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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."





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