Chapter One
She stared into the mirror at her reflection. The long, protruding scar that ran down the right side of her face made her look away. She hated mirrors.
She secured her hair tie at the bottom of her long, blonde braid. Her style of choice, or lack thereof. What did she care, she was only on this earth for one reason, to kill. Who cared if she looked pretty, the vamps and demons sure didn’t.
She threw on a pair of black cargo pants and a black tank top and walked out of her empty house and headed off toward Restfield, her first stop on her nightly patrol.
Buffy walked slowly through the cemetery. Her hand gripped her stake securely and her eyes scanned the area for something to kill. She could remember when she first became the slayer, how scared she was. It was odd how slaying used to scare her whereas now it thrilled and excited her, it was the only thing that thrilled and excited her. Merrick was there the first time she slayed, guiding her, teaching her to not be afraid. At the thought of her first and only watcher, she felt a pang of sadness but quickly shoved it down.
‘Wouldn’t do good to dwell on the past, can’t change it, now can I?’ She thought. She was about to make a reply to herself when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, signaling the presence of a vampire. She looked over to her right. ‘Make that four vampires,’ she thought with unhidden glee.
She didn’t bother to let them come to her, she ran towards them like a coiled spring and unloaded on the first unsuspecting vampire with a fast blow to the chest, effectively dusting him.
The other three vampires turned toward her and lunged but Buffy didn’t back down. She kicked one square in the chest, sending him flying. She turned quickly to grab another by the throat, savagely ripping his head from his body. The fourth vamp, shocked at the Slayer’s savagery, hesitated on whether to attack or run away, Buffy took the opportunity to throw her stake right into his chest, dusting him.
The vamp she kicked was making a run for it, which put a predatory grin on Buffy’s face as she gave chase. She caught up with him at the gates, tackling him from behind. Buffy turned him on his back and started pummeling his face. She could feel his bones breaking and blood splattering on her face, hands, and chest. Yet she kept hitting and hitting. She could feel the anger swirling inside of her and put it all on the vampire beneath her. With every connection of her fist to his face, she could feel the anger slowly draining away but she knew it would only get replaced by empty despair.
She panted heavily when she stopped hitting him and stared down at the mess she created. The vampire was unconscious, his face twisted into a bloody mess, almost unrecognizable. She staked him so she wouldn’t have to look at him anymore.
Standing up, she stared down at her hands. They were covered in blood and were trembling. Her shirt and face were splattered with blood. Sometimes the anger inside of her scared her. Most of the time she was calm, eerily calm most people thought, but when she slayed, she could feel the change within her. When she slayed she became a predator, hunter, killer. Those words used to bother her but now, they were just a reality, a part of her existence.
She quieted her inner dialogue and took one last look for anymore vampires, seeing none. She wiped her hands in the grass and took off to find more demons to kill. She never noticed the shadow beside the tree, nor did she see it step out and watch her leave.
He stared down at the blood smeared in the grass, replaying the girl’s savagery over in his head and thought aloud,
“What an animal.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Willow, Xander, and Tara sat at a corner table in the Bronze, they were there to listen to the latest band to come to Sunnydale but, really, they were hoping Buffy would show, even though she rarely did.
“I-I don’t think she’ll show.” Tara spoke, breaking the silence.
“She might, maybe she’ll want to dance or get a drink. Maybe she’ll want to hang.” Willow replied with pseudo perkiness, she knew Buffy rarely hung out with them anymore and when she did she usually just sat there. Willow couldn’t remember the last time she saw her friend smile.
“Maybe” Xander said half-heartedly. He, too, knew Buffy wouldn’t come by to hang.
“Why don’t I get us some drinks?” Tara said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Coke, please.” Willow smiled up at her girlfriend. Tara smiled in return.
“Xander, d-do you want anything?”
“A glass of whiskey.” Xander replied, staring blankly into the crowd, seemingly off in space.
Tara scrunched her brow but knew, the hard way, not to say anything about Xander’s excessive drinking. Ever since the night of Buffy’s mom’s death, Xander had been different. Drinking more, smiling less, he even broke things off with Anya, who left Sunnydale for New York when she couldn‘t it take anymore. Tara wished she could ask him what had happened that night, but knew better. She smiled and walked off to get the drinks.
As Tara was walking towards the bar, she noticed a man oddly out of place. He was wearing tweed pants, a white button up shirt, and a tweed vest. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the latest fashions that teenagers and college students wore now-a-days.
She concentrated hard on seeing his aura; his strong points were turquoise, which she knew to mean strong, organized leadership. On the outside he appeared nervous but his aura spoke another story.
Tara wondered why he would be in a nightclub like the Bronze, she considered walking over to him to see what kind of a vibe she would get but before she could, he started walking towards her. She wondered if he could read her, read that she was a witch.
“Hello, I’m looking for a Buffy Summers. Do you, by chance, happen to know her or where I could find her?” The man asked politely, looking around as if Buffy might pop out of the crowd.
“I-I do actually. What is it y-you want with her?” Tara asked.
“I’m here on business, it’s rather urgent that I speak with her.” The man fidgeted with his hands, hoping the girl would tell him where Buffy was.
“Business? M-may I ask what kind of business?” Tara asked suspiciously, feeling a little off-put by this man.
“Sorry, I’m not at liberty to say. Do you know where she is or not?” He asked, frustration lacing his words.
“I don’t know right this moment,” Tara responded vaguely. “Why don’t you give me your name and, when I see Buffy, I’ll let her know you were looking for her.”
The man considered her offer for a moment before replying,
“The name’s Rupert Giles and I…” Before he could finish Tara interrupted him.
“Rupert Giles, as in Buffy’s new Watcher?”
She asked, remembering Willow talking about receiving a call from the council, telling her that they were sending a new Watcher for Buffy. Giles looked a bit shocked that she knew he was a Watcher but, then, the council did tell him this slayer was a rule breaking extraordinaire.
“Yes, yes, I’m the new Watcher. Who are you and how, exactly, is it you know of me?” He asked, leaning in to hear her better.
“I-I’m Tara, Willow’s girlfriend. She told me she spoke with the council about them sending a n-new Watcher.” He seemed to show some recognition at the mention of Willow’s name.
“Ahhh, yes. Tara, good to meet you.” Giles stuck his hand out to shake Tara’s hand. She tentatively shook it.
“Would you like me t-to introduce you to Willow and Xander, he’s also Buffy’s f-friend.” At his nod, she led him over to the table.
Xander and Willow looked strangely over at the man standing beside Tara, wondering who he was.
“Guys, this is R-Rupert Giles. He’s Buffy’s new Watcher.” Tara explained, Willow instantly stood up, shaking Giles’ hand vigorously.
“I’m Willow.” Willow said enthusiastically. “This here,” she gestured towards Xander, “This is Xander.”
Xander nodded his head in hello then looked back to Tara.
“Did you get my drink?” He asked, already knowing the answer.
“N-No, sorry, I ran into Giles and forgot.”
Before she could offer to go get his drink, Xander walked off towards the bar, disappearing into the crowd. Willow and Tara shared a frown and quickly changed the subject.
“So, have you met Buffy yet?” Willow asked
“No, actually, I was just looking for her. Do you happen to know where I could find her?” Giles asked, checking his watch.
“She’s probably patrolling, she usually patrols all night.” Willow replied with a sigh. “Maybe you could stop by her house tomorrow. She’s usually home during the day.”
“Yes, that would be great.” Giles breathed a sigh of relief, accepting the napkin that Willow scribbled Buffy’s address and phone number on.
“Well, how about you two fill me in on what’s going on in Sunnydale. Shall we?” Giles gestured towards the table, sitting down to hear all about the Hellmouth and his new charge, Buffy Summers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy wiped the dust, from the latest vamps she killed, off her pants and headed towards Revello Drive. The sun would be up in a few hours and she wanted to head home and get to bed, her adrenalin rush quickly being replace with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
She was heading towards her house when she saw a platinum headed man wearing all black sitting on her porch, lazily smoking a cigarette. He didn’t hide the fact that he was staring at her, on the contrary, he was blatantly staring at her.
She walked closer to the man, scratch that, vampire her senses told her. She pulled out her stake, walking directly towards him. He noticed the stake and quickly stood up, tossing his cigarette to the ground.
“’ello, luv.” He drawled quietly. “So nice of you to show up.”
She didn’t even reply, no pun or witty banter. She threw a punch right towards his nose, which he easily blocked, punching her in the nose instead.
Buffy took a few steps back, more in surprise than pain. She went at him again but he held his hands up and spoke.
“Look, pet, I’m not here to fight. I was sent to help you.” He searched her face for some understanding but was met with cold indifference.
“Help me?” She almost laughed. “Help me what? Meet my nightly quota of dusted vamps?”
He almost thought she was going to engage in some healthy banter but she quickly reverted back to her iciness and lunged at him, her stake aimed at his heart.
He grabbed her wrist before she could plunge her stake into his heart and punched her in the jaw, hard. It seemed to enrage her. She went at him, trading blow for blow. Neither one of them could gain the upper hand and this only enraged Buffy further.
Spike noticed that her rage was making her sloppy and waited for the opportunity to strike. When he saw it, he grabbed her arm, turning her around and pulled her flush up against his chest. He held her bruisingly tight and waited for her to stop squirming.
“I told you, pet.” He spoke into her ear. “I’m not here to fight you, I’m here to help. Now, if I let go of you, will you hear me out?”
She nodded her head slowly, too out of breath to speak. Spike let her go and she immediately started hitting him again. He growled in pure frustration and, after taking a few jabs to the nose, he tackled her to the ground and held her arms over her head and used his legs to secure her legs tightly. She stared angrily up at him and waited for him to make a move.
“You’re infuriating, pet.” He spoke; she could feel his cool breath on her cheek. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“What do you want?” She gritted between her teeth.
“Already told you but, then again, you weren’t listening were you?” He stared down at her. “Too busy hitting me in my face to listen, stupid bint.”
She started squirming again at the ‘stupid bint’ comment but he had her securely. She decided to reason with him, he didn’t bite her yet and he didn’t appear like he was going to. She rolled her eyes before speaking.
“Who sent you?” She didn’t look him in the eye as she spoke.
“Why don’t we go inside and I’ll tell you all about it?” He asked, hoping she would let him in.
“Why don’t you let me up?” She struggled against him, “Then we can talk, out here.” She emphasized the last two words.
“You won’t hit me again?” He asked her but it came out as more of a plea.
“Just let me up.” She replied as he got off of her and sat down on the porch steps, lighting up another cigarette.
To Buffy, he looked like a man having a cigarette after a night of rough sex. His hair was disheveled and spiked up. He was breathing heavily although he didn’t need to breathe. He was odd, she thought.
Buffy stood in front of him, her arms folded across her chest in a ‘no nonsense’ posture.
“Speak.” She watched him exhale a plume of smoke at her before he replied.
“I was sent here to help you. See I get these visions in my head, they tell me where to go and who to help.” He stood up, tossing his cigarette at her feet, which she squished under her boot.
“You, pet, popped up in my head about a week ago. You needed help so here I am.” He held his arms out for emphasis.
Buffy just stared at him for a few moments before replying.
“You mean to tell me you’re some lap dog for, what, TPTB or something?” She raised her eyebrow in question.
“Lap dog?” He asked incredulously. “I’ll have you know, I’m no one’s lap dog.”
“Sure, you’re not a lap dog.” She snickered; it was amusing her to piss him off.
“I’m not a…. bloody hell, woman!” He growled. “Can’t you just accept help when it’s offered to you?”
“And I should trust you, because?”
Spike rolled his eyes and dropped his hands at his side. He was quickly realizing that this girl was going to be a royal pain in his arse.
“You know what, pet.” He gritted the last part through his teeth. “You can bloody well die for all I care. You’re too damn stubborn and pigheaded to listen, that’s your problem.”
Spike stormed off her property and down the street.
She watched him leave before she let the tears come to her eyes. It seemed everyone wanted her to die these days, especially herself.
He instantly felt bad for telling her to die but the woman pissed him off, royally. He debated on whether to go back or not. Deciding to go back, he turned around but only made it a few feet when he saw the tears in her eyes. He immediately felt like the world’s biggest jerk but he didn’t dare go near her to apologize. He shook his head in disgust of himself and walked away for a second time.
With a heavy sigh, she wiped the few tears that she actually managed to cry and walked into her house, shutting the door behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy stood in front of the refrigerator, searching for some food although she knew there wasn’t any. She was running low on money too, she knew. After her mother’s death, she was left with a few thousand dollars and the house, all she had left was a few hundred dollars and of course the house. She knew she needed to get a job, she just didn’t have the energy to care.
She decided to go job hunting in the morning, her only reason was she didn’t want to lose the house, the only part of her mother she had left. She walked up to her bedroom and sat at her vanity, slowly undoing her braid and thinking about the platinum haired man, no vampire she corrected herself, who she hadn’t been able to dust. His words had stung, just when Buffy thought she was dead inside, he had to go and open up her wounds. Punches, kicks, and physical violence she could handle, heck she reveled in it, but emotional blows, that was her weakness.
Buffy finished unbraiding her hair and threw the hair-tie across the room in frustration. She stripped herself of her clothes and passed out in her bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rupert Giles drove through the back streets of Sunnydale looking for Revello Drive, where his new charged lived. Being completely honest, he was rather scared of her. The way her friends and the council described her, as cold and uncaring, unnerved him.
He made a little sigh of relief when he found Revello, and drove down looking for 1630, parking his beat up Citroen in front of it. He walked up to the front door, steeling himself, then knocking.
Buffy had just been getting ready to go job hunting when there was a knock at the front door. She opened it to see a man dressed in tweed, nervously wringing his hands together.
“Can I help you?” She asked with an arched brow.
“Yes, umm, I’m looking for a Buffy Summers.” Giles stated while staring at the scar across her face, figuring she was Buffy but asking anyway.
“I’m her.” Buffy replied simply, crossing her arms across her chest and continued, “And you are?”
“Rupert Giles, your new Watcher.” He stuck his hand out in greeting but she only glimpsed at it before turning her eyes back to his face.
“I don’t need a Watcher, so you can go tell your little council I said to screw.” She looked at him pointedly then shut the door in his face.
Giles considered knocking again but thought it would be best not to. Buffy’s friends were right, she was cold but Giles knew she wasn’t cold hearted. Something about the girl’s eyes told him she was just in pain and her only means of coping were to shut herself down. He shook his head in sadness. Maybe he’d have Willow or Tara talk to her for him. He climbed into his car and drove to his new apartment.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Spike was sitting on top of the sarcophagus in his new crypt. He was sharpening his trusty survival knife and thinking about the slayer. He was angry at himself for saying what he said to her. ‘Good job, mate. Great way to get her to trust you.’ he thought. He always had a big mouth, he was seriously wondering if he could ever fix that. ‘Doubtful.’ he thought.
Spike stood up and walked over to his new mini-fridge and grabbed a bag of blood. He poured it into a mug and popped it in the microwave. As he watched his blood heat up, he decided to give the slayer another visit tonight. ‘Only a few more hours ‘til sunset.’ he thought.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Giles pulled the napkin out of his desk drawer and dialed, on the third ring, Willow picked up.
“Hello.” Willow’s perky voice carried through the line,
“Willow, its Rupert Giles.”
“Giles!” Willow exclaimed. “How are you? Is there anything you need?”
“Actually there is, see I went to see Buffy today only she wouldn’t speak with me.” Giles began.
“Oh,” Willow replied, “Buffy’s a little wary of strangers.” Willow lied, knowing full well that Buffy just didn’t want to be bothered with anyone anymore.
“I noticed, but I called to see if maybe you could speak with her.” Giles asked
“Sure, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Fabulous, let me know how it goes.”
Giles spoke with Willow for a few more minutes, he gave her his address and asked her to drop by after she spoke with Buffy.
After Giles hung up, he decided to skim through the diaries of Buffy’s previous Watcher, Merrick.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that day, Buffy was walking along Main Street looking for any place that was hiring. It felt almost wrong to be out during the day to her, especially since she spent so much time out at night. The warm rays of the sun were too harsh for her, she felt as if the sun were highlighting all that was wrong with her. The sun mocked her with promises of warmth and happiness.
She saw a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window of a local sporting goods store, figuring she was a weapons expert, she decided to check it out.
She talked with the manager for a few about weapons and he was impressed with her knowledge and decided to give her an interview the following week. With an actual smile, Buffy walked out into setting sun. She decided that since she was in such a good mood, she might actually go to the Bronze and hang for awhile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Chapter Notes:
'words in these quotes' indicate thoughts.
Even though Buffy’s scar is really on her lip in 'The Wish', I changed it so it goes across her right eye and down her cheek.
I will try to update weekly and if I can't, I'll let you all know.
Also, I know this first chapter doesn't have much interaction but I just wanted to establish a few things first. I promise Chapter Two will have more Spuffy. ;)
Even though Buffy’s scar is really on her lip in 'The Wish', I changed it so it goes across her right eye and down her cheek.
I will try to update weekly and if I can't, I'll let you all know.
Also, I know this first chapter doesn't have much interaction but I just wanted to establish a few things first. I promise Chapter Two will have more Spuffy. ;)