and gagged girl behind him.

"I brought you something to eat," he said.

"I'm not hungry. I miss Prague," she pouted.

"Ye nearly died in Prague. But this town, well, it's got potential. We get rid of the Slayer and then the Hellmouth will restore ye, put color in yer cheeks, metaphorically speaking, and in a few week's time..."

"The stars will align, and smile down on us." Suddenly her eyes went wide.

"What do ye see, Dru?"

"He's coming back. Soon, no waiting. He's come to save her. No waiting for St. Vigeous. You must strike now."

"Well, now. I hadn't planned on that, but that idiot did gave away our plans. Aye, an earlier attack is the way to go."

************************

Buffy and Willow hovered nervously around the parent teacher night punch bowl. Despite Willow's best efforts, Principle Snyder and Buffy's mom had met. Now all Buffy could do was wait for her impending doom.

After what seemed an eternity, her mom and Principle Snyder returned to the lounge.

"In the car, now," her angry mother said.

Willow gave her a concerned look. With no other choice, Buffy followed her mom. She turned to look back at Snyder, who was going around turning off the lights. Her mother waited for Buffy to join her, and they walked out of the room.

Suddenly Buffy heard a crashing from behind her. She turned to look back into the room, and saw that two vampires had come crashing through the windows. Several more vampires followed, and they stormed into the room. The people began to panic.

Forgetting her mom, Buffy ran back into the room. Just in time to see their leader calmly step through a window.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he said. "I'm Angelus, and ye're dead."

Then he attacked. Buffy grabbed a chair and threw it at him, tripping him up. 'Mom!' she thought, and ran out of the room to grab her mother's hand. Several other parents followed her. She pulled her stunned mother down the hall and around to the right, but more vampires were coming in that way, so she ran in the other direction, her mom in tow.

Behind her she could hear the man ordering the other vampires. "Nobody gets out! Especially the girl!"

"Everybody, this way! C'mon! C'mon!" Buffy yelled.

Snyder and several others ran past her as she shoved a cleaning cart into two vampires who were chasing them. Willow and Cordelia came out of the lounge nearly tripping over them, then they ran the other way.

They turned into the hall outside the library, just as Giles, Ms. Calendar and Xander came running out.

"What the hell?" Giles asked.

"Angelus and an army! Look out!" Buffy warned them.

They looked behind them and saw a vampire. Ms. Calendar screamed.

"Back!" Giles ordered as the three of them ran back into the library and held the door shut.

Hoping that those three could take care of themselves, Buffy opened the door to the science classroom and gestured for the people with her to follow.

"In here! Now!" she told them.

The people all ran into the room. Buffy followed them in and closed the door just as the two vampires came running into the hall. They began to bang on the door. Snyder and another man maneuvered a storage cabinet in front of the door. Buffy ran over to the other door and closed and locked it. Just then the power went out.

"Who are those people, and what do they want?" asked the man who'd helped Snyder.

"I didn't get much of a look, but is there something wrong with their faces? I..." Buffy's mom said.

"Yes! PCP! It's a gang on PCP! We've gotta get out of here," Snyder insisted.

He grabbed a desk, set it in front of a window and started climbing.

"You can't go outside! They'll kill you!" Buffy insisted.

"You don't tell me! I tell you!" said the now panicked Snyder.

Buffy pulled him down off the desk. "They will kill everybody in this room. Nobody goes out, nobody comes in until I say so. Do you hear me?"

"Who do you think you are?" the Principle demanded.

"I'm the one that knows how to stop them," Buffy said sighing. At times like this a secret identity was a real pain.

She looked up and walked across the room, trying to find a way into the ceiling. Now that her mother and the others were safely locked in, she needed a way out. She didn't think that the door to the science room would hold until sunrise. Besides, who knew how many other people were still in the school.

Her mother grabbed her by the shoulders. "Buffy, are you crazy? Look, I know you've been accused of fighting and other things, but those guys are serious. You can't go out there."

"I know. That's why I'm going up there," she said pointing at the celling.

She grabbed a stool, set it on a lab table, climbed up and pushed a ceiling panel aside. She looked down at her mom.

"Don't worry, Mom."

She lifted herself up into the ceiling.

As she began to make her way through the duct work, she could hear Angelus calling her. "Now what kind of Slayer runs and hides and leaves the innocents to die? Come out, come out where ever ye are."

She could hear a crashing sound as he kicked a door in.

"Angelus. Listen..." said one of the other vampires.

"It looks like we have a vermin problem," he said.

Buffy cringed, but as long as they were focused on her, her mother and the others were safer. She made her way through the ducts to the library. She broke through the celling and dropped to the library floor.

Giles lifted his axe. "Buffy!" He lowered the weapon. "You're all right!"

"How are the others?" Ms. Calendar asked.

"Principal Snyder, my mother and four others are locked in the science room across the hall. Willow and Cordelia ran the other way. I don't know if they're..."

Ms. Calendar started to help Buffy put crosses and stakes into a bag.

"I'm gonna take the vamps out in the hall," she told them. "After that you get my mother and the others out the same way."

"Let me help you," Giles offered.

"Giles, my mother's in that room. If I don't make it out of here, I know you'll make sure she does."

"Bloody right, I will. Fair enough. What's your plan?"

"Well, they split up to hold us here, so I'm gonna take 'em one on one. Set 'em up and knock 'em down."

She grabbed a stool and positioned it under the hole in the ceiling. She got up on the stool and pulled herself back up.

"Watch your back," Giles called after her.

Buffy began crawling back through the ceiling toward the hallway in front of the science room.

Below her she could hear chopping sounds. Then one vampire told another, "Hey! Guard the door! I'm almost finished!"

Buffy broke through the ceiling to end up behind the vampire chopping down the door. Before he had a chance to turn around, Buffy had a stake in him.

She looked in through the hole he had chopped in the door.

Her mother called out, "Buffy! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, mom," she tried to reassure her.

"Buffy, look, uh, get out of here, okay? We'll be alright," her mom insisted.

"Look, just hang on for one more minute until I tell you to open the door."

Quietly Buffy made her way to the other hall, stake in hand. She peeked around the corner and saw the other vampire standing there with his back to her. Then she heard a noise behind her and looked.

"Sheila! Where've you been?" she asked the other teenager. It was bad enough that Buffy had had to worry about vampires and getting expelled. It would have been nice if the other trouble student had actually helped her with parent teacher night, instead of disappearing.

"Sorry I'm late. There's some really weird guys outside."

"Shh! Yeah, I know. They're trying to kill us," Buffy told the girl.

Sheila picked up the axe the vampire had used to chop the door and smiled. "This should be fun."

Buffy slowly headed back to the other hall.

As she and Sheila were about to round the corner, she whispered, "Stay behind me."

She went into the other hall and quietly made her way to the vampire, holding her stake up and ready.

Then Giles, who was looking out the library window cried, "Buffy! Look out!"

She spun around and grabbed the axe from Sheila in mid-swing. Seeing Sheila's vamped face, she decided that maybe the other girl had a good excuse for bailing on her. Being dead.

She swung the axe around and hit Sheila in the jaw with the butt of the handle. The other vampire that she'd been about to stake, attacked. He ducked as Buffy swung the axe at him. The axe was buried in the wall.

The vampire smiled as he straightened back up, thinking he had avoided her blow. Then he looked down at the stake protruding from his chest. He collapsed to the floor and burst into ashes.

Her feign having worked, Buffy looked over at Sheila and watched her run from the hall, then Buffy rushed back to the classroom door.

"Mom, now!" she yelled.

Her mother opened the door and called to the others. "Okay, come on, let's go!"

Everyone rushed out of the classroom and into the library.

"C'mon! Hurry!" Joyce urged them on.

Buffy turned to Giles who was holding the door open. "Get them out."

"You're coming too!" her mother insisted.

"In a minute! Go!" she said as she rushed off back into the school halls.

"Buffy!" her mother called behind her.

Buffy went back to retrieve the axe. Then she went in the direction that she last knew Angelus to be. If he was the leader, getting rid of him might get the others to leave.

She saw him standing alone down one of the school hallways.

"There ye are. I was beginning to think that this town didn't have a Slayer after all."

"You shouldn'ta come here," she told him.

"Is that so? I'm thinking you're the one who doesn't belong."

At that moment several other vampires appeared both in front of and behind Buffy. Inwardly she gulped. This was not good. She cautiously glanced over her shoulder, wondering if she could break through the undead there. Even if she couldn't stake them - if she could get past them - at least she wouldn't be surrounded.

All of a sudden, one of the minions burst into dust. His companion turned, confused. At the far end of the hall stood a young black man, reloading his crossbow.

The man had a shaved head. He wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and a leather biker's jacket.

"I see ye brought friends. What's the matter Slayer, afraid to fight vampires on yer own?" Angelus taunted her.

"Actually, no idea who he is. But you know. Really not complaining."

The two vampires next to Angelus, leapt at her, while the one behind her turned on the man with the crossbow.

Buffy swung her axe, trying to keep the vampires from closing with her. She was worried about the strange guy, whoever he was, but she had enough to deal with on her own. After only a moment, Angelus joined his minions in attacking her.

Buffy ducked a punch he sent her way, then she butted one of the minions with the axe. He fell to the floor, but the other one grabbed the handle of the axe, and she found herself struggling against him. Angelus used that to blind side her.

She went sprawling to the floor and lost her grip on the axe. The vampire who'd fought her for it, stumbled back a step. But he regained his footing sooner than she did. He raised the axe above his head and Buffy prepared to roll out of the way of his blow.

Except it never came. Instead she heard a roar, and the vampire with the axe went sprawling to the floor a leather clad bleach blond figure on top of him.

Buffy got to her feet. Inside her stomach was doing somersaults. Spike! He was back. He was here, and really timely too. But she didn't have the luxury to think about that. There were still two other vampires to worry about.

From behind her she heard an unfamiliar voice yell, "Duck!"

Not one to question, she did so. A crossbow bolt flew over her head straight for Angelus' heart. To her dismay he caught it in his bare hands. Still, it gave her a chance to sweep his feet out from under him, before the other vampire tried to tackle her.

Angelus hit the floor hard.

"Ye know, this was a private party, and I'm sure all of ye were not on the invite list. I'll send Dru yer regards," he said, as he took off down the hall.

The vampire she was fighting noticed his leader's retreat, and paused, unsure of what to do. That moment was all she needed to stake him.

When the dust had cleared, Buffy found herself completely alone in the school hall. There was no sign of Spike, or the strange young man who had shown up.
School Hard (Part 3 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 17: School Hard (Part 3 of 3)

Having finished talking to the police, Giles was headed to his car, when he thought he heard a familiar British voice yelling.

He quickly headed in the direction of Spike's voice, thinking perhaps the vampire was in trouble. Buffy had been reticent about talking about why the souled vampire had left town. But if he was back, he could once again be a valuable ally.

He rounded the corner of the school and saw Spike, his back turned, talking angrily to a young black man.

"Are you bloody insane? What the hell do you think you're doing going after Angelus?"

"What you're too scared to do. Avenge my mother."

"Scared? You think what? That I should've gone after him right after your mum died? And who would have looked after you? Do you think your mother would give a damn about whether or not Angelus lives? She'd want you to be safe."

"No, I can't let that monster live. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

The young man tried to push Spike out of his way but he didn't budge an inch. Then Spike purposely moved out of his way and watched him go.

"I didn't realize Nikki had a son," Giles said once the young man had left. "What's his name?"

"Robin," Spike's voice was husky, and Giles almost thought he saw tears glittering the vampire's eyes.

"Don't worry, Buffy will take care of this Angelus, and we'll make sure the boy is safe."

"Thanks Rupert. I just hope she can before. . ."

Giles put his hand on the other man's shoulder, in a sign of solidarity. He never would have imagined having a vampire as a friend, but over and over Spike surprised him.

Giles had begun to think of Buffy more and more as a child he had never had, even though he knew he should keep a greater emotional distance between the two of them. Even knowing how strong and capable she was, it was hard sending her out night after night. Leaving her to confront the dark things of the world. He wished he could protect her from them, just as he was sure Spike was trying to protect Robin. Therefore Giles would do whatever he could to ensure the young man's safety.

**************

The sun was just coming up and a little of it streamed in the high window of the factory, lighting the ceiling.

Angelus stood by a cage that hung from the ceiling. Drusilla walked around it to him.

"Daddy, did she hurt you?"

"Nothin' too serious, my dear. She wouldn't have so much as laid a hand on me, if yer wayward boy hadn't shown up."

"He's a very bad dog. We should take away all his toys."

"Aye, that we will, my dear. That we will." She came over and laid her head against his chest. "And how is the young Master?" he asked.

Drusilla frowned. "He doesn't wanna play."

"Well, we'll see if we can't do something about that."

He walked over to the boy vampire and knelt before him.

"You failed," the Anointed One said.

"I offer penance," Angelus said, his head bowed to hide his smirk.

"Penance?! You should lay down your life," demanded one of the other vampires, "Our numbers are depleted, the feast of St. Vigeous has been ruined by your impatience!"

"What can I say, I've little more use for rituals in this life than I did in me last." He stood up. "Of course that isn't to say I don't believe in a bit o'the old ways. Like respecting yer elders."

With that he scooped the boy up by the waist and carried him like a sack of potatoes to the cage.

"No!" the boy yelled.

One of the other vampires started to help, but Drusilla stood in the way. Weakened as she was, the crazy vampiress's gaze was still enough to unnerve the others.

He threw the boy vamp in the cage, and locked the door. Then he started to pull on the chain, and hoist the cage up into the air.

"From now on, we're going to do things sensibly around here. None of this extraneous ritual crap. Just the hunt and the kill."

The cage moved into the sunlight and the boy screamed. Drusilla smiled at Angelus. He smiled back.

"And we're going to start with the Slayer. Come now Dru." He put his arm around her and she snuggled into his embrace, purring.

"We'll throw a great party, and watch them all burn," she said delightedly.

"That we will, my sweet. That we will."

*************

Buffy lay in her bed, unable to sleep. Her mind was in turmoil. She had seen Spike, she was sure she had. But then he'd disappeared, he hadn't even said a word to her.

She turned over in bed, and there, outside the window, was Spike, watching her.

She leapt up, opened the window, and threw herself at the vampire, embracing him. As she buried her face in his chest, she breathed in the familiar smell of cigarettes and leather. She'd never realized how safe that smell made her feel. His arms wrapped around her, and he held her tightly.

"It's you, it's really you. You're back." She pulled back from his hug, to look him in the eye. "You are back aren't you?"

He didn't say anything at first, he just cupped her cheek in his hand, and looked at her. His gaze was so intense, so full of love, that she felt she was trembling.

"You're cold," he said.

Then he pushed her back inside through the window, and followed her into the room. He wrapped his duster around her, and sat her on the bed.

"I'm here for a while. As long as Angelus is."

"So what? Same deal as before, stick around till the big bad dies, then take off?" Buffy was angry. She didn't want to be, she just wanted to be kissing him. But she was so scared of losing him again. None of this felt quite real.

"No, it's different this time. If Angelus dies, I can stay. Look, remember when I told you I had family to attend to?" Buffy nodded. "It's my son, Robin, you saw him tonight, Fellow with the crossbow."

"I see the resemblance, just didn't know that mysterious appearances and disappearances was genetic," she said sarcastically.

"His mother was NIkki. After Angelus killed her, I took care of him."

"And now he's here on a vengeance kick," she finished for him. "I didn't know Slayers ever had kids."

"I don't suppose most do. And yeah, I left here to go for his graduation. From Stanford," he added with pride.

It was a weird moment for Buffy. She'd always known he was older than her, and for most of that time she'd known that he was over a century. Finding out he had raised a kid who was older than her was much much different. It was almost like she was dating one of her friends' dads.

"About two months ago, he found out where Angelus was and took off. I've been following him ever since. Funny thing was neither of us knew Angelus was headed here."

"Two months? Talk about taking the scenic route."

"Vampires can't fly, too much risk of sunlight coming through the windows, so we usually take ships."

"So if I kill Angelus, you don't have to worry about Robin. And you can stay right?"

"Yeah, pet. Then I can stay."

Buffy was ecstatic. If all that was standing between her and her boyfriend was one vampire. . . Well she was the Slayer, and she'd killed the Master hadn't she? How tough could this Angelus be?

She shoved her fears and worries aside, and kissed him, using her tongue to take out the last of her aggression on him. It wasn't enough though. After so long a separation, she felt like she needed to be closer to him, and the way they were sitting on the bed didn't allow that, so she rolled onto her back, pulling him along with her.

One of his legs ended up between hers, and as he tried to shift his weight it rubbed against her sending sparks through her body. Instinctually she pressed herself against his leg, and he stopped to push it against her.

She broke off their kissing to moan as her hips lifted off the bed to press herself even harder against him. He gently put his hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, and his mouth moved to kiss her neck. Her hands moved to grip his shoulders while her mouth parted slightly to allow her tongue to lick his palm.

As the tip of her tongue traced the creases in his palm she could feel a growing hardness against her stomach. Suddenly Spike pulled back from her.

"I should be going," he said.

She nodded. Although part of her wanted nothing more than for him to stay, another part of her wasn't too sure about her self-control, and she knew she wasn't yet ready to go as far as those parts of her wanted to.

Just as he was about to leave, he stopped and turned. "Angelus isn't like other vampires. He won't fight you one on one. He's not even likely to fight you directly again, unless you force him to. Instead he'll go after the people close to you."

With that he was gone. Buffy sighed. Looked like things were pretty much back to normal.
Ince Mummy Girl by icemink
Chapter 18: Inca Mummy Girl

A/N nothing really to do with the episode Inca Mummy Girl, except for a brief talk about what it means to be chosen at the end. Also, I may not be able to update for a while. The other night my laptop broke. I only have this chapter to post becuase I was able to get at the copies my beta’s sent back to me.

"So you and Spike are back together?" Willow asked as they walked through the halls of Sunnydale high.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, who knows where he's been, what he's been doing, and with whom," Xander interjected, as he pushed open the doors to the library.

"Ah, it's good that you're all here," Giles said as he saw them. "First of all, Buffy, I should tell you that Spike is back."

"Way ahead of you, Giles. He came to see me last night, not to mention the whole,-‘showing up just in the nick of time’ trick he pulled during the fight last night," Buffy said.

"And did he talk to you about Angelus?" Giles asked.

"Just a brief, cryptic warning. You know, the usual. Something about how he won't fight me, he'll just go after my friends."

"And you wait till now to tell us this?" Xander asked.

"Sorry," Buffy said, looking sheepish.

"Yes, well. I hope now you'll start to take the threat of Angelus a little more seriously," said Giles. "I've been doing my research and Spike's right, he won't come at you directly. He'll try to goad you into making mistakes."

"So, no goading for me. Just call me cool as a cucumber Buffy."

"It's not that simple, Buffy," Giles insisted. "We all have to be on our guard, that goes for you two as well," he nodded toward Xander and Willow. "You'll need to train, Buffy. Be on your guard at all times, ever vigilant. Alway-"

"You know, Giles, you're right," Buffy interrupted. "I do need to train. In fact, I should go find Spike right now, and get the low down on this Angelus, and start our training again."

Before anyone could say a word, Buffy had taken off.

"Wow, did she just use our lives being in danger as an excuse to mack on the undead?" Xander asked, staring at the place she'd been.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy knocked on the door to Spike's old apartment, hoping he'd returned there. No one answered. She was just about to leave when the door swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Spike wearing only his jeans.

'Yum,' thought Buffy as she looked at shirtless Spike.

"Did I wake you?" she asked. "Sorry."

"No problem, luv," he said while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "I was going to get up in an hour or so anyway."

"Cause you're a vampire and have daylight issues, which makes my house warming gift really lame," said Buffy, looking down at the small potted cactus she was carrying. What had she been thinking?

He chuckled and stood aside to allow her in. He closed the door behind her, and much to her disappointment went to put on a shirt.

"So what brings you by? Shouldn't you be off doing. . . whatever it is you do?"

"Can't a girl just stop by to see her. . . friend?" Buffy had been all confidence when she'd left school. Now suddenly, she wasn't sure. Her relationship with Spike was far from normal.

"Friend?" said Spike moving in on her in a predatory manner. "I thought we were more than that."

Buffy squealed as he scooped her up, sat in the armchair in front of the TV, and pulled her onto his lap. She settled herself against him, resting her cheek against his chest. She really wished now that he hadn't put his shirt on.

Spike put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him.

"You do know I love you?" he asked.

Her breath caught. Sure, there had been hints, strong suggestions, but he'd never come out and said it so bluntly before.

"I love you too," she whispered.

Then his mouth was on hers. Eagerly, she opened herself to him as his tongue began to explore her mouth. He cradled her in his arms and held her tightly as he kissed her.

Everything melted away around them; her whole world became Spike. Time didn't so much stop, as go away. She ran her hands up his chest to his silken hair. Because he'd just gotten up, he hadn't slicked it back yet, and her fingers played in his curls.

After a while she became bolder, and her hands moved around her back, and under her own shirt. Her fingers found the clasp of her bra, and she undid it. Then she wriggled the straps down off her shoulders and tossed it to the floor.

She broke off the kissing to look in his eyes as she took one of his hands in her own, slipped it under her shirt, and around her breast. His thumb and index finger caught her nipple, and she gasped as he gave it a tiny squeeze. The sensation ran all the way from her nipple to the growing wetness between her legs.

"Buffy," he said reverently as he looked deep in her eyes.

It scared her a little to see how much love, how much want was reflected there. His other hand moved up under her shirt to begin teasing her other breast and she began kissing him again. This time the kisses were shorter because Buffy found herself needing to use her mouth to gasp and moan.

Without thinking, she shifted her position so that she was now straddling him. As she slid herself down in front of him, she felt the hard point in his jeans press up against her sex. Now it was his turn to moan.

She pulled her head back a little so that she could look at him, and experimentally ground herself against him. She was rewarded by a deeper moan and him calling her name.

They moved against each other as their eyes locked. The passion that now burned in those blue orbs sent shivers down her spine.

One of his hands moved around, down her back. The tips of his fingers slipped under the waist of her jeans, but made no attempt to go any further. Still, he used that hand to pull her close against him, as he began kissing her neck.

"Spike," she called out as she pushed herself harder and harder against him. Each time he rose up against her, the seam of her jeans pressed against her in the most wonderful way.

"Can I see you? Can I kiss you?" he asked as the hand that was fondling her breast squeezed it to make clear his meaning.

Part of her wanted to rip off her top, but another part of her was too embarrassed of what he might think of her. What if he saw her breasts and didn't like them. What if they weren't big enough? But what if she didn't? Would he think she was just a scared little girl?

She hated this part of their relationship. The part where she became aware how much older and more experienced he was than her. It sounded romantic, the idea of him being her first. But she hated not knowing what to do. Not knowing how to touch him.

"Maybe I want. . . you. . . to take your shirt off. . . and kiss. . . you? Did you ever think. . . about that?"

She wasn't sure how she managed to say so much and she was embarrassed the moment the words left her mouth.

He pulled back from her, and she was sure that all this nice kissing and. . . stuff, was about to end. But then she saw the smile on his face.

"Go ahead," he said in a husky voice.

Trying to look confidant - like she did this sort of thing all the time and it was nothing - she slipped her fingers under the hem of his shirt. The trembling in her fingers as she touched his bare stomach gave her away. But she couldn't stop. It was as if her hands were stuck to his skin. She could do nothing but run them up to his chest, lifting his shirt as she went.

Then it was off, and once again she was greeted to the sight of his chest. She noticed that his nipples were hard now, and without thinking she reached up to pinch one in the same way he had done to her.

His hips surged up underneath her as he drove himself against her and cried out, "Yes, Buffy, luv, kiss me there."

Urged on by his pleading, she moved her face closer to his other nipple. He moaned as her breath touched it. Hesitantly, she stuck out her tongue, and ran it over the top of his nipple.

"That's it, baby," he urged her on.

Underneath her own shirt, his thumb began to circle her own nipple. She took the hint and traced his with her tongue. She wasn't sure what excited her more. His response to her, or the idea of him doing the same to her.

Deciding she wanted the latter, she gave him one last sweep with her tongue, and pulled back, her hands above her head, a shy smile on her face.

He wasted no time pulling her shirt up off over her head. When his gaze fell on her bare breasts, evaluating her, she felt embarrassed again, and started to cross her arms to cover herself up.

He caught her wrists, though.

"Please don't. You're so beautiful. So perfect, nothing to be ashamed of."

There was just a hint of question in his voice. And she knew by the supportive look on his face, that he would understand if this was too much. If she wanted to stop.

The fact that he was so easy going about the whole thing, that he'd made it clear to her before he left that he didn't want to push things faster than she was comfortable with, made her embarrassed all over again. This time for trying to hide herself from him.

She moved her arms away and let Spike looked at her. He smiled at her encouragingly before taking in the sight of her. His hands slid down her arms, and around her shoulders. Then he bent his mouth to her chest, and began to circle her breast with kisses.

His tongue snaked out and he began to tease her nipple. She curled her fingers through his hair, and held him close to her. Then he sucked her nipple into his mouth.

Her legs tightened about him. She felt the barest brush of his teeth, and it set her whole body trembling in anticipation.

There was a single knock on the door, which opened suddenly as Robin stepped in, "Dad I-" he didn't finish. Instead Buffy could hear the door slam shut behind her.

She squealed in embarrassment as she scrambled off of Spike's lap. Her hands covered her chest, as she looked for her shirt. Thankfully, Robin had gone back into the hall.

Spike was cursing as he got up, grabbed his shirt, and headed out the door. Buffy found her shirt and bra. As she was putting them on, she could hear angry voices coming from the hallway, although she couldn't understand the words.

Despite wanting to crawl under the bed and die from humiliation, once she was dressed she opened the door and stepped outside.

As soon as he saw her, an angry Robin turned on her and said, "Shouldn't you be out killing vampires or something?"

Buffy had been ready to apologize, but Robin's harsh tone drove all thoughts of that from her head.

"If you haven't noticed, the sun's still out. We professionals don't consider it the best time for vampire hunting."

"Professional what?" Robin shot back at her.

Spike snarled; his features shifted to his demonic aspect, and he raised his hand. He never struck. Instead, both he and Robin froze. Gold eyes turned back into shame filled blue ones.

"I'm sorry," Spike whispered in a horse voice, "I'd never. . ." he took off down the hall toward the basement of the building, and the access to the sewers, leaving Buffy and Robin alone in the hall.

"Look, I'm sorry. It didn't occur to me that you were living with Spike. It should have, but. . . " Buffy tried to make peace.

"I'm not. I just came by to- It's none of your business." And uncomfortable silence stretched between the two of them. "He's old enough to be your father you know."

"Yeah, he's old enough to be my grandfather's father. It's weird, I know, and not just because of the age thing. But I love him, and I figure I should be in love while I can. I'm the Slayer, the one chosen not to have long term plans. If I don't live in the now, I don't really get a chance to live."

"And while you're making out with my dad, who's making sure everyone else has a chance to live?"

"Hey! I do my job. And it is MY job. What are you doing here anyway? Angelus killed your mother, I know that, and I'll take care of it. You have a life. I mean you just graduated from college right? Shouldn't you be looking for a job or something? Not hunting demons."

"You may be the Slayer, Buffy," he said her name with disdain. "But you don't know anything about me, or my mother. I will finish this thing with Angelus, even if-"

"It gets you killed?" Buffy asked. Then she softened her voice. "Look, you're right, I don't know what it's like to lose your mother, and I don't know you. But I do know Slayers. I know what it's like to be a teenage girl and be told that you're going to spend the rest of your life in graveyards fighting just to see one more day. I know what it's like to think you'll be lucky if you make it to eighteen. I know what it's like to have some British guy show up one day and tell you that you don't have a future anymore. And I bet your mom, whenever she looked at you, thought she had a future again, thought that you could have all the things she was never going to have. It's not fair to her, or to you that she died, but don't you think she'd rather have you live your life, then throw it away for revenge."

"You're wrong," he said, while backing away from her. "You don't know us. You don't know anything." He took off, leaving her all alone.
Reptile Boy (Part 1 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 19: Reptile Boy (Part 1 of 3)

A loud, obnoxious and obviously fake laugh rang down the halls of Sunnydale High.

"See?" Cordelia told her friend. "Dr. Debi says when a man is speaking you make serious eye contact, and you really, really listen, and you laugh at everything he says." She forced herself to laugh again.

Just then, Willow and Buffy came down the stairs and passed her.

"You dreamed about Spike again?" Willow asked.

"Third night in a row," Buffy confirmed.

"What did he do in the dream?"

"Stuff," Buffy answered coyly.

Willow smiled widely. "Oh! Stuff!" Buffy smiled back. "Was it one of those vivid dreams where you could feel his lips and smell his hair?"

"It had surround sound. I'm just thinking about him so much lately. We've been keeping kind of formal, since my run in with Robin."

"I guess it must be weird for him, but you two are so right for each other. Except for the, uh. . ."

"Vampire thing," Buffy volunteered.

"That doesn't make him a bad person. Necessarily."

"It just makes things confusing."

"What's confusing?" Xander asked them as he exited his class and saw them.

"My life, but what else is new?" Buffy said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

School had just ended for the day, and Buffy was sitting on the railing of the stairs next to the street. Xander and Willow walked toward her talking.

"Boy, what a long day," Xander said.

"And you skipped three classes," Willow pointed out.

"Yeah, and of course, THEY flew by. Buffy!" he greeted her.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework in the library?" Willow asked.

"I'm dawdling," she said as she took Xander's arm. "With my friends."

"Works for me," Xander said.

Cordelia walked by and bumped into Willow. She continued down the stairs without so much as an acknowledgment.

"You okay?" Buffy asked Willow.

"Jeez," was all Willow said.

They all watched Cordelia as she approached a black BMW with tinted windows that had pulled up. Deciding as one that worrying about Cordelia's lack of manners was a waste of time, they went about with their dawdling.

"Okay, so tonight," Xander continued. "Channel fifty-nine, Indian TV, sex, lies, incomprehensible story lines. I'll bring the betel nuts."

Suddenly Cordelia came back toward them, and reached for Buffy's arm. "Come on. Richard and his fraternity brother wanna meet you."

"Well, I don't really wanna meet any fraternity boys," Buffy said looking at the two college-age guys that Cordelia had been talking to.

Cordelia pulled her toward them, "And if there was a God, don't you think he'd keep it that way?"

"Uh, I-I believe we were dawdling here!" Xander said annoyed by the interruption.

Cordelia continued to pull Buffy up toward the car.

"Hi, sweetheart," the driver said. "I'm Richard. And you are?"

"SO not interested," Buffy said as she tried to leave.

Cordelia grabbed Buffy's hand. "Heh, she's such a little comedienne."

"What, she likes to play hard to get?" asked the driver.

"No, Richard. I think you're playing easy to resist," his friend said.

Buffy started to leave again, but Richard's friend headed her off. "Ah, feel free to ignore him. I do all the time." Buffy stopped to let him speak. "I'm Tom Warner. I'm a senior at Crestwood College, and I. . . and I just feel like a complete dolt meeting you this way, so. . ." He crossed his arms. "Here I stand in all my doltishness."

"I'm Buffy Summers," she introduced. It couldn't hurt to be nice to him, since he didn't seem to be as much a jerk as his friend Richard. Besides, he was kind of cute.

"Oh, nice to meet you. Are you a senior here?"

"Junior."

"Oh, me, too. Except that I'm a senior and I'm in college. So we have that in common, and. . . I major in history."

"Mm. History stumps me. I have a hard enough time remembering what happened last week."

"No, nothin' happened last week, don't worry, I was there. So, uh, my friend invited your friend to a party we're having this weekend."

Behind them they could hear Cordelia doing her fake laugh loudly for Richard.

"You know," Tom said, looking over at Richard and Cordelia. "Actually he's not even really my friend. I only joined the fraternity because my father and grandpa were in it before me. Y'know, it meant a lot to them. Oh, I know, I talk too much anyway. They're really dull parties full of really dull people, so. . . would you like to come and save me from a really dull fate?"

"Oh, I wish I could, but I'm sort of involved."

He really was kind of charming. But he wasn't Spike.

"Well, sure, of course you are. Well, thanks for letting me ramble," Tom said.

"Y'know, people underestimate the value of a good ramble."

Out of no where Giles suddenly called her name. "Buffy!"

She turned to look and saw him pointing at his watch and walk off to the library.

"Oh, I gotta go," Buffy reluctantly said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Oh. Same here," he said as she grabbed her bag and ran off to the library.

He really was a nice guy. Not to mention normal. For a moment Buffy wished she wasn't involved with Spike, so that she could be a little more normal. But only a moment. The thought of Spike kissing and touching her drove those thoughts away. Besides, Tom wasn't half the hottie that Spike was.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy was strolling through the cemetery, keeping a careful watch. She spotted a bracelet on the ground and bent down to pick it up. Spike suddenly appeared behind her.

"There's blood on it," he said matter of factly.

Startled she got up and faced him.

"Hi. It's nice to. . . Blood?"

"I can smell it."

"Oh." She examined it more closely. "It's pretty thin. It probably belonged to a girl."

"Probably."

"So anyway, I'm really sorry about the other night," Buffy said, changing the subject away from blood and death.

"It's not your fault, Robin's just been. . ." Spike paused, searching for a way to explain the relationship between him and his son. "It didn't used to be like this. We always got along, we were close. Even when he was a . . . until he went to college."

"But now he's got a major independant streak?"

Spike snorted as if he didn't quite agree, but couldn't quite figure out how to refute her statement.

"Look, I know why you don't want him out hunting vampires, but. . . it must be hard. Knowing the thing that killed your mom is still out there, still killing."

"He's going to get himself killed."

"No, he's not. Cause I'm going to get this Angelus guy first. If only he'd I don't know, show up for his staking."

"Angelus is patient. He'll show when he's ready, and not a moment before."

"Patient bad guys. Where's the fun in that?" Buffy sighed.
Reptile Boy (Part 2 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 20 Reptile Boy (Part 2 of 3)

Buffy was gathering her stuff together after class when Cordelia came into the room.

"Buffy! Did you lose weight? And your hair... All right, I respect you too much to be dishonest. The hair's a little... Well, that really isn't the point here, is it? The Zeta Kappas have to have a certain balance at their party, and Richard explained it all to me, but I was so busy really listening that I didn't hear much. Anyway, the deal is they need you to go. And, if you don't go, I can't. And I'm talking about Richard Anderson, okay? As in Anderson Farms, Anderson Aeronautics," she was becoming really excited. "And Anderson Cosmetics." She sobbed. "Well, you see why I HAVE to go. Buffy, these men are rich. And I am NOT being shallow. Think of all the poor people I could help with all my money!"

"Cordelia, I can't go. I have duty responsibility, a boyfriend. . ."

"So? I won't tell anyone you were out in public with me."

"Gee, thanks. Look, I'd like to, well actually I wouldn't."

"But-"

"No."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Giles came out of his office into the main part of the library carrying a sword behind his back and looked around. Seeing there was no one there he started practicing a few thrusts to his front and back. He spun around and thrust again.

"Will you be ready if a vampire's behind you?" He said to an imaginary Buffy.

He thrust the sword behind him, pretending he just jabbed one. He raised the sword above his head to stab his pretend fallen victim. He didn't see Buffy, Willow and Xander come in through the door until he heard it close.

Upon noticing them, he tried to make it look like he hadn't been doing anything.

"I didn't see you three... creeping about."

He tossed the sword through the open cage door and kicked the door shut.

"Um, how did it go last night?" Giles asked Buffy.

"Found this," she said, handing him the bracelet.

Giles peered at the inscription. "E-N-T."

"I've seen something like that before," Willow said, scrunching her brow in thought.

"It's broken in two. I don't know what the rest of the letters might have spelled. And there's blood on it," Buffy pointed out.

"Uh, I didn't see any," Giles said, looking closer.

"Spike showed up. He could smell it."

"The blood?" said Xander making his gross face. "There's a guy you wanna party with."

"Blood," Giles commented absentmindedly.

"In Sunnydale. What a surprise," said Willow.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," suggested Xander. "She should probably make the rounds again tonight, and we should try to figure out who that bracelet belongs to."

"Yes, good idea," Giles agreed. "Yes. She'll patrol, and, and we'll reconvene..."

"Uh, hello? She's standing right here? And what if I weren't available?" Buffy said, grabbing the others attention.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Giles, asked confused.

"Well, for instance. . . Cordelia invited me to a frat party, what if I wanted to go?"

"Buffy, I think this is more important than a college party," Giles said annoyed.

"That's not the point. The point is you assume that I have nothing to do. That I have no life."

"You're the Slayer, which comes with-"

"Certain responsibilities. I know Giles, I just wish, I wish that maybe you would entertain the idea that I might have something better to do than spend my night in graveyards. "

"Maybe you could get Spike to help, after all he was the one who knew about the blood," suggested Willow, trying to mollify her friend.

Buffy jumped on the suggestion at once. "Good idea. I'll see what Spike knows, you guys research the bracelet. Bye," she said as she went out the door of the library.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy forced herself to walk slowly to Spike's apartment. It was still light out, so he probably wouldn't be up, and she felt bad about waking him. She'd even stopped by a convenience store on the way, to satisfy her sweet tooth by grabbing a lollipop. But that hadn't killed much time, or done anything for her Spike jones.

Finally, she stood in front of his door, unsure of what to do. She didn't want him to start getting annoyed at her for constantly waking him up. On the other hand, if he was sleeping, she might catch him shirtless again. Not that there was anything wrong with dressed Spike, just meant she could undress him.

Buffy blushed at her own thoughts and the spreading dampness between her legs. She realized that she kind of wanted to undress him all the way. She sucked hard on her lollipop and tried to divert her curious mind away from thoughts of naked Spike.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"If we hit them during the day, you, me, the Slayer-"

"I turn into a pile of ash, remember, I'm a vampire too," Spike told Robin impatiently.

To Spike's dismay Robin was only getting more and more stubborn in his desire to kill Angelus. Not that Spike wouldn't love to see Angelus on the end of something wooden and pointy. However, if Angelus found out about Robin, god only knew what he'd do to him, just to hurt Spike.

Now Robin had found the old factory where Angelus was staying and wanted to assault it. Even if Angelus did have a good twenty or so minions around. Not to mention the possibility that he'd brought Drusilla with him.

He should have kept a closer eye on Robin the other night, but instead he's gone to see Buffy. It had been about a week since Robin had walked in on them, and he hadn't seen her since. It had been driving him nuts.

Suddenly Spike noticed a second heart beat, just outside his apartment door. Then the scent hit him, Buffy, and not just Buffy. A Buffy who was very eager to see him. On the one hand, he was delighted that she was so close, on the other he didn't want there to be another confrontation with Robin.

Even so, he opened the door, idly wondering why she was just standing there. As he opened the door, she jumped back startled. The moment he saw her, he felt his cock start to harden. Not only did she smell absolutely delicious, but she was sucking on a lollipop, her cheeks caved in.

'Oh, god,' he thought. 'Was she thinking about. . . Did she come here to. . ?' he wouldn't let himself complete that thought, knowing he'd be completely lost if he did.

Swallowing hard he said, "Come on in, pet."

She took the lollipop out to smile at him. Then she saw Robin and frowned.

"Hey," she said as she came in. Then her tongue came out to lick the base of her lollipop.

Spike quickly moved aside to let her in, and to lean against the armchair so as to hide his growing erection. Not even Robin's presence could interfere with the direction his blood was flowing.

"You come by here rather often I see," Robin said aggressively.

"Well, yeah, Spike and I work and train together and stuff." She put the lollipop back in her mouth and sucked it in and out.

Spike didn't think he could take much more. Then he realized that he wasn't the only one being effected by Buffy's show. Robin's scent told him that his son's mind was moving along similar lines.

Spike almost leapt across the room to toss Robin out.

'How dare he think of MY Buffy that way,' Spike thought. He managed to keep his temper under control. Instead he opened the door.

"Work which doesn't concern you," he said through gritted teeth. Both Buffy and Robin were looking at him strangely. "Out!"

To his surprise Robin didn't argue, just grabbed his coat and left. Spike slammed the door behind him, and then turned on Buffy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, snatching the lollipop away from her.

"What? Do I get a lecture on tooth decay now, DAD?" Buffy said, but under her anger Spike could hear the hurt, and she looked almost as if she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry, pet, I didn't mean to yell at you," he said softening.

"So why don't you get rid of the bumpies, then?" Buffy asked softly.

Surprised, Spike suddenly realized that he must have vamped when he yelled at Robin. He couldn't remember the last time he'd unintentionally vamped. So much for self control. He concentrated until his face reverted back.

"What did I do anyway? And what's your problem with my sugar addiction?" she asked, trying to cover her hurt with a joke.

He laughed, not at her, but at himself. He so often forgot how young and innocent she was. He gave her back her sweet.

"Nothing. You didn't do anything. It's me. Forget about it."

"Like that's going to happen. Tell me. I want, correction, I need to know what got you so upset that you went all grr," Buffy insisted. "Were you fighting with Robin again?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, it was Robin. He. . . Never knew anyone I loved could piss me off so much."

"Well, I know just the thing. Patrolling. If we're lucky we'll find some vamps to beat up. Besides, I told Giles I'd look for more clues about that necklace."

"Sun won't be down for another half hour. We'll have to find some way to occupy ourselves," he said, moving closer to her.

She ran one hand up his chest and behind his neck, kissing him gently on the lips. Then she realized that she was still holding the lollipop.

"What a choice," she joked. "Sugar or Spike."

She looked around for somewhere to dispose of the candy, but Spike stopped her.

"Why not have both?" he asked as he picked her up and carried her over to the armchair.

He sat down settling Buffy into his lap. Then he began to kiss her neck and caress her back.

"Go ahead love," he encouraged looking at the lollipop.

She put it in her mouth and sucked it for a second. Then she took it back out and looked at him.

"This is silly. Wouldn't you rather have me kissing you instead of sucking on. . ." comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh."

"Does it bother you?" he asked cautiously. He had no idea how she would react to his thoughts.

"No, I mean I never thought of. . . Does that mean you want me to. . ?"

"Not now, you're not ready, I can tell. I don't want you doing anything you're not comfortable with. But later, yeah. That would be. . . nice."

"Nice?" she giggled. "Well, in the mean time I guess I should just take advantage of being allowed to indulge all my desires." She blushed at her own words, but she snuggled more into his lap allowing his erection to dig into her buttocks.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and began nuzzling her again as she went back to sucking on her treat.

Just as Buffy began licking the base of the sucker again, the phone rang.

"Bollocks!" cursed Spike.

"Think it's important?" Buffy asked, equally annoyed.

"Well, it's either about switching my long distance service or someone's life is in peril. No one really calls me about much else."

"If it's the phone company, someone's life may still be in danger," Buffy teased as she got up.

He smiled at her, and got up to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Spike. It's Giles. Willow and I found out something interesting about that bracelet you and Buffy found. The girl it belonged to disappeared, and other girls have been disappearing every year at the same time for quite some time now. Most likely it's some sort of anniversary for the killer. We should examine the place where you found it for more clues."

"Right, well, that'll have to wait a bit, seeing how it's still bright and sunny out, but Buffy and I can meet you at the cemetery once the sun is down."

"Yes, right. We'll see you then."

Spike hung up the phone and turned back to Buffy.

"So where were we?" he asked.
Reptile Boy (Part 3 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 21 Reptile Boy (Part 3 of 3)

A/N Thanks to everyone who's written reviews. It was good to know that people liked the lollipop, also made me realized something I hadn't explained yet. Thanks again.

"This is the place," Buffy announced to the others.

They spread out around the area where Buffy had found the necklace, looking for clues.

"Those super vampire senses of yours picking anything up?" asked Xander as his flashlight traced the cemetery lawn.

"Nothing but some god awful racket from some party," Spike said.

"It's probably the fraternity house, the college is just over the south wall," Willow said.

"The fraternity house?" Buffy asked, her eyes going wide. "You mean the one with the party that Cordelia invited me to?"

Willow gulped. "Yeah, that one."

"And if history has taught us anything," Xander said authoritatively, "It's that monster's always try and eat Cordelia."

"Except for the praying-mantis lady," said Willow.

"Or the Mummy," added Buffy.

"Right, okay, so monsters go after me too."

"And there was the big robot that dug Willow," Buffy continued.

"And the Master was always after Buffy," Willow went on.

"Alright already!" said Xander. "But we're all here and safe. So therefore. . ."

"Cordelia is in mortal peril," concluded Giles.

"You were going to a frat party?" Spike said accusingly to Buffy.

"I was invited, by a cute college guy I might add," Buffy said proudly, "But I didn't go," she added hurriedly, seeing the look on Spike's face.

"But you thought about it. Buffy do you know why college guys ask out high school girls?"

"If we don't hurry, I think Cordelia's going to find out," Giles interrupted.

They made their way out of the cemetery to the frat house. In front was a red sports care with a 'QUEEN C' license plate.

"Okay, since I was invited anyway, I'll go in and look around," Buffy told the others. "You guys look around for anything suspicious."

"You're not going in there alone." Spike said firmly.

"And you don't look like you belong at a frat party. I'll be fine, I'm the Slayer, they're college guys, what are they going to do to me?"

Before Spike could protest anymore, Buffy slipped away and made her way into the party.

Inside everything looked normal. But Buffy didn't see Cordelia anywhere. Just when she was about to start some serious snooping, she ran into Tom, the guy who'd asked her out earlier.

"Hey, you made it," he said.

"Yeah, my plans changed," she said, smiling. He handed her a drink, and without thinking she took it, and took a sip. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was sweet and fruity and she liked it. "So have you seen Cordelia? I was going to say hi but I don't see her anywhere."

"Why don't you finish your drink, and I'll go find her," Tom said helpfully. "I think she went upstairs. Be right back."

Buffy smiled and took another sip. She'd really have to find out what this drink was.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Her head still spinning, Buffy came to unsure of what had happened. As she opened her eyes, she realized that she was underground and chained to a wall. Next to her was Cordelia and another girl. Probably the one the bracelet had belonged to.

As Buffy watched, the guy named Richard took a sword and walked behind a kneeling man. Richard began to carve symbol on the man's back. Buffy couldn't be sure from her position, but she thought the kneeling man was Tom.

"Buffy? Where are we?" Cordelia asked.

"In the basement, far as I can tell."

"What's happening? What did they do to us?"

"I think they drugged us. Me at least. I'm guessing you didn't just let them chain you to a wall either."

"Why? What are they gonna do to us?"

"I don't know."

Cordelia began to cry. "I wanna go home."

"No one's going home," said the other girl, her voice filled with hopelesness. "Ever. Look, one of them's different than the others," she said indicating the kneeling man. "Nicer."

"Tom," Buffy said under her breath.

Richard finished carving the new symbol. The kneeling man got up and turned to the girls. It was Tom. Two of the other frat boys helped him put on a matching brown robe.

"He's the one to watch out for," whispered the girl.

Buffy shook her chains to test them and looked up to where they were anchored. Tom looked at her.

"She's last," he said.

"Last? For what?" asked the panicked Cordelia.

Tom walked over to a well in the center of the room and picked up a bag.

"Who's first?! Answer me! Who's first?!" Cordelia insisted, growing more and more hysterical.

Tom let three stones drop out of the bag and into his hand.

"Three stones," Buffy said looking at the other girls. "Three of us."

"Buffy. . ." begged Cordelia.

Buffy tried to reassure her. "Stay calm. We'll get outta this."

Tom and the others began some long boring ritual, but Buffy's attention was elsewhere. She was trying to figure out how to break free of her chains.

"There's something down there and he's gonna throw us down there with it," Cordelia said, nodding toward the well in the center of the room. It seemed to be the center of their ritual.

"I don't think so," reasoned Buffy.

"No?" Cordelia grasped onto the slim bit of hope. "Well, that's good! That, that's. . ."

"I don't think we go to it. I think it comes to us." Buffy finished.

Cordelia moaned. "Ooohhhhhhh! No!"

Tom looked up from the well and suddenly a giant snake-man rose out of it.

Cordelia screamed, "Oh, my God!"

Buffy started to yank harder on her chains, desperate to rip them from the ceiling.

"C'mon, Buffy! Oh, my God! Oh, c'mon! Oh!" Cordelia encouraged her.

The snake-man remained stationary and spreads its arms.

"For he shall rise from the depths, and we shall tremble before him," Tom intoned. "He who is the source of all we inherit and all we possess. Machida."

"Machida," chanted the others.

Tom continued the incantation, "And if he is pleased with our offerings, then our fortune shall increase."

"Machida. Let our fortunes increase."

"And on the tenth day of the tenth month he shall be enhungered. And we shall feed him," finished Tom.

Machida gazed over at the girls.

"Feed him?" whined Cordelia.

Machida rose up before her.

"Feed him?!" Cordelia said with renewed panic. "Oh, no!"

Machida closed in on Cordelia and she screamed.

"Hey, reptile boy!" yelled Buffy, trying to distract him.

"No woman speaks to him!" said an outraged Tom.

"You don't want her," Buffy continued ignoring Tom. "Look at her. She's all skin and bones. Half an hour later you'll be hungry."

Tom approached Buffy. "I told you to shut up!" He backhanded her and held up his sword. "You speak again and I'll cut your throat."

Then two brothers unchained Cordelia and held her. From upstairs there was a sudden crashing sound as if a fight was going on.

Tom looked up, "Something's going on upstairs. Go. Go!"

Several of the frat boys rushed upstairs to see what was going on. Buffy looked up at her chains again, then back at Machida.

"Feed, Dark Lord!" Tom commanded.

Machida rose above Cordelia, then moved in to take her from the brothers' grip. She screamed loudly and struggled. Buffy yanked hard at her chains one last time, and they finally broke loose from the ceiling. She quickly stepped over to Machida and punched him in the face. He pulled back away from them, holding the side of his face. Buffy started to fight with the brothers. Tom swung at her with his sword.

The basement door flew open, and Spike hurtled down the stairs.

"You bitch! I'll serve you to him in pieces." Tom yelled, not having seen Spike appear.

Spike tackled him to the ground, allowing Buffy to turn her attention to the giant snake about to eat Cordelia. She grabbed the sword Tom dropped when Spike knocked him over. Machida was so intent of Cordelia, he didn't even see Buffy charge him with the sword until it was too late and the sword was imbedded in his chest.

The snake-man screamed and then dove down the well it had come from.

"You did it!" Cordelia yelled happily. "You saved us!" she hugged Spike tightly. "I've never been so happy to see anyone in my whole..." she let go and turned to the others, who were making their way down the basement stairs. "You guys. I just... hate you guys! The weirdest things always happen when
you're around!" Then Cordelia turned on Tom. "And you! You're going to jail for fifteen thousand years!"

Once he was free of Cordelia's grip, Spike came over to help Buffy take off her chains.

"How'd you end up in these?" he asked.

"I think they drugged me."

Spike looked at her concerned. Then he sniffed her breath.

"You've been drinking!" he reprimanded.

"No I haven't," she insisted indignantly. "I mean I drank something, with the drugs, but it was sweat and fruity, I didn't have a beer or anything."

"Buffy, are you completely daft? All that sugar and sweetness is to hide the taste of the alcohol. I can't believe you just took a drink from someone without knowing what it was. You and your bloody sweet tooth."

"I thought you liked my sweet tooth," she said softly so only he could hear.

"Yeah. . . well. . . Let's just get you out of here okay?" he said more gently as he put his arm around her.

Still, Buffy had a feeling more lectures were going to follow, and there would be no more snuggling tonight.
Halloween (Part 1 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 22 Halloween (Part 1 of 3)

"Look out!" Buffy yelled as she threw a stake at the vampire coming up behind Robin.

Robin ducked and the stake hit it's mark, dusting the vampire instantly. Buffy, Spike, and Robin all looked around the crypt to see if that was the last of the vampires who had been nesting there.

Spike had not been happy about brining Robin along on this expedition, but Buffy had reasoned that if he was fighting some vampires, maybe it would keep him from doing something stupid and charging in after Angelus. The truth be told, Robin had a lot more business fighting vampires than Xander or Willow did. He was a good fighter. Buffy had to give him that.

"I just don't get why vampires choose to live in places like this," Buffy said, looking around at the cobwebs and the sarcophagi.

"I don't know, a few candles, clean up the mess a bit, maybe bring in a tele, wouldn't be so bad," Spike said admiring one of the gargoyles.

"You're kidding, right?" Buffy asked.

"What I don't get is how that little tomb up top opens up into this big a space. And I'd swear I didn't see those windows outside," commented Robin. "Speaking of. . ." Robin nodded toward a trap door that led to a lower level.

The three of them gathered around it. Spike opened it, and Buffy swept her flashlight around the dim space below. Not seeing an immediate ambush, she carefully started down the stairs. Spike and Robin followed close behind. They spread out and searched the lower cavern.

"See, here you go," said Spike. "Bet you anything this leads to the sewers. Handy that." He stood at the mouth of a tunnel.

"I so hope you're not thinking of moving," was all Buffy could say.

It looked like all the vampires had been in the upper level. The crypt was now deserted.

"No worries, pet. I've paid my rent through the rest of the year. A place like this. It'll have new tenants before long."

Buffy wasn't sure if Spike was teasing her, or if he really did think the crypt was a nice place to live. Vampires were, after all, just strange.

"Why would you want to chain your prisoners to the bed? Doesn't that make it hard to sleep?" Buffy asked as she looked at the large bed with thick chains dangling from the headboard.

The two men exchanged a look. Spike came over to her and put his arm around her.

He whispered in her ear, "The chains aren't for prisoners, luv."

Buffy could feel her face turning scarlet.

"And on that note, I think I'll be going. We seem to have cleaned this place out," said an equally embarrassed Robin who quickly made his exit.

"God, you must think I'm so. . ." Buffy couldn't seem to find a word that described her.

"Cute?" suggested Spike. "Look, luv, don't be embarrassed. I think it's. . . endearing." He paused to take her face in his hands and tilt it up so that she was looking him in the eye. "I love you. It wouldn't matter to me if you were more experienced, but since you're not. . ." He smiled at her. "Well, luv. The thing about experience is, you can always get it. And I thought you always liked our. . . training sessions."

"Well, you are a good teacher," she said, kissing him lightly. "Not to um, ruin the mood, but can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, pet."

"It's just, I mean I'm pretty sure, but I don't know. That is. . . Robin's not really your son is he?"

"No, vampires can't have children. Fact is, his mom was already a couple months along when I first met her. His real father, well he was never interested, never around. Robin always called me dad, and when Nikki died, well. . . he was, he is my son. You know?"

Buffy smiled and nodded.

"Anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"Actually, yes. See, it's going to be Halloween in a few days and-"

"No worries, pet. All the demons and vampires stay in that night."

"I know, Giles told me. That's why I was wondering. . . Since I don't have to be the Slayer that night. . . maybe we could, you know. . ." She took a deep breath then quickly finished, "Go on a date?"

"I'd love to," he said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy looked over a shelf of plastic pumpkins in the costume shop. Suddenly the pumpkin lit up and made a screaming sound. Quickly she put it back down as Willow approached her holding a bag.

"What'd you get?" Buffy asked her.

"A time-honored classic," said Willow as she held up a ghost costume.

"Okay, Will, can I give you a little friendly advice?"

"It's not spooky enough?"

"It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween."

Willow smiled. "Free candy?"

"It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions."

"Oh, I don't get wild," said a nervous Willow. "Wild on me equals spaz."

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you."

"Hey, Xander," Willow eagerly greeted her other friend, glad to get away from the topic of her being wild and sexy. "What'd you get?"

He pulled a toy military rifle out of his bag and held it up for Willow to see.

"That's not a costume," Buffy pointed out.

Xander gave Buffy a look, then turned to Willow. "I got fatigues from an Army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King, baby!"

He smiled at Willow. She smiled back.

Buffy, however, had completely forgotten about her two friends, distracted by a costume. Slowly she walked over to it. It was a long blue dress with a hoop skirt. Over the top of the dress was a white apron. On top of the mannequin rested a straw bonnet that tied under the chin with a big blue satin ribbon. Next to it was a shepherd's crook, which also had a blue ribbon tied around it.

The shepherdess costume was beautiful, and charming, with a low enough neckline to keep it from being childish.

She reached out to touch the frilly lace on the apron. "Look at this."

"It's amazing," agreed Willow.

"Too bulky. I prefer my women in spandex," Xander commented.

The shop owner noticed them looking and came over to them.

"Please, let me," he said in a British accent, taking the dress off of the dressmaker's mannequin.

"Oh, i-it's..." Buffy didn't know how to describe it.

"Magnificent," the shopkeeper finished. "Yes, I know. There." He held it up in front of Buffy so she could see herself in the mirror. "What a pastoral dream you make. I think we found a match. Don't you?"

Buffy looked apologetically at the shopkeeper. "Oh, uh, I-I'm sorry. There's no way I could ever afford this."

"Oh, nonsense," he said. "I feel quite moved to make you a deal you can't refuse."

She looked back into the mirror, took the dress, smiled dreamily as she held it up to her chin, and wondered what Spike would think when he saw her.
Halloween (Part 2 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 23 Halloween (Part 2 of 3)

"What did Mrs. Davis give you?" Buffy asked the kids she had been forced by Principle Snyder to escort as they went Trick-or-Treating.

They all pulled out toothbrushes.

"She must be stopped. Let's hit one more house." She got from where she'd knelt down to examine the kids loot. Her tight sausage curls bounced as she did so. "We still have a few more minutes before I need to get you back."

As the children went to ring the doorbell of the last house, a wind began to blow. Buffy looked up; something wasn't quite right. But both Giles and Spike had told her nothing happened on Halloween, so she didn't worry too much about it. Besides, she had more important things to worry about, like meeting Spike at her house for their date.

They were going to the Bronze and after th. . .

She blinked her eyes. Where was she? She'd never seen houses like these before. And strange box like things sat on wheels all along the street.

She had only a moment to wonder about all these things before a small red devil leapt out at her. She screamed and ran down the street, away from the horrible monster. What was going on? How had she gotten here? And where were her sheep?

Suddenly a strangely dressed girl stepped out in front of her. The girl had bright red hair and her clothes - well, they were barley clothes at all. Bo Peep wondered how she could go out in public like that.

"Buffy! Are you okay?" the woman asked.

Before she could reply, two more monsters came roaring toward them.

A young man lifted a strange looking gun to his shoulder and took aim.

"This could be a situation," said the calm, collected young man.

He too was dressed strangely, but his manner suggested that he was some sort of solider. He was also very good-looking thought Bo Peep.

"Buffy, what do we do?" the red-head asked. She seemed to be addressing Bo Peep, but what sort of silly name was Buffy?

The young man fired off several rounds from his strange gun. All without reloading! Then he lowered the rifle and looked back at the two girls.

"Buffy, are you alright?" the girl asked her.

"What?" was all she could think of to say.

"Are you hurt?" the young man asked.

"Buffy, are you hurt?" asked the girl getting more and more concerned.

"Buffy?" she asked. "I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Bo Peep. I don't suppose you've seen any sheep around here, have you?"

The crazy girl turned to the soldier, "She's not Buffy.'

"Who's Buffy?" he asked.

"Oh, this is fun," complained the girl.

"Who are you?" Bo Peep asked.

"We're friends," the girl told her.

"Friends of whom? Everything is strange! How did I come to be here?" Bo Peep asked them.

The girl gave her a week smile, then asked the soldier, "How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayer?"

"What's a Slayer?" he asked.

A monster came around the tree behind Bo Peep and roared, fangs bared and claws raised to attack. Bo Peep screamed at the top of her lungs, and whacked it with her crook knocking it down and out.

"Not bad," appraised the soldier. "I suggest we get inside before we come across anything else."

"I agree. These things are much tougher than wolves; who knows what they are doing to my sheep."

"Come on," the strange girl said. "I know a place. A friend's."

The girl led them to one of the strange houses. Along the way she introduced herself as Willow, and she claimed that the soldier was Xander, although he didn't seem to think that was his name. Not that he offered another.

When they got to the house the soldier, Xander, threw the door open and looked inside, pointing his gun into all the corners.

"All clear!" he called out to them.

Willow walked in. "Hello? Mrs. Summers?" No one answered. "Good, she's gone."

Xander closed the door.

Bo Peep smiled at him and walked over to him.

"I want to thank you for being so brave. I don't know what I would have done if. . ." coyly she let the sentence trail off.

"No problem, ma'am. Just doing my job."

Suddenly there was a banging at the front door. Xander went to investigate, and the two girls followed.

"Don't open it!" screamed Willow.

"Could be a civilian," he said.

"Or a mini demon," Willow insisted.

"Oh! Maybe it's one of my sheep." The other two looked at her skeptically. "Well, it could be. You'd be surprised how often they find their way back on their own."

Xander was scanning the outside through one of the small windows in the door. He jerked back just as a monster punched through the glass and reached for him. It pulled its hand back as Xander raised his rifle.

"Not a civilian!" screamed Willow.

"Affirmative!" agreed Xander as he took aim through the broken window.

"Hey! What did we say?!" shouted Willow.

Xander let loose a volley of bullets. Willow winced at the noise. Bo Peep covered her ears. Xander rolled away from the door when he finished his burst.

"Big noise scare monster, remember?" he said.

"Got it," Willow agreed.

Outside a woman screamed. Xander looked back out the window.

"Damn it!" he yelled.

He opened the door and went out to rescue the stranger, pulling the door closed behind him. Moments later he came back, pulling in another oddly dressed girl by the arm. This one at least was covered from head to toe, but her clothing was skin tight, and covered with strange spots. On her head she wore something that appeared to be animal ears.

"Cordelia!" called Willow. Evidently she knew her.

"Wait a... What's going on?" Cordelia demanded.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of," explained Willow.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?" responded Cordelia in a condescending tone of voice.

"You know us?" asked a surprised Willow.

"Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?" Cordelia asked.

"A lot's going on," Willow said.

"No kidding," Cordelia began. "I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume!" She showed them a torn sleeve. "Do you really think that Party Town's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

Xander took his shirt off and put it around her shoulders. Bo Peep was horribly jealous. He hadn't given her his shirt. Of course she was dressed and this Cordelia girl wasn't.

"Here," he said.

"Thanks," Cordelia replied insincerely.

"Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off," suggested Willow.

"Let me know if you see any of my sheep while you are out there."

Cordelia looked at her strangely. "What's that riff?"

"I-it's like amnesia, okay?" Willow explained. "They don't know who they are. Just sit tight."

"Who died and made her the boss?" asked Cordelia.

Willow walked straight through the wall behind Cordelia. Bo Peep couldn't believe her eyes.

Xander, however, set to work immediately barricading the door. He upturned a table and set it against the window.

He pointed to Cordelia. "You! Check upstairs. Make sure everything's locked up."

"Do you think my sheep will be all right?" she worried.

"Lady, I'm sure they're fine. Now help me with. . ." he bent down to pick a picture up off the floor. "Whoa!"

Bo Peep peered at it over his shoulder. It appeared to be her, Xander and Willow.

"She must be right. We must have some kind of amnesia," the soldier said.

"I don't think so. I don't even know what that is, so how could I have it."

"It's memory loss," explained Xander.

"I remember things just fine," said Bo Peep.

"Okay, answer me this then: Where are your sheep?"

He had her there. She had no idea what had become of them.

Just then a man all in black entered from the back of the house. He might have been good looking, thought Bo Peep, if his hair hadn't been almost white. Not that he looked like he was all that old.

"Thanks god!" the stranger said. "You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there."

Both Bo Peep and Xander looked at the new comer in confusion.

"Who are you?" they asked in unison.

"Spike, you know, we had a date tonight. . ." said the man in black.

"I don't think so. You look very strange. I'm much more likely to be dating the soldier here," Bo Peep told him.

"Him?" he cried with outrage.

"Do you live here?" interrupted Xander.

"No, and you know that. Buffy, what the devil is going on here?"

At the moment Cordelia came back in. "They don't know who they are," she explained. "Everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing." She smiled flirtatiously with the man in black. "How are you?"

The lights went out.

Xander addressed the newcomer. "You take sheep lady and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me."

Cordelia followed Xander as Spike headed back the way he came.

"But I don't wanna go with you! I like the man with the musket!"

"C'mon," he said, pulling her by the arm.

"Do you have a musket?" she asked. "I have my crook, but it's really only good against wolves. Oh! Have you seen any sheep?"

He glared at her, and then he noticed the door to the outside was open.

"I didn't leave that open," he said.

Quietly he moved toward the door, looking around for an intruder. He closed the door. Another door behind Bo Peep opened, and a vampire leapt out at her. She tried to push the door closed on him. The man in black grabbed the vampire and wrestled him to the floor.

"A stake!" he commanded.

"A what?" she asked, confused.

"Get me a stake!" he growled.

She looked around but all she saw was a large knife on the counter. She picked it up, and hurried over to the man.

"Hurry up!" he called.

He turned to look at her and his face had become distorted like the vampire's. His eyes glowed yellow, and his mouth was full of teeth worthy of the most vicious wolf Bo Peep had ever seen. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran for the door.

"Buffy, no!" he called after her.

She ran outside into the night. In the distance she could hear yelling and screaming, but the street she was on seemed deserted for the moment. At least until she ran head long into a large chest.

"Ooof!" she grunted as she nearly went over backwards, but a strong hand steadied her.

"Here now, m'lady," said the voice that she supposed must belong to the chest she'd run into.

She looked up into what she thought might have been the most beautiful face she'd ever seen. As she composed herself she took in the gentleman she'd run into. And she was sure he was a gentleman. His dark suit was strange, but she was sure it must be expensive. His hair stuck up in a funny way, but she could forgive him that. After all, his face, his chest, his arms - he was possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

'And he called me m'lady!' she thought. How polite he is. Not like all those other people.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"Tis no problem at all. And where might a little lost lamb like yourself be goin' on such an evenin'?" he asked.

"Oh! Lamb! I almost forgot my sheep. Have you seen them? I've lost them and I don't know where to find them."

"Why ya know, I did see some sheep earlier."

"Really? I'd be forever in your debt, sir, if you could take me to them." She smiled coyly at him.

"Call me Angelus. T'would be my pleasure."

With that he offered her his arm, and lead her off into the night.
Halloween (Part 3 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 24 Halloween (Part 3 of 3)

"Buffy! Get away from him!" came a frantic yell from behind her.

At first she didn't realize that she was the one being addressed. Then she remembered that everyone seemed convinced her name was Buffy.

She turned to look, and saw Spike had come running after her. His face looked normal again, but she still remembered what it had looked like only minutes before. Besides, what girl in her right mind would leave the company of a man named Angelus, for one who called himself Spike?

"We have to go," she told Angelus. "He's not what he seems to be, he's a monster."

"Is that so m'darling?" He chuckled softly. "And just what do you think I am?"

Bo Peep looked up at him and saw that his face had changed, just like Spike's. She screamed and tried to get away from him, but he held her tightly.

"Ah, the sweet smell o'terror. How I do love it. Ah-ah-ah," he said to Spike who had started to advance on them. "Come a step closer, me boy, and I'll snap her pretty little neck." He wrapped one had around her throat. "And neither of us wants that, now do we. The blood is just never as sweet when they are already dead."

"Now then," he continued, putting his other arm around her waist, and holding her tightly against him. "I think the lady and I are going to go have our selves a bit of fun."

"Then I think we have a problem, mate," Spike said, suddenly calm again. "See, I'd rather you snap her neck than let you run off with her."

"No! I think. . . That's a bad idea," protested a panicked Bo Peep.

She was so busy worrying about the two monsters who were arguing over her, she didn't notice Xander appear from the direction of the house, or that Willow was with him.

All at once Bo Peep heard a gunshot, and it felt as if something had passed just by her. Angelus' grip on her loosened, and she broke away from him without thinking. Running straight into the arms of Spike. She screamed again and once more found herself trying to break free from an impossibly strong grasp.

"Nice shot!" commented Willow.

Angelus roared behind her. "That hurts. I'm gonna have to make ya pay fer that."

"Take her," Spike yelled, pushing her toward Xander.

The vampires leapt snarling at each other, like two wolves fighting for dominance. Bo Peep had never seen anything like the savagery the vampires showed toward each other. For a moment she was mesmerized by the violence as the monsters tried to pound each other into dust.

Then she came to. Realizing this was her chance to escape them both, Bo Peep turned to run and. . .

Without pausing Buffy broke her shepherd's crook over her knee to make a stake. Then she dove into the middle of the fray, knocking Angelus off of Spike, who had fallen.

She expected Angelus to wrestle with her for possession of the stake. Time honored tradition said that they should both try and force the pointy end into the other one. But instead, Angelus rolled with the force of their collision, came up to his feet, and began to limp quickly away, leaving Buffy to try and get up without tripping on her full skirts.

As she got to her feet she looked back to check on her friends. Xander was looking at the toy riffle he was holding, Willow was gently poking him to test her solidity, and Spike was getting to his feet, although he looked completely thrashed.

For a moment Buffy didn't know what to do. The Slayer in her told her to run down Angelus, but the girl just wanted to make sure her boyfriend was okay. As she struggled with the decision, she looked away from Spike only to notice that Angelus had disappeared. Evidently, he could limp at super human speeds too.

The decision having been made for her, Buffy ran back to Spike to check out his injuries. As she was helping him up, Xander walked over to them.

"Hey, Buff. Welcome back," he greeted her.

"Yeah! You, too," she said, absent mindedly.

"You guys remember what happened?" Cordelia asked.

"It was way creepy. It's like I was there, but I couldn't get out," Xander commented.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," agreed Cordelia. "This outfit's totally skintight."

"You okay?" Spike asked Buffy.

"Me? You're the one who looks like a hamburger."

"Eh," he waved his hands as if it was nothing. "I've had worse."

He put his arm around her shoulders and led her away. They walked toward Spike's place. An uncomfortable silence settling between them.

Finally Spike broke it, "So what's with the get-up anyway?"

"You don't like it?" asked Buffy, crestfallen.

"You look beautiful. You always look beautiful, I just don't get it."

"I thought. . . you know, the other day you said you liked it, that I was innocent and stuff. I thought, I don't know. It's dumb. It made sense at the time."

She looked down at her feet.

"It's not dumb, and I meant it, about you looking gorgeous. But I like you just the way you are, pet. You know that, right?"

She nodded, and they continued again in silence.

"How did you know?" Buffy asked suddenly.

"Know what?"

"That Xander could make that shot. I didn't even know he was there, not that I was being percepto-girl."

"I didn't," came his solemn reply. He grimaced, then stopped and turned her face to look at him. "It was a gamble. Fifty/fifty. See, snapping your neck, that would have been clean - easy. Angelus doesn't kill like that - at least not his victims, his real victims. Only their families, their loved ones. Those he kills that way. Sometimes worse. Point is, I took a gamble that he was here, for you, and not me. And I was right. He wants you to suffer more before he kills you. Funny kind of way, that means you're the safest person from him in Sunnydale right now."

"Yeah, real funny."
Lie to Me (Part 1 of 2) by icemink
Chapter 25: Lie to Me (Part 1 of 2)

A boy was sitting on the jungle gym waiting for his mother in the encroaching night.

"C'mon, Mom. She's always late," he complained to the darkness.

A woman in a white gown walked slowly up behind him.

"Are you lost?" Drusilla asked the boy.

He looked at her. "No. My mom's just supposed to pick me up is all.

He climbed down off the gym.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" she asked.

"No, thank you."

She touched the gym as her eyes lost focus. "My mummy used to sing me to sleep at night." She began to walk slowly around the gym, letting her fingers trail over it as she sang, "Run and catch. The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch." She stopped. "She had the sweetest voice. What will your mummy sing when they find your body?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to people," came the boy's nervous reply.

"Oh. Well, I'm not a person, see, so that's just. . ."

She was interrupted by Spike who stepped out of nowhere, between her and the boy.

Keeping his eyes on Drusilla, he told the boy, "Run home."

After a moment's hesitation, he ran off. Drusilla watched him run away.

"Don't suppose there's any point in asking you to leave?" he asked his Sire.

"Why should I? Will you hurt me?" she asked excited. Then she looked up as if someone was whispering in her ear. "No. No, you can't. Not anymore."

"You'd be surprised what I can do, Dru."

"No," she said sadly. "My dear boy's gone all away, hasn't he? To her."

"That's right, luv. And if you aren't scared of me, you should be scared of her. She did Darla. She'll do you and Angelus, too."

Drusilla giggled. "She has no idea what's in store." She leaned forward, as if to kiss him. "This is just the beginning," she whispered in his ear. Then she pulled away without kissing him and gave him an evil smile.

Slowly she walked away. Neither vampire noticed the Slayer who'd stood on a nearby roof, watching the whole thing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning at school, Buffy walked dejectedly through the halls. She hadn't slept well the night before, wondering who the woman was who had been with Spike.

Other people's love lives were so much less complicated she thought as she saw Ms. Calendar and Giles talking.

When Ms. Calendar walked off, Buffy greeted Giles. "Hey."

"Hello," he replied, still looking after Ms. Calendar. They headed toward the library. "Um, did we hunt last night?"

"I did a couple quick sweeps downtown."

"Any encounters?"

"Nothing vampirey."

Which, she told herself, was not a complete lie. Spike didn't really count as a vampire, and she couldn't be sure if the woman he'd been talking to had been or not. Then again, only a vampire would have worn a dress like that on so cold a night.

"Uh, I've been researching your friend Angelus. Uh, the profile is fairly unappetizing. But I-I still haven't got a bead on why he's here. It's possible that it's revenge for Darla's staking. But we shouldn't rule out the possibility that something more diabolical has drawn him to the Hellmouth."

"You'll figure it out."

"You alright? You seem a little glum," noted Giles.

"I'm fine," she said, unconvincingly.

They stopped outside the library's door.

"Why don't you take the night off?" suggested Giles.

"Okay. That'd be nice," she replied with a complete lack of enthusiasm.

"Yes. You could spend some time with Spike."

"I don't know. He might have other plans," she answered as she walked off to class.

During her history class, she told Willow what had happened via the time-honored tradition of note passing.

Willow passed her a note which asked: Do you know who she was?

A boy in the class answered the teacher's question. "Well, it seems like Louis XVI was just sort of a weak king."

Buffy and Willow glanced at each other. Buffy started to write an answer on the note.

"That's fair enough. Uh, any other impressions?" asked the teacher.

"I just don't see why everyone's always picking on Marie Antoinette," said Cordelia. "I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good, and people just don't appreciate that kind of effort."

Buffy finished her answer to Willow and passed back the note: No Dark hair Old dress pretty

"And I know the peasants were all depressed. . ." continued Cordelia.

"I think you mean 'oppressed'," corrected Xander.

"Whatever." Cordelia dismissed him. "They were cranky."

Buffy folded the note and handed it back to Willow.

"So they're, like, 'Let's lose some heads'. Uhhh! That's fair. And, and Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake!" pointed out Cordelia.

Willow finished another note.

"Yes, well, that's a very interesting perspective," said the teacher.

Willow handed Buffy the note.

"Um, would anyone else like to comment?" the teacher asked hopefully.

When Buffy opened the note and read, 'Vampire?' she sighed.

Just then the bell rang.

As they walked out of class, Buffy verbally answered Willow's note, "I don't know. I don't think so. They seemed pretty friendly."

"Who's friendly?" asked a confused Xander.

"No one," Buffy evaded.

"Spike and a girl," supplied Willow.

"Willow, do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy asked.

The last thing she wanted was to involve Xander in anything that might look like Spike was losing interest in her.

"Hey, it's me. If Spike's doing somethin' wrong, I wanna know. 'Cause it gives me a happy!" Xander smiled.

They headed into the lounge and Willow sat down on one of the couches.

"Mm, I'm glad someone has a happy," said an annoyed Buffy.

"Aw, you just need cheering up. And I know just the thing!" Xander tried his best, if silly, dance move. "Crazed dance party at the Bronze!"

"I dunno. . . " sighed Buffy, crossing her arms.

"Very calm dance party at the Bronze?" suggested Xander. Buffy gave him a glum look. He sighed with resignation. "Moping at the Bronze."

He sat dejectedly on the couch next to Willow. A student neither he nor Willow recognized walked up the steps behind Buffy.

"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase," said the boy.

Buffy uncrossed her arms and turned around.

"Ford?" she asked, wide-eyed with surprise.

"Hey, Summers!" he greeted her as they hugged. "How ya been?"

"Oh, my God! What are you doing here?" she asked, excitedly.

They let go, but continued to hold hands.

"Uh, matriculating," he replied.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred," he explained.

"This is great!" Buffy was almost jumping up and down.

"I'm glad you think so," Ford said, smiling.

Xander, however, was scowling on the couch.

"I didn't think you'd remember me."

"Remember you?" Buffy asked. "Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth grade crush."

"So! You two know each other," Xander broke in.

"Oh!" Buffy gasped. She'd completely forgotten her friends. "I'm sorry. Um, this is Ford! Uh, Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow!"

Buffy and Ford sat together on the other couch opposite Xander and Willow.

"Hi," said Xander.

"Hey," Ford answered back.

"Nice to meet you!" Willow spoke with far more enthusiasm than either of the two guys could muster.

"Uh, Ford and I went to Hemery together in L.A." Buffy explained to her friends. Then she turned back to Ford. "And now you're here. For real?"

"Dad got the transfer and boom, he just dragged me outta Hemery and put me down here."

"This is great!" Buffy exclaimed. Then, remembered her own fears when she moved to Sunnydale. "Well, I mean, it's hard, sudden move, all your friends, delicate time, very emotional, but let's talk about me!" she put her hand on his knee. "This is great!"

Willow noticed the hand, and smiled. "So, you two were sweeties in fifth grade?"

"Not even. Ford wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Well, I was a manly sixth-grader," Ford joked. "I couldn't bother with someone that young."

"It was terrible," Buffy said in a self-mocking tone. "I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song, 'I Touch Myself'." She suddenly realized how that could be misinterpreted and looked nervously at Xander and Willow. "Of course, I had no idea what it was about."

Ford gave his forehead an embarrassed scratch while Xander just smiled at the thought and nodded.

Buffy turned back to Ford. "Hey, are you busy tonight? We're going to the Bronze, it's the local club, and you have to come."

"I'd love to!" he said. "But if you guys already had plans. . . Would I be imposing?"

"No, only in the literal sense," Xander said sarcastically.

"Okay, then! I, I gotta find the admissions office," Ford got up. "Uh, get my papers in order."

"Well, you know what?" Buffy also stood up. "I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys in French!"

She took his arm and lead him away.

"It was good to meet you," Ford called out to her friends.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Xander, Willow and Ford were playing pool at the bronze. Ford made his shot and set up for another as Buffy arrived at the table.

"Ford! You made it," she greeted him.

"Wasn't hard to find," Ford told her.

"Buffy," Willow teased. "Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition."

"Oh my God," said Buffy, horrified. "Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill."

"You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets," he joked with her.

"Care to make a small wager on that?" Xander challenged him.

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Ford, try not to talk." Buffy turned to go to the bar.

As she got near, she saw Spike nursing a beer.

"Hi," she called to him.

"There you are, pet."

"You drink! I mean, drinks. Non-blood things," she stuttered.

"Guess there's a lot about me you still don't know."

"I believe that," she said, thinking about the mystery woman. "So. What'd you do last night?" she tried to ask innocently.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all. You ceased to exist?"

"Naw, I watched some tele."

"Oh."

Buffy was angry, and a little scared. If it was nothing, if that woman he'd been with last night was no one, why wouldn't he mention it?

Seeing that Spike wasn't going to fess up to his midnight rendezvous, she gave up and headed back to the pool table, and a simpler life. Spike followed her.

"Didn't want that soda after all?" Ford asked her.

"Not thirsty," Buffy said.

"Hey, Spike," Willow greeted.

"Hi," Ford welcomed him.

"This is Ford," Buffy introduced. "We went to school together in L.A."

"Nice to meet you." Spike shook Ford's hand while eyeing him with suspicion.

"Whoa! Cold hands!" Ford exclaimed.

"You're not wrong," Xander commented.

Buffy shot Xander a look.

"So, you're here visiting Buffy?" Spike asked.

"No, I'm actually here to stay. Just moved down."

"Hey, Spike?" Willow broke in trying to ease the tension. "Do you wanna play?"

"Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight. Um. . . I'm a little hot." She turned to Ford. "You wanna take a walk?"

"Um, sure. That'd be nice," he said.

"Hold on a minute," Spike said. He put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Did I do something? Are you mad at me?"

"What could I possibly have to be mad about?"

"Don't know, pet. But you obviously are, and I'm obviously not going to guess why, so why don't you just tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Ford, will you excuse us for a minute?" Buffy said, annoyed. She and Spike stepped away from the others into a corner of the Bronze. "You want to know what I'm mad about? I saw you. Last night. With that. . . woman."

"Dru?"

"I guess. I don't know her name. Long pretty brown hair, white dress. Ringing any bells?"

"Yeah, that's Dru, I mean Drusilla. My Sire."

"Oh? Oh." Buffy tried to remember what little she knew about Spike's Sire, which wasn't much. "You killed a Slayer for her, didn't you," she whispered.

"Yeah. I did."

He looked down at the floor as if he couldn't look at her. Buffy was surprised, Spike always seemed to crave eye contact; he always seemed to want her to look at him.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. How I'm supposed to feel about this," was all she could think of to say.

"Well, she's not a threat. I mean, she's a vampire, so of course she's a threat, but not to us. You know that, right? All that stuff I used to feel for Dru. . . she was my Sire, and before the soul, I loved what I was. What she made me. But now, you're everything to me. You know that right?"

"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry."

Spike kissed her on the forehead. "It's all right, luv. I've been known to be jealous once or twice in my life. So why don't you walk your friend home, and I'll try not to be too jealous myself, huh?"

She smiled back at him. "Okay. Deal."

Buffy returned to the pool table and she and Ford went outside.

"So, that was your boyfriend?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. Sorry about the drama back there."

"It's all right. I'm not, causing problems or anything am I?"

"No, it's good. But-"

Buffy stopped. She could hear noises coming from around the corner that sounded suspiciously like a vampire.

"Um, my purse," Buffy made up an excuse. "I-I, I left my purse at the Bronze. Uh, could you get it for me?"

"Uh, okay." Ford turned back toward the Bronze.

"Good. Run! Thanks!" Buffy called after him.

As soon as he wasn't looking she started to run around the corner. Sure enough, there was a woman being attacked by a vampire. As Buffy pulled the vampire off of her, the woman ran. Buffy was thankful for once to be rescuing a victim that had the sense to get away. It never ceased to amaze her how many of them just hung around.

Then she forgot about the woman and focused her attention on the vampire. She ducked one of his punches. She kicked him in the face. The vampire swung at her again but Buffy grabbed his fist and held it while she punched him in the face. Then she drew out a stake and ended the fight with a clean blow to the heart.

As she was brushing vamp dust off of herself, she heard Ford's voice.

"What's goin' on?"

Surprised, she spun around to face him.

"Um. . . uh, there was a, a cat," she lied. "A cat here, and, um, then there was a-another cat. . . and they fought. The cats. And. . . then they left."

"Oh. I thought you were just slaying a vampire," Ford said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Whating a what?"

"I know, Buffy. You don't have to lie. I-I've been trying to figure out the right time to. . . to tell you. I know you're the Slayer."

Buffy was stunned, but also delighted. They started home again talking about life and unlife in L.A.
Lie to Me (Part 2 of 2) by icemink
Chapter 26: Lie to Me (Part 2 of 2)

The next night Buffy was patrolling near the school with Ford.

"And on your right, once again, the beautiful campus," said Buffy, playing tour guide. "I think you've now seen everything there is to see in Sunnydale."

"Well, it's. . . really. . ."

"Feel free to say dull."

"Okay. Dull's good." Just then he noticed two people running by and up the steps of the school. "Or maybe not so dull. Is that more vampires?"

"Must be the weather," Buffy said as she pulled out a stake and a cross.

She handed the cross to Ford. He took it, but then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his own stake.

"Stay close to me," Buffy ordered him.

She hopped up the steps the vampires had just run up and cautiously looked around. Ford was close behind her, cross and stake held ready. She looked around the corner and saw nothing.

"Maybe they were just passing through," Ford suggested.

Buffy turned around to look at him. "I don't think so."

Then a blonde female vampire grabbed her from behind and tried to bite her. Ford took a step back. Buffy kicked the vampire in the face, then grabbed her by the arm and flipped her over onto her back. Her companion - a male vampire - rushed at Buffy and grabbed her, pulling her over a railing with him. She landed in a crouch on the grass below and got up while the vampire rolled to his feet. She kicked him in the jaw, making him fall backward.

She lost track of Ford, and hoped he was okay as she knocked the vampire out with a punch to the face and staked him. She ran back up the stairs to Ford, who was crouched down.

"Where's the other one?" she asked, looking about.

"I killed her." He coughed. "I, I killed her and she just turned to dust. It was. . . amazing!"

Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise. Ford was doing good for his first night of slaying. Even so, she sent him home to rest up. Then she called Giles and arranged to meet him at the library.

"Sorry to beep you guys in the middle of. . . stuff," she said to Giles and Ms. Calendar when she met them at the library. "But it seemed really weird."

"No, you did the right thing. Absolutely," Giles agreed a little too strongly.

Ms. Calendar stopped in her tracks. "You hated it that much?"

"No!" Giles insisted. "But, but, uh, vampires on campus is, could have implications. Very, very grave. . ."

"You coulda just said something," Ms. Calendar told him.

"Uh, honestly, I, I've always, I've always been interested in, in, uh, monster trucks," Giles tried to backpeddle.

"You took him to monster trucks?" Buffy asked, amazed.

"I thought it would be a change!" Ms. Calendar explained.

"It was a change," Giles said softly.

"Look, we could've just left." Ms. Calendar was beginning to get annoyed.

"Wha-what, and miss the nitro-burning funny cars?" said Giles sarcastically. "No, couldn't have that."

"Okay, can we get back on the vampire tip here?" Buffy tried to rescue him. "These guys were here with a purpose."

"Yes, yes, and, uh, we must, uh, ascertain what that purpose is," Giles agreed.

"Where's your friend?" Ms. Calendar asked.

"I sent him home," Buffy told them.

Giles sat at the table. "Oh, uh, good. Yes, the less he's involved in all this, the safer he'll be."

"He did bag a vamp his first time out," Buffy bragged.

"Really? In any case, let me get some of my books. I-"

As Giles headed into his office, the blonde female vampire that Ford claimed he had staked, ran into Giles as she ran from his office. Buffy ran to help Giles, but was knocked to the floor underneath him when the vampire gave him a hard shove.

The vampire jumped up onto the table and leapt over the mezzanine railing, allowing her to escape through the stacks.

Ms. Calendar helped Giles and Buffy up. "Are you guys okay?"

"A book! It took one of my books!" Giles yelled with outrage.

"Well, at least someone in this school is reading," Ms. Calendar commented.

"He said he killed it," Buffy said mystified. "That's the vampire Ford said he killed."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Drusilla was talking to a bird that lay dead in a cage.

"You sing the sweetest little song. Won't you sing for me, hmm? Don't you love me anymore?"

Angelus walked up behind her, angry.

"Do ye know what Lucius tell me, Drusilla?" She didn't answer, just continued to make twittering noises at the bird. "He tells me you went out the other night."

"My tummy was growly," she pouted. "And you were out." She turned her attention back to the bird. "Come on." She whistled. "I'll pout if you don't sing."

"And he says that ye saw that whelp of yers, William."

"Spike?" She smiled, then continued to talk to the bird. "I'll give you a seed if you sing."

"The bird's dead, Dru. Ye left it in a cage, and ye didn't feed it, and now it's all dead, just like the last one."

Drusilla cowered and whined. Angelus struck her across the face.

"Ye don't go out unless I say ye do. And ye don't go talking te that pitiful thing ye sired. Is that clear."

Drusilla nodded. She got up slowly, rising up against Angelus, then she began to nibble on his ear.

"Do you forgive me, Daddy? Or have I been a bad girl?" She made a little barking noise.

"This is so cool!" came an unfamiliar voice out of nowhere.

Angelus looked up to see a living teenage boy enter the room.

"I would totally live here," the boy said.

"Does anyone pay any attention? Who the hell is supposed to be on watch?" Angelus yelled.

His senses told him that his minions were scurrying for cover.

"I know who you are," the boy said to Angelus.

"What a brilliant lad ye are." Angelus said sarcastically. "Too bad the world will never know of yer wit."

Angelus vamped and growled at the boy.

"I came looking for you, Angelus. You are Angelus, right?"

Angelus was a little startled. The boy really did seem to know who he was, and he wasn't scared. It wasn't half as fun if they weren't scared.

"Ye've got a real death wish, me boy. It's almost interesting."

The blonde vampire came in then and walked up to Angelus handing him the book she had stolen from Giles. Angelus began to leaf through it.

"Ah, this'll be useful. We may have to tweak it a little." Angelus turned his attention back to the boy. "So, how did ye find me?"

Angelus was aware of the slightest tremor in the blonde vampire. Just enough to answer the question for him. He'd deal with her later.

"That doesn't matter. I've got something to offer you." The boy paused. "I-I'm pretty sure this is the part where you take out a watch and say I've got thirty seconds to convince you not to kill me? It's traditional."

"Well, we wouldn't want to go against tradition now would we?"

Angelus grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him against the wall. To his disappointment the boy barely flinched. It was as if he was scared of nothing.

"So, ye've got thirty seconds to convince me not to kill ye. But I should tell ye, I'm a hard sell."

"Yes!" the boy cried with glee. "See, this is the best! I wanna be like you. A vampire."

Angelus laughed. "Well that's not going to happen."

Angelus snarled and moved in to bite the boy.

"Wait, Daddy. The boy has things to say," Drusilla interrupted.

Angelus relented. He could always kill the boy later.

"Well, feature this: I'm offering you a trade. You make me a vampire, and I give you the Slayer."

"And how would ye do that, me boy?"

"I know her; she trusts me. I can lead her into a trap. I've already got the whole thing set up."

"Is that so? Ye know her? The two of ye're close?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for years. She's even got a crush on me."

"Now that is interestin'," Angelus said with a grin.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy was getting ready for her nightly patrol when she heard a knock on the door. She went downstairs to answer the door. When she opened the door no one was there. She was about to close it, when she looked down.

"NO!" she screamed, immediate grief devastating her.

Lying on her porch was Ford's body. His hands were crossed over his chest, like a body ready for a funeral, and in his hand he held a single red rose.

Buffy leaned down to check his pulse. He was so pale, so still, that she wasn't surprised when she saw bite marks on his throat.

"No, Ford," she whispered through her tears as she cradled his head in her lap. She knew she should do something, but she couldn't think what it was. All she could do was remember all the times they had shared together. Remember her grade school crush, and wonder how she could have failed Ford and let this happen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm so sorry, pet. Are you all right?" Spike asked as he stood back, feeling hopeless.

Buffy was kneeling down by Ford's grave, placing flowers on it.

"No, I'm really not."

He knelt down beside her and put his arms around her. He knew it wasn't much, but he also knew it was all he could do.

"He came here to see me before he died. . ." Buffy said softly.

"It's not your fault, pet. You're not the reaso-"

"But I am. He didn't move here. His father wasn't transferred. He ran away from home. He had cancer. He was dying, only had a few more months to live, and he came here. To see me. I don't even really know why. He just wanted to see me and because of that. . ." she couldn't speak anymore, she was so choked with tears.

"Shhh, there there."

Spike cradled her in his arms and gently rocked her.

"It's not your fault, pet. It's still not your fault. It's not right, not right that he lost the time he had left, but he wanted to see you, and he did. That's something. Not much, but it's something."

Finally, Buffy got her tears under control.

"He's the last one. This has to stop. We have to find Angelus. Ford's the last one," Buffy vowed as a hand reached up from the earth.

She was almost casual as she pulled Ford up from the ground, and drove a stake through his heart.
What's My Line (Part 1 of) by icemink
Chapter 27: What's My Line (Part 1 of )

It had been another in a series of frustrating nights for Buffy. She'd been searching Sunnydale for Angelus for almost a week now. She'd staked what seemed like a record number of vampires, but she was no closer to finding him than she'd been before.

Although tonight she'd caught a couple vampires stealing from a tomb. Unfortunately, one of them got away.

Wearily, she started to climb through the window of her room, only to find Spike standing in front of her mirror holding Mr. Gordo, who seemed to be floating in the mirror. Without saying a word, Buffy threw her bag through the window and onto the floor.

Spike jumped at the sound and turned around.

"Buffy! You startled me, pet."

"Score one for me."

She crouched down by her bag and reached into her hair to pull out a few clips.

"Just dropping by for some quality time with Mr. Gordo?" she asked, as she started her nighttime routine.

"Huh?" Spike was confused.

"The pig."

She opened her trunk and dumped the bag inside.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." He regarded the toy. "What sort of girl has a stuffed pig an no teddy bears or dolls?"

"I think I'm a little old for dolls. And don't you dare say anything bad about Mr. Gordo. You're far more replaceable than he is."

"You're in a snit tonight." He carefully set Mr. Gordo down on her pillow. Then he sat on her bed and stretched out. "Don't suppose I could do anything to cheer you up?" he smiled suggestively at her.

She dropped her hair clips into a desk drawer, then faced him.

"You could start by getting you boots off my bed," she said annoyed. He complied. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He reached out for her, and pulled her to him by the waist.

"Can't a fellow come see his girl without a reason? And why'd you come in through the window?"

"Huh?"

"Thought your mum was out of town."

Buffy crinkled her nose. "Habit. And how do you know that?"

"Your mum and me are friends remember?"

"So you wait for her to leave town so you can take advantage of her daughter?"

He stood up, very close to her, and looked her in the eye.

"I would never take advantage of you." His voice was quiet, but deadly serious. Then he plunked back down on the bed and smiled widely at her. "There really is a bee in your bonnet today, isn't there?"

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," she apologized. She sat next to him and rested her head against his chest. He moved his arm to put it around her. "Look, I've been Cranky Miss all day. It's not you."

"So what's bothering you, pet? Besides the obvious."

"We're having this thing at school," she admitted.

"Career week?"

"How did you know?"

"Once a stalker. . ." he joked.

She smiled. "Right. Well, then you know it's a whole week of 'what's my line', only... I don't get to play. Sometimes I just want. . ."

"What do you want, luv?"

Buffy glanced into her mirror. She was alone in the reflection.

"The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life. Like I had before."

He pointed to a picture on her desk of her as a child, ice-skating.

"That the life you want?"

"Oh my God." She laughed and stood up. "My Dorothy Hamill phase. My room in L.A. was pretty much a shrine. Dorothy dolls, Dorothy posters, I even got the Dorothy haircut. Thereby securing a place for myself in the geek hall of fame."

"Why'd you want to be like her?"

"I wanted to BE her. My parents were fighting all the time, and skating was an escape. I felt safe."

"So when'd you last put on your skates?"

Buffy sighed. "About a couple of hundred demons ago."

"There's a rink out past Route 17, it's. . . closed on Tuesdays."

"Tomorrow's Tuesday."

"So it is, pet. So it is."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Giles walked to the center table in the library, balancing a large stack of books. He carefully set them down and leaned over a bit to straighten the stack, but he leaned too far and the books began to fall over.

"AH!" he cried as he rushed to stop them.

Buffy put her hand on top of the stack just as he did the same, and they pushed it back up.

Relieved, Giles said, "Buffy. Thank you. I've been, uh, indexing the Watcher diaries covering the last couple of centuries. You would be amazed at how numbingly pompous and long-winded some of these watchers were."

"Color me stunned."

"So, uh, I trust last night's patrol was fruitful?"

"Semi. Mm, I caught one out of two vamps after they stole something from this jumbo mausoleum."

"They were stealing?" Giles asked with interest.

"Yeah! They had tools, flashlights, whole nine yards." She paused. "What does that mean anyway? 'Whole nine yards'? Nine yards of what? Now it's gonna bug me all day," she whined. Then she noticed that Giles was ignoring her and pacing furiously. "Giles, you're in pace mode. What gives?"

"Um, this vampire who escaped, did you see what he took?" he asked.

"No, but I could take a guess and say it was something old."

"You made no effort to find out what was taken?" Giles asked with anger.

"Have a cow, Giles! I just figured it was your everyday vamp hijinks."

"Well, what if it wasn't? This could be very serious! I mean, i-i-if you'd made an effort to, uh, to be more thorough in your observations. . ."

"Y'know, if you don't like the way I'm doing my job, why don't you find somebody else?" Buffy was genuinely annoyed. At times she thought Giles didn't appreciate the risking of life and limb she did on a nightly basis. "Oh, that's right, there can only be one. As long as I'm alive, there is no one else. Well, there you go! I don't have to be the Slayer. I could be dead."

"That wasn't terribly funny. You notice I don't laugh."

"Wouldn't be much of a change. Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?"

"Do we have to be introspective now? Our only concern is to discover what was stolen from that mausoleum last night."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Drusilla sat on her bed, waving her hand over an intricately carved gold cross held out to her by Angelus on a red velvet pillow.

"Would this be it then?" Angelus asked her.

"It hums. I can hear it," she told him.

"Once yer well again, we'll have a coronation down Main Street, and invite everyone, and drink for seven days and seven nights." Angelus promised his favorite Childe.

Behind him his bookish minion asked, "What about the Slayer? She almost blew the whole thing for us. She's trouble."

"And who's fault would that be?" Angelus asked. "No matter though. We'll do somethin' about her. Can't have her interfering now can we. I'd wanted to play with her some more, but perhaps it's time to pass the job along. The Order of Taraka should do."

"The bounty hunters?!" the minion gasped with fear.

Angelus was annoyed to think that some ancient order inspired more fear than he did.

Drusilla had dealt out three tarot cards: a Cyclops, a centipede and a panther.

"They're coming to my party," she said excitedly. "Three of them."

Angelus looked absently at the cards.

"Uh, yes, but. . ." stuttered the minion. "The Order of Taraka, I mean... isn't that overkill?"

"No such thing," Angelus said with a smile.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy skated around the rink, trying not to think about anything related to Career Day or slaying. It almost worked. At least she was able to forget about the awful test that had told her she was doomed to a life as a cop.

The slayer stuff was a little harder to forget about. She and Giles had discovered that what the vampire the other night had stolen was something related to some guy named Du Lac. Not only that, but the vampire that had stolen one of Giles' books had stolen one written by Du Lac. Giles was afraid that the two together could be used to bring about some bad mojo.

Slowly, though, the rhythm of the skates on the ice even pushed these thoughts from her head. Until she slipped and fell, sliding backward into the sidewall of the rink.

As she started to get up, an arm wrapped itself around her neck and lifted her off the ice. A large, less than pleasant looking man with only one eye, had her by the throat. He began to choke her against the railing of the rink. Buffy tried to pry his hands from her throat as she struggled to breathe.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Spike come running across the ice, his eyes blazing gold.

"Buffy!" he cried.

He leapt toward the man who held her, and tackled him, knocking him off of Buffy. She fell back onto the ice. Spike lifted the man to his feet and punched him in the face. But the man wasn't even fazed and punched Spike in the stomach, sending him back into the wall. Spike came off the wall and jabbed him in the face again, but the one-eyed man just shrugged it off. He punched Spike in the face and gut in rapid succession, making him stagger into the wall again. The man then grabbed Spike by the throat and lifted him up.

By this time, Buffy had finally caught her breath and gotten to her feet. She came skating toward them at a fast pace. The man turned to face her as she grabbed a net that was hanging on the wall of the rink and and used it to swing up with her foot and hit him in the throat with the blade of her skate, crushing his trachea.

He let go of Spike and grabbed his own neck, unable to breathe. He took a few steps onto the ice and collapsed there, dead.

Angry, Spike rushed over to the corpse to examine it. Seeing a ring on the man's finger he took a close look at it.

"The Hellmouth presents: Dead Guys On Ice. Not exactly the evening we were aiming for," said Buffy.

"Fuck." Spike said, looking closely at the ring. "We have to get out of here."

He began to pull her toward the exit.

"Hold on!" demanded Buffy. "What's the deal? I just killed a Super Bowl champ or something?"

"I'm serious!" Spike snarled. "You need to get out of here." Then he softened. "Are you okay?"

She put her gloved hand on his cheek and looking at the cut above his eye.

"What about you? That cut!"

"Don't worry about me. This is bad, Buffy. We gotta get you outta here."

"What, you mean hide?"

"Well, yeah. That's a good place to start. At least till we know how many we have to deal with."

"How many what?" Buffy asked. She was getting annoyed.

"Assassins. Look, Buffy, someone's called out the big guns. Will you just. . . I need to know you're safe. Till we know what's going on. Okay?"

"Hey," she called gently to him, looking him in the eye. "It's me. I'll be okay. You're not getting rid of me that easy Mr."

He couldn't help but smile at her.

"You're right. You're the Slayer. I just. . . It's hard not to worry."

"Maybe this'll help stop you from worrying?" she said, as she moved in to kiss him.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. They were both so enraptured by each other, that neither of them noticed the strange girl watching them from the shadows.
What's My Line (Part 2 of) by icemink
Chapter 28: What's My Line (Part 2 of )

Buffy knocked on Spike's door. She was starting to freak. It was bad enough the way Spike had reacted to the ring, as if she was some girl who couldn't protect herself. But Giles, upon hearing about it, had reacted the same way. He actually thought she should hide.

His tales of unstoppable assassins hadn't helped. Buffy had walked through the halls of Sunnydale High thinking that anyone and everyone might be after her. Sure, Spike had stopped the one-eyed man, but according to Giles, this order would have sent more. They wouldn't stop until she was dead.

Well, if she was going to hide, she figured she'd hide with Spike. Recent events had kept her from having much quality time with him, and she thought that if they didn't do some serious making out soon, she'd explode.

So there she was, waiting outside his door for an answer.

When no answer came, she softly called through the door, "Spike?"

She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So she twisted the knob hard, breaking it and opening the door. She slowly entered and looked around. She closed the door behind her and turned on the lights.

Buffy made her way to his bed and lay down on it, breathing in his scent from the pillow. She curled up and fell asleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Spike stepped into Willy's. It was after hours and Willy was sweeping up.

Willy didn't look up, just shouted, "We're closed! Can't you read the sign?"

Spike stepped in front of him.

"Oh, uh... hey, Spike. I didn't recognize you in the dark there. What, uh... what can I do for you tonight?"

"I need information."

"Yeah? Man, that's too bad, 'cause... I'm stayin' away from that whole scene. I'm livin' right, Spike."

"Sure you are, Willy. And I'm taking up sunbathing."

"C'mon, man. Don't be that way! I-I treat you vamps good! I-I-I-I don't hassle you, you don't hassle me... We all enjoy the patronage of this establishment. Everybody's happy, right?"

Spike wouldn't be put off. "Who sent them?" he menaced.

"Who sent who?"

"The Order of Taraka."

"I-I. . . I tell ya, I haven't been in the loop." Willy was getting more and more nervous.

"Let's try again, mate. The Order of Taraka, they're after the Slayer."

"C'mon, man."

"Was it Angelus?"

"Look, Spike, I-I got some good pigs' blood in, good stuff, my fence said. . ."

Spike grabbed Willy and smacked his head into the bar. Then he pressed down hard on Willy's
head with his hand. It was hard for Spike not to hurt Willy more. Everyone Spike cared about was in danger, and not from just anyone. From Angelus. Even when Spike had been soulless he'd hated the elder vampire.

"Damn it! Ah. . ."

"Been a while since I killed a man. Might take me a couple tries to get it right," Spike growled.

"Oh, Angelus will draw and quarter me, man!"

"Don't worry about Angelus, he's not long for this world."

"You know he ordered those guys! Angelus's sick of your girl getting in his way!"

"Where do I find him?"

"I tell you that, I'm gonna need relocating expenses! It'll cost you!"

Spike jerked Willy up and slammed him against a wall.

"Didn't quite hear that. What did you say?"

"Okay! Okay! He and that freaky chick of his are. . ."

Before Willy could finish, a foot suddenly connected with Spike's face. Both he and Willy fell to the floor. Spike looked up to see a young pretty girl standing over him. She had a beautiful dark face. Her long black hair fell in waves from the ponytail high on her head.

She smelled human, but she didn't hit like one. There was something in the way she stood, in the look in her eyes that was familiar to Spike. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn she was the Slayer.

The girl grabbed the broom Willy had been using, and broke the handle off. Then, using it as a stake, she attacked Spike. He rolled out of the way of her thrust.

Willy took the opportunity to flee from his own bar.

Meanwhile, Spike got back to his feet, only to duck another swing from the strange and quiet girl. She tried a direct thrust with the stake which Spike just knocked aside, but she followed it up with a punch to the face from her other hand and used her momentum to spin around for a kick that sent him through the door into the back room.

He crashed into several cases of beer. Angry, he vamped as she charged him again. He was stuck fighting this girl who didn't speak. As she knocked him to the ground, he once again noticed that she seemed to have the strength of a slayer.

Not only that, she was a good fighter. Although he got several blows in, she took them without flinching, and forced him backward. Too late he noticed the cage she had driven him into. She knocked him to the ground, then slammed the door of the cage shut.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

She laughed - the first sound she'd made since she'd shown up - as she stepped back.

"You think this is funny?" he asked.

She shut the bolt, locking him in.

"I tink it is funny now. Dat girl. De one I saw you wit before?"

"Piece of advice. Stay away from her."

"I'm afraid you are not in a position to treaten."

"When I get outta here I'll do more than threaten!"

"Den I suggest ya move quickly." She looked up at the windows. "Eastern exposure. De sun will be comin' in a few hours. More dan enough time for me to find your girlfriend."

"Come back her you bleeding stupid bint!" Spike yelled after her as she left.

Then he attacked the cage door, trying to force it open. The cage held though. He had no idea why Willy needed a cage in the back of his bar, but it had obviously been made to withstand demonic strength.

He couldn't give up. The sun was rising, and if he became a pile of dust, he would no longer be there to help Buffy. Not to mention the kissing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Instinct woke Buffy. Without thinking she rolled to the far side of the bed as a hatchet struck the pillow where her head had been.

A dark skinned girl was holding the hatchet and swung it at Buffy again. Buffy was a step ahead of her, however, and flipped herself off the bed over the girl's back and onto the floor behind her, ready to fight.

"You must be number two!" Buffy said.

The girl swung the hatchet at Buffy who ducked the swing and grabbed the bed curtain. She pulled it down and over the girl's head and knocked her to the floor with a kick to the head.

The girl quickly scrambled out from under the curtain and stood with the hatchet up and ready.

"Thanks for the wake-up, but I'll stick with my clock radio," Buffy quipped.

The girl swung again but this time, Buffy caught the hatchet by the handle. The girl pulled her around and slammed her into the wall, pushing the hatchet into her chest. Buffy pushed the hatchet up and away from her. The girl pulled down on it, flipping Buffy over onto her back. She bared down on Buffy.

"Come on, don't make me do the chick fight thing," Buffy grunted.

"Chick fight?"

"You know."

She let go of the hatchet with one hand and dug her nails into the girl's hand. She gritted her teeth and grunted in pain, but refused to let go. So Buffy grabbed her arm and rolled her over and away. They both scrambled to their feet.

Buffy kicked the hatchet out of the girl's hand. The girl tried two kicks which Buffy easily blocked. Buffy ducked a swing to her head and swung back, but the girl grabbed her arm in mid-swing and flipped her over onto the coffee table, smashing it. Buffy winced, not so much because of the pain, but because Spike didn't have much furniture, and she hated destroying what little there was.

Buffy kicked the girl as she reached down and knocked her to the floor. They both got up and circled each other.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Who am I?" Buffy was incredulous. "You attacked me! Who the hell are you?!"

"I am Kendra! De Vampire Slayer!"

Buffy looked at her in utter disbelief.

A little winded, Buffy asked, "Okay, one more time. You're the who?!"

"I'm de Slayer."

"Nice cover story. But here's a tip: you might wanna try it on someone who's not the real Slayer."

"Ya can't stop me! Even if ya kill me, anodder Slayer will be sent to take me place."

"Could you stop with the Slayer thing? I'm the damn Slayer!" Delusion girl was beginning to piss her off.

"Nonsense! Dere is but one, and I am she."

"Okay, a scenario." Buffy held up her hand in a peaceful gesture. "You back off, I'll back off, but you promise not to go all wiggy until we can go to my Watcher and figure this out."

"Wiggy?"

"You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?"

Kendra considered the offer a moment, then relaxed her stance and crossed her arms.

"I accept your scenario," came Kendra's formal reply.

"So. You were sent here?"

"Yes, by my Watcher."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To do my duty. I am here to kill vampires."
What's My Line (Part 3 of 3) by icemink
Chapter 29: What's My Line (Part 3 of 3)

Willy threw Spike's unconscious body down into the sewers. Then he jumped down after Spike. Sewer water splashed on his shoes and he frowned. Before he had time to worry about the damage to his footwear, Angelus and a couple of minions appeared.

"There you go, friend," Willy said. "He'll be as good as new in a day or so."

The minions grabbed Spike by the arms and started to drag him away. Willy held up his hand to stop them.

"Uh, hey, wai-wait. We had a deal, right?"

Angelus pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket.

"What's the matter, Willy? Don't ye trust me?"

"Oh, yeah. Like a brother."

"Well, I hope ye keep me confidences better than ye would yer brother's. Otherwise, we might have to have a bit of a talk."

"Wild horses couldn't drag it," Willy promised. "What are you gonna do with him anyway?"

"He has somethin' that belongs to my dear sweet Drusilla. We're only going to get it back."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy burst through the door of Willy's bar, Kendra not far behind. Buffy had been forced to accept that she was no longer The Chosen One. She hadn't had time to really process that yet, especially considering Kendra might have killed Spike. Buffy silently vowed that things would not go well for the younger Slayer if Spike got a suntan.

"Spike?" she hollered.

Kendra walked into the cage where she had left him and looked around.

"No ashes," Kendra pointed out.

"What?"

"When a vampire combusts, he leaves ashes."

"Yeah, I know the drill."

"So I did not kill him."

"And I don't need to kill you."

Just then Willy showed up at the door.

"Whoa! There's a lotta tension in this room," he noticed.

Before he could comment further, Kendra pushed him out of the back room and onto the floor.

"Doesn't anyone just say 'hello' where you come from?" Buffy asked.

Kendra turned Willy over on the floor and grabbed him by the shirt, raising her fist to punch him.

"Dis one is dirty! I can feel it!"

"That's really good for you, Percepto Girl," Buffy pushed her aside, and helped Willy to his feet. "But we're not gonna get anything out of him if he's, oh, say. . . " She slammed him into the bar. "Unconscious. Where's Spike?"

"My buddy Spike? You think I'd let him fry? I saved him in the nick! He was about five minutes away from being a crispy critter."

"Where'd he go?"

"Uh, he said he was gonna stay underground. You know, recuperate."

"Are you telling me the truth?"

"I swear on my mother's grave! Should something fatal happen to her, God forbid."

"Den he is alright," Kendra said. "We can return to your Watcher for our orders." She turned to leave.

Buffy let go of Willy. "I don't take orders. I do things my way."

"No wonder you died."

Buffy ignored the comment. "Let's go," she instructed the other girl.

As they started to leave Willy called after them, "I, I have to ask. Has either of you girls considered modeling? I have a friend with a camera? Strictly high-class nude work. You know, art photographs. But naked."

Buffy and Kendra exchanged a look and walked out without a word.

"You don't have to answer right away," Willy let them know.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Spike grunted in pain as Drusilla dripped holy water on to his exposed chest. He had been chained to the foot of her bed and Angelus had left them together as he prepared for some sort of ritual.

"Do I hurt you?" Drusilla asked gleefully.

"Not anymore, pet."

She whimpered in disappointment. "But they hurt you. Nasty gypsies. You writhe for them. I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?"

He couldn't help but be curious. Dru was no longer his lady love, his dark princess. Instead, she was an exotic creature. She still fascinated him. Besides, puzzling her out distracted him from the pain.

"Why you glowed. You were supposed to be my knight," she said sorrowfully. "Once I'm better, Daddy says I can have a new toy." She leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear, "I want the boy. Angelus doesn't know about him. He wouldn't let me have him if he did." She laughed and clapped her hands together excitedly. "I'll have a dark knight this time. Black as night."

For a moment Spike didn't understand. Then understanding dawned on him. Fear gripped his heart. Robin! She was going to turn Robin. She threw back her head and laughed as she saw his fear.

Then she began to sing, "Run and catch. The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch."

She dripped more holy water onto him. Spike clenched his jaw. He would make his way out of this. He had to. He would never let Robin fall to the fate he'd been forced to save his mother from. Spike could still hear Nikki's last plea, asking him to watch out for Robin. Spike could still hear it - the sound as the sword cut off Nikki's head. He could still see the look in her eyes as he killed her.

Angelus had been careful to take enough blood to be fatal, but not to kill her right away. He'd wanted her to be conscious when he fed her his blood. Wanted her to know that she was going to become the thing she hated most.

When Spike had found them, Angelus had only put up a token fight. In those days, it was Spike that Angelus was after. So he had left Spike with the woman who was past saving, and a choice. To kill her, or let her live forever.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy shoved Willy up against the shelves of liquor bottles in his own bar. Giles had finally pieced together the purpose of the items that Angelus's minions had stolen. They could be used in a ritual to restore an unhealthy vampire. All that was required was the sacrifice of a strong member of the sick vampire's blood line. No one doubted that his old family would eagerly offer Spike up.

Having nowhere else to turn, she and Kendra had returned to Willy's bar looking for a clue as to where Angelus had taken Spike. Buffy was still unsure of how much she could trust Kendra. She was scared that the other slayer might stake Spike rather than save him. But for now, she was an ally. She agreed that they couldn't allow Drusilla to be restored to a full state of health.

"Ah! Honest! I don't know where Spike is!" Willy claimed.

"What about this ritual? What have you heard?" Buffy asked.

"N-nothing! I-it's all hush-hush!"

"Just hit him, Buffy!" Kendra insisted.

"She likes to hit," Buffy told Willy.

"You know, m-maybe I did hear something about this ritual. Yeah, i-i... I-it's coming back to me. But, uh, I'd have to take you there."

"Let's go." Buffy started to drag him out of the bar.

Kendra didn't follow. "First we must return to de Watcher."

Buffy stopped. "Excuse me? While we run to Giles, this whole thing could go down!"

"But it is procedure."

"It's brainless, you mean! If we don't go now, Spike could die." She started toward the door again.

"Is dat all you're worried about? Your boyfriend?"

"No," Buffy stopped and looked back at the other girl. "It's not all, but it's enough."

"It's as I feared. He clouds your judgment. We can't stop dis ritual alone!"

"Are you listening to me? He could die!" Buffy shouted.

"He's a vampire. He should die. Why am I de only person who sees it?"

Buffy just stared at her a moment before turning around again and heading for the door with Willy in tow.

"Are you dat big a fool?"

Buffy didn't look back. She might feel sorry for Kendra, for her upbringing, but nothing was going to keep her from Spike. Angelus had already taken more than she was willing to give. Buffy didn't know what she would do if she lost Spike too.

Willy led her through Sunnydale to an abandoned church.

As she followed him inside he said, "Here ya go. Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

They went round a corner, and nearly ran into the female cop who had tried to kill Buffy earlier at school, and a vampire.

"Here ya go," Willy addressed the pair. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

A creepy looking man in a cheap business suit - whom Buffy assumed was Xander's bug guy - and another vampire blocked her escape.

Willy, the assassins, and the vampires escorted her into the church. There, in front of the altar, Spike and Drusilla hung from the ceiling, chained together. A knife had been thrust through their hands and there was a faint glimmer about the two of them.

"It's payday, pal. I got your Slayer," bragged Willy.

Angelus strode down the aisle to meet them, anger apparent in his face.

"Are ye mad, man? What are ye doin' bringin' her here, now?!"

"You said you wanted her," Willy reasoned.

Angelus only growled.

"Well, since she's here, we might as well have ourselves a little fun. After all, we wouldn't want Spike to go without a proper send off. Listnen' to his girl scream. Patrice?"

The cop took a knife out of her belt and handed it to Angelus. He took it smiling and placed the point of it at Buffy's throat. Then he slowly ran the knife down her collar bone - just barely nicking her - till it came to rest just above her breasts.

"Now, let's see-"

The doors to the church flew open and Kendra entered in a series of backflips that ended in a flying kick that knocked Angelus to the ground. Buffy used the distraction to rip herself free of the vampires that were holding her.

"Who the hell is this?!" Angelus snarled as he rolled to his feet.

Kendra grabbed him by the shirt.

"It's your lucky day, Angelus," Buffy said.

"Two Slayers." Kendra punched him.

"No waiting!" Buffy added a punch of her own.

Buffy noticed Patrice start to reach for her gun and turned to fight her, leaving Kendra to face Angelus. She kicked the woman's hand away from the gun. The lady cop extended her arms and a blade slid from each sleeve.

One of the vampires that had been holding her started to reach for her, but suddenly a bolt impaled him. Buffy glanced through the dust to see Giles enter the church with a crossbow. But there was no time for thanks. She was caught in a battle with Patrice.

She dodged the knives and landed a few blows of her own, but the woman was a good fighter. She managed to kick the cop back. Just then she saw Angelus knock Kendra to the floor. Kendra scrambled back up.

"Switch!" Buffy ordered.

She bent over as Kendra rolled over her back to face Patrice. Now Buffy was facing Angelus.

"Jealous?" Angelus asked her.

"Please." Buffy rolled her eyes as she blocked his punch.

She kicked him in the face, then against in the gut. He doubled over and fell to the floor. A third kick sent him flying into the pews.

As Angelus tried to disentangle himself, Buffy rushed to the altar and pulled the dagger out of Spike and Drusilla's hands. Then she started to untie them.

Before she could finish undoing the chains, Angelus tackled her from behind. He punched her as she tried to get up, knocking her back down. While she was down, Angelus grabbed a torch off the wall and threw it into a pile of drapes.

Buffy could hear Xander yell, "Look out!"

Angelus finished untying Drusilla and Spike and lifted Drusilla into his arms. Spike collapsed on the floor behind them. Buffy crawled over to him, but then she saw Angelus trying to make his escape. She got up and grabbed the censer from the altar and begun to swing it about her head. She launched it at Angelus, and it hit him in the back of the head. He stumbled into the organ, which collapsed under his weight.

"I'm good!" Buffy praised herself.

The rest of the organ collapsed on top of the vampiric couple. Bronze pipes clanged as they rolled all over the place.

Buffy turned her attention back to Spike. With Kendra's help she managed to get him out of the burning church. Buffy looked behind her at the wreckage they had left. With any luck that would be the last she saw of Angelus and Drusilla. In the mean time, she had a wounded vampire of her own to tend to.
Surprise (Part 1 of) by icemink
Chapter 30: Surprise (Part 1 of )

Buffy tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. She woke with a start and put her hand to her head. She turned on her lamp and let out a sigh. Then she picked up a glass from the night-stand, to drink. But the glass was empty, so she got up to refill it.

She walked down the hallway, unaware of Drusilla who walked silently behind her. Buffy opened the bathroom door and entered the Bronze. The room was crowded and somewhere the band played a soft ballad.

Willow was sitting at a table with a large cup of cappuccino and an organ grinder's monkey.

Willow spoke to the monkey, "L'hippo a pique' ses pantalons."

Willow smiled and waved at Buffy, who waved back. Then she saw her mother who was dressed up.

"Is it time?" her mother asked.

"What?" Buffy asked.

Her mother tried to pick up a champagne glass, but knocked it over. The sound of the glass shattering reverberated through the entire club. Her mother walked away.

Buffy looked around the room, and passed by Willow who was still talking to the monkey. Buffy pushed through the crowd to the stage, but there was no band playing. She turned around and saw Spike standing by the pool table. She smiled at him and he smiled back as he started to walk to her.

Suddenly Drusilla appeared behind him wearing her game face. Before Buffy could say anything, Drusilla thrust a stake into Spike's back.

"SPIKE!" Buffy screamed.

They reached out for each other but before Buffy could touch him, he turned to dust. The rings on his fingers clattered to the floor.

"Happy New Year, Buffy." Drusilla said.

Buffy sat upright in her bed, waking from her nightmare. Her heart was pounding. She could still feel the loss of Spike, even if it had only been a dream.

She showered and dressed quickly. Her mother was barely up when Buffy was out of the door. She had to check on Spike.

She ran to his apartment. She was about to knock on his door when she heard a moan and the sounds of a fight. Terrified that he was being hurt, Buffy burst through his door and stopped dead in her tracks.

Spike was sitting in his armchair in front of the TV. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his jeans were only halfway up his hips. He was stroking an erection with one hand. Her mouth hung open, her eyes were glued to the sight, until she heard her own voice coming from the TV.

"Buffy?!" Spike got up and tried to put his pants back on.

Buff ignored him for the moment, and walked around to where she could see the TV screen. Spike noticing where her attention had wandered, dove to turn it off. The set went off, but not before Buffy saw footage of her fighting a vampire. Judging by the clothes and the way she'd been wearing her hair, the video had been made sometime last year.

"Buffy. . . Look. . . this isn't. . . " Spike tried to think up an excuse.

Buffy couldn't help but giggle. She was pretty sure that if vampires could blush, Spike would be red as a beet.

"Was that. . ? Where did you get that video?" she asked.

"It's not what you think. I. . . last year, before we started training together, I filmed you, so I'd know how you fought. So I could train you better. That's all I swear." There was a comical look of terror on his face.

"And now you use them to. . . " Buffy's stern voice faltered.

She wasn't mad at Spike. It was kind of weird, but she was actually flattered. To know that he didn't look at other women when he was alone, but her. She really was his fantasy girl. She was what he thought about when he touched himself.

Himself. My what a big himself it was, too. Not that she had anything to compare him to. Suddenly she felt a little shy and nervous as she wondered how she could ever fit that much inside herself.

"Well I. . . What are you doing here this time of morning?" he tried to change the subject.

She wished she could get the subject back around to Spike's sexual practices, and his sexual parts, but didn't know how.

"Um. . . I-I had this. . . dream that Drusilla was alive." As soon as she spoke the words her fear and sorrow returned, driving away thoughts of Spike's body.

"What happened?"

"She killed you. Right in front of me." She felt like she might cry.

"Was it? Was it a Slayer dream, pet?" He put one hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I don't know. It felt so real, though. . ." she began to sob.

He pulled her close, and Buffy found her cheek pressed against his bare chest.

"It's okay, luv. I'm sure it was nothing. Just a dream." He stroked her hair.

She placed her hand against his chest. She was getting all quivery again. It was hard to be sad, hard to be frightened when she was being held tightly against that especially manly chest. Buffy was overcome with the desire to lick him. To taste his skin.

It was only when she heard him moan, "Buffy," that she realized that she'd actually done it.

"You're not mad at me?" he asked, shyly.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted any help," she said coyly. Then she was embarrassed by her brazenness "I mean, not that you need help. I'm sure you know what you're doing much better than mmm-"

He silenced her with a kiss. His tongue filled her open mouth, desperately seeking to explore her. She felt him sweep her up into his arms as her own tongue reached out for him. She gripped his shoulders tightly, unaware that her nails were biting into his skin.

He didn't break the kiss until he had laid her down on his bed. She gasped for breath as he looked deep in her eyes.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked. His hand untucked her shirt and his thumb began to trace circles on her stomach.

"I thought. . .I meant. . . "

"It's okay, baby. Just tell me what you want."

"I could touch you. . . you know, do what you were. . . doing."

He smiled at her. "Well. . . if that's what you want. . ." he was practically purring.

There was a hungry look in his eyes. The thought of getting him off, made Buffy squeeze her legs together. She was growing both tingly and wet down there.

He took her hand and placed it against the bulge in his jeans. Taking the cue, Buffy unfastened them and his cock spilled into her hands.

"Hoo," she exhaled as her fingers curled around his cool length.

He moaned, and caught her lower lip with his mouth. He began to kiss her gently. His hand closed over hers, and their hands began to move together.

"That's it. . . baby. Yeah. . . just like that," he murmured between kisses.

She pulled back from his kissing to ask "Is it good?"

"So good, baby. So soft. Your thumb. . ." his own thumb pushed hers up so that it ran over the head of his cock at the top of a stroke. "Just like that," he panted.

He took his hand away, and placed it on her inner thigh. He gripped her leg hard, and began to rub it. In response she squeezed him.

"Oh, God!" he cried, then he attacked her mouth. He was back to the desperate kisses they'd shared earlier. He rolled on top of her as he tried to devour her. He moaned as he kissed her, and he began to thrust against her hand.

She squeezed him tighter, and he gasped. His hand moved from her thigh to her ass, and he gripped her tightly.

"That's it. . . please yes. . . Buffy!

Her own excitement grew as she pumped him faster and faster. She found one of his legs between hers, and she began to rub herself against him. The friction of their bodies sent shivers all the way up her spine.

Suddenly he pulled away from her, rolling onto his back.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"God, no, pet. Everything right. Just didn't want to make a mess of your clothes."

"Oh." She hadn't really thought of that.

He reached across her to pull a black silken handkerchief out of the bedside table as he finished kicking off his pants. She took it from him. She felt a little silly because it took her a few tries to find a way to cover the tip of his cock, and still allow her to stroke him. As she did so, she sat up, straddling his leg again, needing the contact between their bodies.

She began to rub him and herself at the same time. She was almost disappointed at the rapid pace that he came. Still, hearing him scream her name, seeing his face contort with pleasure was wonderful. The only problem was that now that he was done, she felt silly rubbing herself against him.

She lay next to him. He took the handkerchief from her and discarded it. Then he put his arm under her head and played with her hair. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and began to purr. His other hand rested on her thigh and he began to caress it with his thumb.

"Now how am I ever going to pay you back for that?" he asked rhetorically.

Slowly his hand slid up her thigh. Instinctively, she pulled apart her legs to make room for his hand.

The tips of his fingers ran lightly over the crotch of her panties, sending little tingles through her. He began to trace little circles on the fabric. She tried pressing herself against him, but he pulled his hand back. She whimpered.

"Do me a favor, luv?" he asked.

She was willing to do anything he wanted, as long as it would get him touching her again, so she nodded.

"Suck on my finger. Get it nice and wet."

He proffered the finger to her, and she took it in her mouth and sucked hard on it. She never would have thought that that could be such a deliciously dirty act. He pulled it slowly from her mouth, then his hand was back between her legs.

He slipped his hand in the waistband of her panties, and slipped them down around her legs. Then for the first time he was touching her down there without anything between them. She gasped as his finger gently spread her folds open. Then he gently slipped his damp finger inside her.

She inhaled sharply. She'd never felt anything fill her before. Slowly he began to move his finger in and out of her.

"Oh boy," she exhaled. Suddenly she was aware she'd been holding her breath.

She closed her eyes as the new feelings started to spread through her.

"Hey now," Spike called softly to her. "None of that. Look at me."

Her eyes flew open and she found herself caught in his cerulean eyes, and the desire she saw reflected in them. Time seemed to stop as she gazed lovingly into his eyes. Then a second finger entered her. She gasped.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Wonderful," she breathed as she began to move slowly in time to him.

His thumb then brushed lightly against her clit.

"Ahhh," she cried as sparks flew up to her womb.

He smiled wickedly at her, then his mouth caught hers in a kiss as his thumb began to rub her clit. As soon as he began to kiss her, she rolled up against him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and dug her fingers into him.

He began to increase his speed, and she gladly pushed harder and harder against him. She felt like that ball of sparks that had been growing inside her was going to explode. She needed it to. It was more sensation than she'd ever felt in her life. She loved it, and yet was overwhelmed by it.

He mouth tore away from Spike's as she screamed, "YES! Spike!"

Her whole body seemed to shake as she exploded. She couldn't breath, couldn't control her body as she bucked against Spike's hand.

As the world came back into focus, she gasped for breath. Spike pulled his fingers out of her, leaving a tingly trail down her insides.

"Wow," she said.

He smiled at her, his tongue peeking out between his teeth. Suddenly she could think of all sorts of things that tongue might do to her, and another tremor ran down her body.

"You like that, luv?" he teased her.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. Sentences were definitely beyond her at the moment.

He put his fingers in his mouth, and sucked her juices off of them.

He chuckled. "Good to know I haven't lost my touch."

"No, touching was of the good." She smiled up at him and snuggled against his bare chest.

She was just considering if maybe she should be a little nakeder herself, when Spike yawned.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Oh man. It's time for you to be sleeping, isn't it? I should get going anyway. My mom will wonder where I ran off to this early in the morning. You're coming tonight, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"I know it's kind of last minute, and I should of thought of it before, but does Robin want to come? We could introduce him as. . . Well, I don't know, but we could think of something."

He laughed. "What kind of teenager are you anyway, pet? Robin made up some excuse about spending the New Year looking for vampires preying off of partygoers, but I'm pretty sure he just doesn't want to be saddled with the old man."

"You're not so old. Well, okay, technically you're ancient, but you're cool. I think he's silly."

Spike yawned again. "Thanks pet, nice to know that I'm a hip cradle-robber." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "See ya tonight."
Surprise (Part 2 of 2) by icemink
Chapter 31: Surprise (Part 2 of 2)

A/N My website's moved. It's now at http://www.dark-desire.org/ld/ Thanks to Mandi for hosting me, and making me a wonderful new banner.

New Years Eve was possibly the longest day of Buffy's life. Even Christmas Eve when she was a child hadn't taken this long. Her mother was letting her have a small gathering. Xander, Willow, and Spike were coming over for a night of movies and snacks.

It wasn't a night of movie watching that had Buffy all excited. It was seeing Spike again. Or rather touching him again. Her whole body seemed to ache with lack of being touched. At the same time it was almost as if phantom fingers moved over her.

When she was alone she would curl her fingers, and try and remember the feel of him in her hands. The thought of his naked body made her mouth water.

She had made up her mind. After the party she and Spike were supposed to patrol and protect the late night revelers. After that, she planned on going back to Spike's apartment with him and spending the night. She was ready; more than that, she thought if she didn't go all the way with Spike soon she'd go nuts.

As evening approached, she changed into her favorite little black dress. As she came out of her room, she nearly walked into her mother who had also changed.

"Mom? When'd you get that dress?"

"Oh, just the other day. I know it's silly. I'm not going out tonight or anything. Just playing chaperone. Still, I'm used to dressing up for New Year's. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's nice."

Terror hit Buffy. She'd seen that dress before, but not in a mall or a shopping bag. In her dream; the dream where Spike died. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't the same dress, that she just didn't remember the dress in the dream and had substituted in her mother's new dress. But she couldn't convince herself. Waiting for Spike became all the more difficult.

If waiting for Spike to get there was bad, things were worse when he arrived. Seeing him, but not being able to touch him was worse. Her mother kept a hawk's eyes on her. Buffy was afraid to even hold his hand under her mom's watchful gaze.

Still, slow as it seemed, time did crawl by. Finally it was 11:58 and they paused the movie.

"Mom!" Buffy went into the kitchen to get her for the big moment.

"Is it time?" her mother asked.

She reached for her champagne glass and knocked it over. It shattered on the floor.

"Buffy? Buffy?" her mother said.

Buffy didn't hear her. It was identical to her dream. Something awful was going to happen tonight. Spike was going to die. Drusilla was going to kill him. Buffy didn't know what to do.

"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," her mother asked.

"I. . . Um? Right, sorry. The glass. Just startled me is all. It's almost time."

They went back into the living room and counted down to midnight with the others. Then they finished watching the movie and everyone left. Well except Spike who only pretended to leave; she knew he was really waiting outside for her under the tree.

She pretended to be really sleepy and wished her mother a good night as soon as they all left. She wanted to rush out the widow right away, but she was afraid her mother might check on her. On the other hand, she was also afraid that Drusilla would appear at one end of the street and stake Spike right in front of her.

Finally, she could take it no more and she shimmied out the window and down to the ground.

"Spike!" she whispered sharply.

"Here, pet. Afraid I wouldn't wait?"

She threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"You're all right."

"Yeah, but it's a good thing I don't need to breathe."

"Sorry," she reluctantly let him go. "Remember that dream I told you about. The one in which you died?" He nodded. "Well, my mom was in it, wearing the same dress she wore tonight, and she said, 'Is it time,' and knocked over a glass."

"Not sure I follow."

"She did it in the dream; tonight she did it for real. The two scenes were identical. You're in danger, Spike. We need to. . . I don't know, but we have to be careful."

"You don't want to go patrolling tonight?"

"Yeah, that would be bad. That's just asking for trouble."

"Look, Buffy, it's a big night. Lot's of vampires will be out."

"So I'll go, and you go inside. Wait for me in my room. You'll be safe there. You're the only vampire who has an invite." He looked like he was about to protest. "Please?" she begged.

He gave in. "Be safe."

Even knowing Spike was inside her house, she worried about him as she patrolled. She did her patrol as quickly as she could. Spike was right. It was a big night. She made a pass by the clubs and bars and must have found half a dozen vampires, each a solitary hunter.

Having decided she'd done her sacred duty for the night, she rushed back home. She found him lying safely in her bed reading, of all things, her English book. He looked up as she came in and put the book aside. She got on the bed with him, and hugged him.

"How'd it go?" he asked her in a hushed voice.

"Okay," she whispered back. "I think I staked six or so. You're all right?"

"Of course. Safe as houses. Nothing to worry about, luv. Really. I'll be fine."

"It's just Angelus almost killed you with that ritual. I'm so scared I'll lose you. And I had all these plans tonight and. . . "

"What sort of plans? I hope you weren't planning on a midnight rendezvous with some handsome devil?" he said with mock offense.

"As a matter of fact, I was," she teased.

She couldn't help but smile. Spike always made her smile. It's part of what she loved about him.

"And what were you and this gentleman of questionable character going to do?" he interrogated her.

"I thought. . . I mean. . . I wanted to, after patrol that is. . . go back to your place and stay the night?"

"And sleep?"

"Eventually. I wanted to. . . you know."

"Think I do. But I need to hear you say it. If you can't say it, pet, you're not ready."

"I want to make love to you. Or am I suppose to say-" he interrupted her with a kiss.

"That'll do just fine," he told her with a smile.

They snuck back out the window and headed back to his place. He had his arm around her, as she pressed herself against him, keeping a look out for anyone or anything dangerous.

As soon as they got inside his apartment, he swept her off her feet and began kissing her. He moved her over to the bed and laid her down on it.

"We don't have to do this," he told her. "If you're not ready-"

"I'm ready. I'm beyond ready." She grabbed his belt and pulled him closer to her. She was scared he'd think she was just a kid, so she tried to act sure of herself. "I want your. . ?" she giggled. Shlong had been the first word to enter her mind. "What am I supposed to call it?" So much for her attempt to act grown up.

He smiled at her and threw his duster across the room. "Little Spike, you mean?"

She giggled again. "Yeah. See, I don't get that. I mean, there's the whole size thing, so why call it little whoever. Doesn't make sense."

He put his knee on the bed next to her; before he fully straddled her. "Don't know. Just do."

He put his hands on either side of her head as she lay against the sheets, finally on his hands and knees above her. Then he bent down to kiss her lightly.

"Say 'dick'," he told her.

She smiled. "Dick," she dutifully repeated and was rewarded with another kiss. This one deeper than the last.

"Say 'cock'."

"Cock."

He kissed her again.

"Say. . . 'little Spike'"

"Little Spike." She giggled on that one.

"Stick with cock."

He lay down on top of her and kissed her. This was the longest kiss of the night. He placed his hand on her cheek then moved it down her body. He gave her breast a little squeeze as it passed over the first mound, then down to her back, her ass, and then thigh. Finally he hooked her leg around his waist. The kiss only ended when she had to break gasping for air.

"And what is it you wanted to do with my cock?" he asked her, the huskiness of his voice sparking little shivers along her scalp.

"I want to hold it," she slid her hand down his chest to cup the growing bulge in his jeans. "Then I want you to put it inside me."

He growled at her, then began to kiss her even more insistently than before. She released his denim-clad cock so that she could undo his zipper. His hard member spilled into her hand and he whimpered with pleasure as she gave it a squeeze. Then, she pushed him back and ended the kiss.

"I want to undress you." Suddenly she was scared she was being too forward. "If that's okay?" she quickly added.

He chuckled, a deep throaty chuckle.

"Anything you want, pet."

She lifted his shirt up off his head, making sure to run her palms all over his chest. She looked at him for a moment - shirtless and with his erection sticking out of the black jeans. It was maybe the yummiest sight she'd ever seen. It made her fingers itch and her mouth water.

She grabbed his belt and unfastened it then began to slide his jeans off of his legs. She couldn't help but admire his well-muscled legs. She'd been too distracted by his cock earlier that morning to take in the rest of him, and the rest was very nice, too.

Then she realized her mistake. She'd forgotten about his boots. She plucked at the laces and pulled them off, then threw the offending footwear aside. She finished with the pants, then looked at her work. He was gorgeous; she wanted to lick him from head to toe.

Before she'd had all the time she wanted to ogle him, he smiled wickedly at her and asked, "My turn?"

She nodded, still enraptured by the way his abs met the dark hair above his cock.

He reached for her and spun her around so that he was behind her. He lifted her hair up and kissed her neck. Then he began to unzip her dress, kissing and tasting her back as he revealed each section of it. She was jealous. Why hadn't she thought about doing that to him?

He pulled the dress over her head and then pressed himself against her back. She felt his erection press against her ass and she moved against him slowly. His hands gripped her hips tightly and he moaned as he dipped his head to kiss her neck again.

He slipped the straps of her bra off her shoulders - onc at a time - kissing each shoulder as he did so. His undid the clasp, removed the bra, and tossed it across the room. Then he cupped her breasts. As he did so, he shifted lower so that his cock was now between her legs and began to rub himself against her.

He rolled her breasts in his hands, his thumbs playing with her nipples as his mouth began to work at her neck again. As he did so he mumbled a series of compliments, "So beautiful, so good, Buffy."

She began to move with him. The tip of his cock pressed against her folds, teased her opening, becoming slick with her juices. She reached around behind them to grab his ass with each hand.

"Oh god! Buffy!" he panted.

One of his hands caressed down her torso, allowing one of his fingers to slip inside of her.

"Spike," she gasped.

"Do you like that?" he asked.

"Yes. More," she ordered.

A second finger entered her, spreading her further. She began to move harder against his fingers, eager for the sensations they'd filled her with earlier. She squeezed his ass harder. Then to her disappointment he pulled his fingers out and pulled back from her.

She whimpered in disappointment, and released his ass as she looked over her shoulder in confusion at him. He put his fingers to his mouth and sucked her juices off of them.

"Lie down," he told her.

Eagerly she did so, excited and nervous about what was coming next. Shyly, she opened her legs for him. He lay across her and kissed her deeply; his tongue explored her as if they'd never kissed before. His fingers went back inside her, and began stroking her inside again.

Once again he began to kiss his way down her body. This time from the front. When he reached her breasts he took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked on it. He lightly bit her nipple and her hips surged up off the bed.

"OOOOOH!" she screamed with surprise as her whole body shook with the force of the unexpected orgasm.

When her eyes refocused, she found Spike grinning wickedly at her.

"Well, well, well. Isn't that interesting?" he drawled.

Then he sucked her other nipple into his mouth. After a moment he began to kiss his way lower down her body. Suddenly it occurred to her just what he intended to do.

"That's okay. . . you don't have to. . . "

He looked up, "Want to."

Then his head was between her thighs. He pulled her legs over his shoulders while his fingers continued to work her pussy. Now his thumb moved aside and he blew a shot of air against her clit. She gasped in delight at the sensation; his cold, wet tongue was on her. Sucking her, licking her, worshiping her.

Her body had become so sensitive to his slightest touch that another orgasm was on her almost instantly. She dug her heels into his back as her hands clutched the sheets. She had to push back with everything she had at the feelings that exploded with in her. It was too much. It was unbearable, yet wonderful all at once. His mouth on her was better than anything she'd ever imagined.

When she finally regained control of her limbs, she released the vice grip her legs had on his upper body. As her legs fell away to the sides, she saw two purple bruises on his back, where her heels had been.

"Oh my God. I hurt you." She was horrified. She'd let herself be just a girl for one evening, forgotten she was the Slayer, and she had hurt Spike.

He chuckled and crawled up her body like a jungle cat. Once again he sucked her juices off of his fingers.

"Aren't you the wild one?" She blushed at his words. "Don't worry about it, pet. Nothing wrong with a little pain. You sure seemed to like the nip I gave you earlier."

He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her. She could taste herself on his tongue as it snaked its way into her mouth. His other hand fell to her breast, and her legs wrapped around his waist. She rubbed herself up and down the length of his cock.

She broke off the kiss, gasping for air.

"So, are we going to do this or not?" she teased.

"You got somewhere else to be?" he asked.

He pressed the base of his cock against her clit, eliciting another tortured moan from her.

"I don't want to be anywhere that's not touching you," she said.

He began nuzzling her neck as his hands roamed over her body. She closed her eyes and simply enjoyed his touch.

"Are you stalling?" she asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Staling. Putting off the, well, the actual sex. Don't you want to?"

"Oh god, Buffy. I want you so badly, but I don't want to rush you."

She laughed. "We are so past rushing. I'm ready, Spike. I want you. I feel this empty place that you were just made to fit." She paused then looked him right in the eyes. "I love you."

"Love you too, pet. So much it scares me at times."

He kissed her slowly and deeply as his body shifted above her. Then she felt the tip of his cock at her entrance. He pulled back to look at her, his eyes warning her that he was about to begin. Slowly, gently he pushed his way inside her.

She gasped for breath, it was as if he was forcing the air out of her as his cock filled her. It was a little painful, being stretched like that, but it was also wonderful. It fulfilled some unnamed need in her.

He paused. "I'm sorry, pet. This next bit's going to hurt."

She nodded. She didn't have breath to answer verbally. Her insides were fluttering about widely.

"Ah," she cried.

Her fingers dug into his shoulder. She knew it was supposed to hurt, but she was the Slayer, she thought she'd be ready for it. She wasn't. It was over in a moment though, and Spike was inside her up to the hilt. She looked at Spike and saw that his eyes had gone from blue to gold.

More than almost anything that excited her. She didn't care about the pain. Spike had vamped. That loss of self-control on his part made if feel - for the first time - like he was really as passionate about her as she was about him.

He began to move in and out of her slowly. The vacuum that he left when he pulled out made her tingle all over, until she was completed by him filling her once again.

"So good, so hot, so tight," he panted.

Her body began to move in tune to his rhythm. She began to lose herself in his movements. Each time he thrust into her his pelvic bone grazed her clit, sending sparks up her spine. She began to urge him to move a little faster.

His words became unintelligible moans. A sense of triumph went through her at the thought that she was finally making him lose control, that he enjoyed her as much as she enjoyed him. Then her thoughts disappeared as the slow build inside of her burst.

Her body jerked and writhed beneath him as she pulled him over the edge with her. When she stilled, he lay quiet on top of her. After a moment he pushed himself up on his arms.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Perfect," she said with a smile.

Then she realized that something was bothering him.

"What's wrong? Is it me? Did I. . ? Was it not good?"

"No, luv. Nothing like that. You were, you are, wonderful. Nothing's wrong. Promise."

She didn't believe him. Something was wrong. She studied his face for a minute, the golden eyes, the amazing cheekbones, the fangs. Then it hit her.

"Is it the blood? I mean, is there blood?" she asked.

A look that she thought might be shame, crossed his face.

"It's okay," she reassured him. "If you want to. . . taste it. I don't mind. If you want to lick me?" she was still a little embarrassed by the words. And she wondered if he knew that it was partly a selfish request.

She certainly didn't mind him tasting her blood, and the thought of him licking her again down there, made her quiver.

"It really is okay. About the blood. If you want."

He waited a moment, then slowly pulled out of her. He moved down her body one more time, and buried his face back between her legs.

She surrendered once again to the pleasure as he renewed her memory of all power of his mouth. No, she didn't mind him tasting her blood at all.
Innocence (Part 1 of) by icemink
Chapter 32: Innocence (Part 1 of )

Warning: The next several chapters are much darker and violent than the preceding ones have been. Spike is going to do some not nice things and there is some Spike/Drusilla

A/N My laptop has been damaged, where I had all the e-mail addresses of people who wanted updates by e-mail. So I’ve lost all those addresses. If you were on that list, sorry that you didn’t get told about this update, and please send me your e-mail again so I can reconstruct the list. My e-mail is icemink@mac.com.

Slowly, bit by bit, it all fell away. The pain, the confusion, the disgust and loathing that had been a constant part of Spike's life since he had regained his soul. It was hard to feel any of that when he was cloaked in Buffy's scent and covered with her warmth.

He looked at her sleeping face, where she lay curled in his arms, and for the first time in his existence he felt truly loved. Peace settled over him and he was still.

Suddenly there was pain, like he was being ripped apart inside. He pulled himself up and away from the bed, careful not to disturb her. The pain intensified and he fell to his knees. Not knowing what was wrong, but not wanting to worry Buffy, he stumbled out of the small flat into the night.

As the cool, welcoming evening greeted him, he screamed. It was as if a fiery hand was ripping something out of him. Then it was gone. The pain subsided, and he was still again.

"Hey? You okay?" a woman asked, looking at him warily. "You want me to call 911?"

He rose slowly to his feet. Not because he was unsure, but because he was remembering. Remembering what it was to be a vampire. For a hundred years the demon within him had been caged, forced to sit on the sidelines with no control of the life he led. Now it was free again.

He moved on pure instinct. He was across the alley in the blink of an eye and his fangs descended into the woman's tender neck. Her body convulsed for just a second, then he let her go. Her body hit the ground with a wet thud. She was already forgotten by Spike. Hot human blood coursed through his body. There was no guilt, no shame. Killer, murderer, demon. The words greeted him like old friends.

And there, deep down, he could feel her. Drusilla. Calling to him. It wasn't new. The call of his sire had never vanished, but he had learned the hard way that he would not be welcomed home. Things were different now.

He had nearly left the alley when he stepped on a broken bottle and cut his foot. Annoyed, he returned to his flat to dress. As he went back inside he tried to avoid looking at the sleeping figure on his bed, but her heartbeat called to him.

He stood over her, looking down at her innocent sleeping form. He could reach out and snap her neck before she knew what happened. Or, he could crawl back in the bed with her and simply sink his fangs into her. She would wake, but it would be too late. She'd be too weak. He'd hold her captive in his arms as the life drained out of her into him.

But he didn't do either of those things. His hand hovered above her for long moments. Then he turned away and grabbed his duster. He started to put it on, then stopped. Nikki's coat. The symbol of the tragic farce that he had lived for the last hundred years. He threw the coat back on the floor and left his old life behind.

Instinct was driving him again. She was out there, calling to him, brining him home. He found himself at a factory. A fledgling was doing a poor job of standing guard. The young vampire saw and recognized Spike a moment to late.

Spike punched the minion sending him through the door he had been guarding.

"Good to know some things never change," Spike announced as he stepped over the body of the fledgling. "It's still hard to find good help."

"Spike!" Angelus shouted.

Spike couldn't help but smile when he saw that his grandsire was bound to a wheelchair.

"Do we have any guards at all?" Angelus shouted.

"William?" Drusilla asked. "He's come back. My knight has come back."

She clapped her hands and dashed up the stairs. She threw her arms around Spike.

"Daddy, look. We're a family again."

Spike grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her hard.

"That's right, baby. I'm back," he told her.

He took her hand and led her down the stairs and looked around.

"What's with the funny boxes?" he asked.

"They're for my party," Drusilla said. "It's going to be the best party, the last party."

Spike moved to open one of the oddly shaped boxes and look inside, when Angelus reached over and stopped him.

"Now how do we know it's really you, me boy?"

Spike looked around the room, finding the source of the erratic heartbeat he heard. A young girl was huddled in one corner. There were no chains holding her; they weren't needed. She was too terrified to move. Spike hauled the girl to her feet and sunk his fangs into her neck.

Drusilla pulled on his arm. "Now, now. None of that. She's for Daddy. Don't you know what happens when you take Daddy's treats?"

He released the sobbing girl.

"Just making a point, Dru," he reassured her.

Angelus laughed. "Well, it seems we have cause to celebrate after all."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy stretched as she slowly came awake. As she remembered where she was she rolled over looking for Spike. The warm satisfied feeling she had began to dissipate as she realized he wasn't there.

She pulled the blanket up off the bed and wrapped it around her as she looked around the small apartment for Spike. He wasn't there. She returned to the bedroom to retrieve her clothes. As she began searching out her clothes, she stumbled across Spike's duster lying on the floor. Panic filled her; Spike never went anywhere without his duster.

She picked it up and shook it out. She clutched it to her and ran through the apartment again. This time she wasn't looking for a vampire, but a pile of dust. To her relief, although there was some dust, it wasn't enough - or piled the right way - to account for a vampire.

She finished getting dressed and started to head outside when she realized that the sun had just come up and that she wouldn't find him out there. She knew there was a sewer entrance from within the apartment building, but she had no way of tracking Spike through the sewers, if that was even where he'd gone.

Feeling helpless, Buffy retreated back inside and sat in Spike's armchair. She hugged his duster close to her and breathed in its scent. Leather and smoke and Spike. She didn't know whether the coat smelled like him or he smelled like the coat. It was supposed to comfort her. The scent, the texture. But it didn't. Instead, Buffy's mind spun helplessly from one horrible scenario to another.

Time dragged by at a monstrously slow pace and there was no sign of Spike. Finally Buffy realized that it was late enough in the day that if she didn't get home soon, her mother would realized that she had been out all night. Reluctantly, she left Spike's place and headed home.

The rest of the day passed in a worried haze. Buffy got home and made sure to make an appearance in her pajamas, so her mother wouldn't suspect she'd been out all night. She hung around her house long enough to grab some lunch, then she disappeared into the bright streets of Sunnydale to search for her missing lover.

She went all over town. Visited everyone whom she knew Spike knew. Even if she couldn't possibly come up with a reason why Spike would visit Xander's house, she checked anyway. No one had seen him. She broadened her search to the demon bars, and anyplace she thought Spike might possibly visit. There was still no sign of him.

Finally, exhausted, she returned to his apartment. Her only hope left was that he would come back soon. Of course she knew that he was unlikely to return before sundown. She hoped and prayed that he'd just been trapped somewhere by the rising sun.

After hours spent jumping at the smallest sound in hopes that it would be Spike, she almost didn't notice when the door opened.

"SPIKE!" she cried with relief as she vaulted his furniture to envelop him in a hug.

"Hey, pet. Something up?" he asked.

She released him from the hug to look up into his eyes.

"I've been worried sick about you. Where have you been? I was so worried."

"Got trapped by the sun. Didn't mean to worry you."

"Where'd you go? Why'd you leave?" Suddenly she was worried that she was being too pushy. Too controlling. She didn't want to become the psycho-girlfriend who always had to keep tabs on her boyfriend.

"Just needed some air. Space to think. Last night. . . it was a life changing sort of thing, wasn't it?"

Buffy smiled in relief. "Yeah, it really was. So it was good and all?"

"Bloody amazing."

"I'm sorry about the wiggins. I was just scared I'd lost you. I don't want to be apart from you. Ever."

She hugged him again.

"Don't worry, Buffy," he whispered into her hair. "We're going to be together forever," he murmured as the back of his hand ran down her throat.
Innocence (Part 2 of 2) by icemink
Chapter 33: Innocence (Part 2 of 2)

He felt like an idiot. He'd spent every moment since last night trying to drive thoughts of Buffy out of his mind, but never once had it occurred to him that his disappearance might hurt her. Of course he'd mostly been trying to forget her.

She was the Slayer; he was a vampire. There relationship should have been simple, clean. Kill or be killed. But it wasn't. Nothing was simple anymore.

He'd returned to his sire, his dark princess, his savior and she'd greeted him with open arms. But it wasn't enough. He had taken her over and over, trying to exorcise from his body the memory of the Slayer; it didn't work.

Then the solution had come to him. It was obvious; simple. If he couldn't rid himself of his desire for the Slayer, he'd make her his.

His arms still around Buffy, he moved her towards his old bed. He sat her down and brushed her hair off of her face and back behind her ears.

"It's going to be okay," he told her.

He leaned forward to kiss her and she caught his mouth with hers. He began to kiss her passionately as he lay her back on the bed. Her legs wrapped themselves around his waist as she began to move against him.

He was delighted by how quickly she responded to him. How eager she was for him. The magnificent scent of her arousal hit him, and he was filled with fantasies about what it would be like to have her as his childe.

His hands moved to her shoulders, and he ran them up her arms, loosing her hold on him as he raised her arms above their heads. He tangled his fingers in hers and held her down. He broke off from her eager kisses to nuzzle her neck.

She giggled his name, "Spike."

His fangs sank into her neck. He bit her gently, wanting to enjoy the elixir that was her blood. She cried out, first with surprise, then with pleasure. She writhed beneath him, but not because she was trying to escape him, she trusted him as completely as she had the night before.

As the blood began to pour down his throat, so did the doubt and the fear. He remembered what it had been like to have her as a childe in the nightmare they had shared. The love and devotion that had poured through their bond. But he also remembered that in that transformation she had kept her soul. His mind began to twist with possibilities as he began to doubted what he was doing.

What if she ended up like his mother? What if the demon turned on him? Rejected him? What if when her soul was gone he lost whatever it was he loved in her?

Her heartbeat began to weaken, her legs released their hold on him, and she called out his name, the smallest edge of doubt in her voice. Still she trusted him.

It was the trust that made him stop. He wasn’t sure that anyone had put that kind of complete trust in him before.He let go of her and stumbled back into the doorway. Her hand fluttered to her neck.

"Spike?" confusion and a hint of fear crept into her voice.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered under his breath as he backed away from her, his features reverting back to human.

She tried to rise to follow him, but was light headed and sank back down on the bed.

He ran from the flat. He needed to kill, not for sustinence, the Slayer blood pumpping through his veins would fuel him for a while, but the demon demanded a sacriice in lieu of the slayer. As he burst into the hallway, he nearly knocked over Jenny Calendar. Confused he looked at her, wondering what Rupert's bird would be doing at his place.

Then he smelled her fear. She had never been afraid of him before. In fact, she usually seemed rather curious about Spike, like he was a specimen under glass.

"Uh, hi. Spike. You're home," she stuttered as she backed away from him.

He slammed his hand against the wall near her head, stopping her from moving any further toward the exit.

"You know," he growled. "How?" He wasn't sure that she did, but he was willing to gamble that something was going on here.

"I. . . uh."

The terror in her eyes clearly showed he was correct.

"Shhh, it's okay," he softened. "Not going to hurt you. Just tell me what you know." When she still didn't answer he smiled at her and said, "Then I guess we'll go see Rupert. Can't promise I won't hurt him though."

She nodded in understanding and swallowed hard.

"I'm a gypsy. From the same clan that cursed you." She stopped for a moment, trying to judge Spike's reaction.

"Go on."

"We. . . I was sent to watch you. To make sure that you. . . that you still suffered." Suddenly she started to talk very rapidly. "I didn't know, I swear. They never told me that the curse could be broken, and you were doing so much good and-"

"Back up. How exactly was the curse broken?"

"The curse was supposed to make you suffer, so if you ever stopped suffering, if you ever experienced one moment of perfect happiness. . ." her voice trailed off.

Spike began to laugh. Not just a little. Loud hysterical laughter gripped him as he pulled away from the terrified teacher. He stumbled down the hallway towards the exit. He stopped for a moment, still gripping his stomach and bracing himself against the wall.

"You may want to call a doctor," he told the teacher as he nodded in the direction of the door to his flat.

A look of understanding crossed her face and she ran for the door, calling worriedly for Buffy.

Despite his desire to kill, he let her go. After all Sunnydale was an all night buffet. Besides he figured Jenny was going to have to come clean about her secrets now. He wanted, needed to know how they would deal with a traitor in their midst.

And he knew Buffy, knew her heart. Attacking her wouldn’t be enough to turn her against him. She expected to die, to give her life for others. She would fight him if she had to, but she wouldn’t have it in her to kill him, not yet. But if he killed someone close to her, that would be it. She would come for him then, and he wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

Spike chuckled, tried to regain some of his composure, and then stumbled back off into the night.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Jenny Calendar burst through the door of Spike's apartment, scared of what she might find. She'd been searching for Buffy all day, ever since her uncle had come to see her. In typical fashion he hadn't simply told her why he had come, but started by lecturing her on vengeance, the cause to which they had dedicated themselves.

She had tried to argue with him, to explain that Spike had become a warrior for good. That their vengeance may have led to something greater. But he wouldn't listen. Besides, he had told her it no longer mattered; the curse had been broken. Spike had lost his soul.

Jenny had been shocked. Although her people had sent her to watch Spike, to make sure he suffered and the curse held, they had never told her the curse could be broken. It was typical. She had been chosen because she was more American, she would blend in and no one would suspect her true purpose. But for all those reasons her people had never entrusted her with all the facts of her mission. She could have prevented this if she had only known. But it was too late now for such regrets.

Inside she found Buffy clutching her neck and stumbling out of the bedroom.

"Ms. Calendar?" she asked weekly.

"It's going to be okay," Jenny tried to reassure the teenager. "We'll get you to a hospital and-"

"No, I'm fine. We have to. . . Something's wrong with Spike. We have to help him."

Jenny's heart broke for the young girl.

"I don't think we can, Buffy. He's lost his soul. We should really get you to a doctor."

"No, Giles. If something's happened to Spike, Giles'll know what to do."

"Alright, but if he says you need a doctor, you'll go?"

Buffy nodded. Jenny helped the girl to her car. Seeing Rupert right now would be a mixed blessing. Jenny knew that she had to come clean, admit that she had been lying to him about who she was. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, but it would be better to get it over with.

They drove in silence to Rupert's apartment. Buffy stared vacantly out the window, focused on some far distant point.

"My God, Buffy. What happened?" Rupert Giles (he isn’t Rupert to her.)asked when he opened his door to them.

Buffy answered him by collapsing against him and breaking down into tears. Awkwardly, Rupert put his arms around her.

"There, there," he muttered as he pulled her inside, and giving Jenny a puzzled look.

She smiled weakly at him. Despite his uncomfortableness with the burst of emotion from the teenage girl, Jenny couldn't help but once again be touched by the paternal concern he had for his Slayer.

They had spent long hours talking about the children who occupied so much of their lives. They both shared childhoods that had been dominated by parents who had clear ideas of what their children should do-- and how they should do it. They had grown up constantly comparing themselves to their parent’s notions of who they should be.

But the California teenagers who had entered their lives had parents who were so wrapped up in their own lives that they let their children run around and do as they liked. They ran around fighting the forces of darkness and none of their parents were aware of it. Buffy was the only one who even had to take pains to keep her mother from finding out. Rupert Jenny and Giles had found themselves filling a role somewhere in between parent, mentor, and friend.

Now Rupert found himself clearly expected to fill the role of father-- but without the benefit of vast experiences of skinned knees and monster's under the bed-- to guide him.

He guided Buffy to the couch, without being able unable to get anything intelligible out of her. Jenny sat down near them and took a deep breath. It was time for Jenny to tell them the truth, to tell them who she really was. She only hoped she'd still have a place among them when she was done.


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