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Author's Chapter Notes:
Beta'd by Sharon/Havena! Many, many thanks to her!
It was just her luck, finally having a conversation alone with William and a vampire had to show up for a meal. Buffy didn’t hesitate and jumped from the balcony. She was only one story up and the fall hardly left her soles tingling. She didn’t pay attention to William after she heard the woman cry for help but she knew she missed his astonished expression on her dashing heroics. Once she was on the ground she glanced around to gather her bearings.

The alley was only a wall away from the motel lot and she quickly climbed it. She didn’t stop once she reached the alley, her eyes caught the vampire and his prey and she headed straight for them. They were huddled in a dark alcove of the building right behind the motel. She pulled the vampire off the woman, who fell to the floor, slumped against the wall, and threw him in the opposite direction. The vampire was ugly, wearing clothes from what looked like the 70s, and a rather moldy toupee. It was only one so Buffy relaxed, it would be an easy slay.

“Are you going for cliché award of the year? Really, an alley and a toupee?” Buffy almost laughed, it was always an alley and always a helpless female. And vampires from the 70s were a never ending horde.

The vampire stood and quickly rushed her, blind rage getting the better of him; she stepped aside easily and landed a kick to his stomach, which sent him flying again.

“You bitch!” He turned back to her with his fangs bared for her to see.

“Heard that before. You guys really need to think of something original.”

The vampire roared and flung a thick fist toward Buffy. She caught the fist with her hand and tripped the vampire by catching his feet with hers. The vampire lost his footing and fell to the ground. Buffy straddled the vampire, ready to tear his head off his shoulders when two strong hands pulled her from the soon to be dusted vampire. The hands tossed her aside and Buffy saw two more male vampires emerge from the shadows. The hands turned out to be yet another vampire, who looked a little like Hulk Hogan. This was just her day.

“Brought friends for me? How thoughtful.” Buffy looked for anything that could be used as a stake, and found an old table pitched against the alley wall.

As the four vampires attacked her, Buffy dived for the table, narrowly missing their reach. She had met her target and within a blink of an eye she broke off a leg of the decaying table and whipped it around her like a staff. She felt one vampire circle around her and it tried a sneak attack, so she quickly jammed the table leg into the heart of that vampire and he exploded in a cloud of dust. Within her next heart beat she used the table leg to smack the closest vampire across the face and then slammed the other end of the leg into the stomach of the last vampire.

In the next second Buffy used her knee to break the leg in half and danced around in a deadly tango to drive the first half of the table leg into the chest of the vampire on her left. He was barely dust before she turned to face her next opponent. The toupee vampire was now gripping thin air, his anger clear on his face. Buffy didn’t know if he was trying to plan his next move or was just waiting for an opening. He swayed before her, knowing the danger, but Buffy didn’t care.

“Fucking little girl!” he roared again and tried for a kick, which she easily blocked with her forearm.

“I’m so not a little girl anymore!” And with that she went in under his defenses and pierced his heart. Dust swirled around her before it gently settled to the ground.

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William watched in stunned silence. The others had awoken to the scream. Everyone had come to the balcony, saw that it was Buffy against four creatures that were obviously vampires, and they all dismissed it as nothing! Everyone went back to bed even before Buffy dusted her first vampire. William had never seen anything like it before and it enthralled him. But once Buffy was thrown fear took hold of him, shooting into his gut. Seeing her get hurt wasn’t pleasant. Fear, and oddly excitement, coursed through him and before he thought twice he took off. He paid no attention to his roommates and headed for the door.

William’s only thought was to go to Buffy, even though he knew he would not only get in the way but he could do nothing to assist her in her task. He didn’t know why he was so possessed to go to her, perhaps because this made everything real. He had been a vampire, now he saw vampires, real ones, and saw Buffy slay them per her “duty” as she had called it earlier that night. This was tangible; he wanted to see up close what his life had been for the last 120 years.

Not caring about the doors or the stairs that got in his way, and not even paying attention to how he got there, William made it to the alley. He stopped in his tracks at the mouth of the alley, paralyzed by both fear and anticipation. He didn’t know what he wanted and he didn’t know what he would do now. Instead he watched for a moment more.

Buffy had dropped to the floor and thrust out her leg to trip the over sized vampire that was before her. The vampire was smart enough to see the attack and jump to avoid her first leg thrust but didn’t see as she gracefully swung her legs around again and in one simple motion the large vampire fell to the ground.

Feeling it was safe to move into the alley, William spotted the woman who had originally screamed slumped up against the alley wall. He quickly raced over to her. He only had a moment to feel sick at the sight of blood running down her neck and chest before steeling himself to help her. He didn’t know what made him do this, but he felt it was right, to help the woman. He grabbed a piece of his shirt, ripped it clumsily with his hands and held it to her neck to stop the bleeding. During his ministrations he heard the fight continue on behind him.

“Miss, please wake up!” He softly called to the stranger.

She opened her eyes slowly. At first William knew she was disoriented. Her pale skin was glowing in the dark alley and it was obvious she needed medical care. Once she remembered that she had been attacked, she tried to move, her wide eyes moving all around trying to find the source of her predicament. William gingerly put a hand on her arm to still her.

“Please remain still. Things should improve for you in just a moment. Could you perhaps stand?”

William knew the lady didn’t trust her voice enough to speak as she nodded while looking at him with a steady and fearful gaze. Slowly she stood up, not looking anywhere else but at William. As she got to her feet, William sighed. He had no clue on how to go about this, he never even thought of something like this before. But he didn’t need to worry about his next words, as the large vampire crashed into the wall beside them. The hurt woman took one look at Buffy as she charged the vampire and took off running, screaming all the way out of the alley.

William blinked a few times, but understood the stranger’s frightened state. Buffy had kicked the vampire into the wall right beside them and then dragged the creature to the floor, beating the large, blond vampire with her fists, never stopping, and never faltering in her strikes. She looked like a warrior goddess, full of fire and passion. Deadly. And this was his life for the last 100 plus years? Fighting and blood? It turned his stomach but at the same time a small tingle was present in the deepest part of his gut. The adrenaline, the fight, the danger, it sung to him, deep inside. He never knew, not until he saw it up close, not until he was made to be aware of the danger, did he feel a need for it. And in just a day, his life was irrefutably and irrevocably altered, because he knew, he had to recreate himself. He could no longer be just a poet.

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Buffy hated the fight. It was taking longer than normal, she should have just staked the vampire already, but she was tired and had just fought an apocalypse this morning. This vamp must have been the ring leader of the bunch and was probably older, which meant stronger. She landed another blow that had the vampire skidding across the ground.

She had barely noticed when William got to the ally. For a moment Buffy had forgotten that William wasn’t Spike, again, and that as a human, he was in danger here. Her fear for William and her panic for his safety quickly rose to intense anger. She turned to William quickly. She shot daggers at him with her gaze while ignoring the odd look on his face as she muttered a furious string of words.

“Get out of here now! This isn’t the best time or place to get curious or act brave! You are not Mr. Vampire anymore, he is!” She jerked a thumb at the vampire who was struggling to get to his feet.

William tried to speak but was soon unable to as the vampire chuckled loudly. Buffy turned back to her prey, the look on her face was enough to send any vampire running for his or her unlife. But the chuckling vampire didn’t deter.

“OK, so you’re Mr. Chuckles now instead of Mr. Vampire. Seriously, stop, with the chuckling, now!”

“I just found out the balance is undone, the Ultimate power and Greatest Evil are no longer equals and you worry about one or two humans?” The vampire gave up on standing and fell back to the ground as Buffy began to move closer. He looked up at her with his broken face and smiled. “Evil is gonna come for you soon, you unholy cunt, and all humans will no longer be safe. Whoever destroyed the balance just cashed in on ending the world.”

Buffy stood her ground breathlessly. She felt cold again. “I’ve already beat Evil.”

The vampire let out a soft laugh. “Think that if you wish.”

Buffy was soon filled with more than just fear and anger at the words. It had stuck some cord in her and she wanted the fight to be over. With one big step she strutted over to the vampire, grabbed his head, twisted and yanked with all her might. In a mere blink of an eye, the head in between her hands became dust, and the vampire that was before her was no more.

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William understood that perhaps it might have been best to have kept the vampire alive for more information, but he didn’t question Buffy’s move for a quick disposal of the creature. Instead he felt something else click into place. Buffy was full of emotion, so full and so strong that she seemed unyielding. And yet she seemed so fragile just a moment ago on the balcony. There was more to Buffy than he could have guessed and he wanted to know more. As she began to rip the vampire’s head off his shoulders, he started to walk towards her. He flinched at her actions, they were gory and surprising. He wasn’t used to them, but at this very moment, his eyes were on Buffy.

Something new came alive within him, as if a flame, a small, strong flame, had lit in his heart. He didn’t understand it; his heart knew what it felt for Cecily. But now there was something else. With so many changes his heart was going through this one was clear to him. He felt connected to her, seeing her fight, watching her all day today, seeing her cry, he knew she was a creature of passion. And he was a creature of passion as well.

Delicately placing his hand on her shoulder, William turned Buffy to face him as the dust of the vampire settled at her feet.

“Are you unhurt?” William’s voice was filled with so much concern and worry that he almost startled himself.

“I’m fine, just another night like any other for the Chosen One.” Buffy shrugged, this obviously didn’t faze her. “Are you alright? Coming here was a really stupid thing to do.”

“Yes, I am perfectly fine.” William focused his gaze on Buffy, he wasn’t happy with her insult, even if it was the truth. “I know it was foolish but I...I had to see this up close, who...who I was.”

“Who you were? Up close?” Buffy looked at William as if he had lost his mind. “You could have been killed! Really William, you can’t be following me into a fight like that, ever!”

“I…I needed to see what my life will be like now that I am here, this new world is…I wanted to see for myself in what world I now live.”

“You didn’t need to endanger yourself like that for such a silly reason!” Buffy had moved in just a bit closer to William, he could feel her anger radiating off her.

“’Silly reason? I saw you fight and felt compelled to be here!” His anger didn’t surprise him, William knew the source. His life was ruined and renewed without anyone giving him the proper choice. He wanted to take back his choices. He knew he would, he was determined.

“Compelled? You didn’t need to come here and distract me to see a vampire up close! You were there tonight at dinner! You know where we are going, so don’t give me this crap! I could have just shown you Angel once we got to LA!” Buffy huffed and stared at William with enough force to move planets.

“The fight and the vampires is what I wanted and needed to see. I have wondered all day today about what my vampire life could have been like. It has been haunting me. But I understand now. And this,” William gestured to the alley, “has helped me. I do apologize for causing you distraction but I assure you it will not happen again!”

Buffy was silent after that. She crossed her arms and looked into William’s eyes. He felt unsure of himself, as his anger had gotten the best of him as he yelled at her. After an uncomfortable silence Buffy uncrossed her arms and looked down. William knew she was going to drop the subject, even though she was still clearly upset. “I can’t sleep. I‘m dead tired but there is no way I’ll sleep any time this century.”

William deflated; he too could not sleep, even though he felt a bone deep weariness. “I have just slept for over a century, I doubt sleep will come to me any time soon.”

Buffy smiled at the little joke and William felt warmth spread through him. She again had that far away expression, as if she was thinking about her vampire, as she spoke. “Want to get a drink and maybe chit-chat until we pass out from exhaustion?”

William smiled at her as well; he would like that, if chit-chat meant to talk. “That sounds lovely.”

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