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Chapter 18 – Betrayal of Trust


Trying to resist the urge to stare at her as they walked through the cemetery, Spike shoved his hands in the pockets of his duster. He half-expected Riley to jump him out of nowhere, but he realized as long as Buffy was with him, he wouldn’t try anything.

They had been patrolling for over two hours and staked five vamps.

“Why did you listen to Riley?” Buffy blurted out all of a sudden, causing Spike to look at her.

“I didn’t,” he mumbled, looking away. “Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

“Had to watch after you,” he said softly.

“You…you followed me?”

Spike merely nodded as Buffy’s eyes widened. Walking in silence for a few more minutes, she finally decided to change the subject, since he seemed to be unusually quiet tonight.

“I need to stop by the Magic Box. I haven’t checked in with Giles.”

Allowing a smirk to play on his lips, Spike looked at her, trying not to think of how the moonlight made her look more beautiful than he would have thought possible. “You never have bothered to check in before, pet. Why start now?”

Buffy smiled, wrapping her arms around her body and trying to ward off the unusually chilly air as they walked. The temperature continued to drop the later it got. “Giles is one of the only people to make an effort since I lost my hearing…I guess I can be a good little Slayer and try and behave sometimes.”

Spike chuckled at her tone of voice before seeing her shiver in the cool air. Quickly shrugging off his duster, he turned to face her, giving her a soft smile when she stopped and looked at him. Buffy sighed gratefully when his coat was draped over her shoulders before looking up at him. She noticed the unguarded look in his eyes as he adjusted the collar around his neck. She didn’t know if it was her imagination or if he was showing her genuine affection. His hands lingered where they were for a moment before he tapped her on the edge of her nose, giving her a grin. “Can’t have you freeze to death, now can I?”

“That would definitely not be of the good,” she said with an answering smile as they began walking again.

“But if we run into any baddies, you guard that coat with your life.”

Buffy giggled, looking down at the sleeves of the duster, rolling them up so they didn’t encase her hands. “Where’d you get this coat, anyway?”

Spike froze, wondering if he should let her know how he really got it or tell a little white lie. “It belonged to the last Slayer I killed,” he muttered, unable to look in her eyes.

All humor immediately disappeared from her face as she stopped walking, turning to look at him. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” he replied, turning to face her. “But I’m not…whatever I was back then.”

“A demon,” Buffy said in a much harsher voice than she intended. “So if you could undo it, you would?”

“Never said that,” Spike said quietly.

“You’d kill her again?”

The demon tried to battle its way to the surface. Wanting to scream and shout that it would gladly snap a neck or rip the throat out of anyone that was put in his path. But looking into Buffy’s eyes, William made his way to the surface. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly, feeling his stomach drop as Buffy took a step away.

She knew she shouldn’t react this way. He was a soulless chipped vampire, but something inside was telling her that he was more than that.

“It’s a lot of factors to consider, pet.”

“Like what?” Buffy asked, self-consciously crossing her arms over her chest.

“I never would have met you,” he said softly.

“Wh-what do you mean?” she asked with a nervous tremor making its way into her voice.

“If that Slayer hadn’t died, the line would have changed…you might never have been called-“

“And you wouldn’t have shown up in town wanting to kill me,” she finished for him. “So I could have lived the life of a normal girl.”

Spike closed his eyes before slowly turning away from her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he walked away.

Buffy hesitated for a brief moment before following him. “Don’t be,” she murmured, unable to look him in the eye. “I’m not saying what you did is okay, but I know how to appreciate life now. I never would have figured that out before. Granted, I have a shorter lifespan,” she said with a grin.

“Don’t joke about that,” Spike said sharply, looking at her as they approached the door of the Magic Box. “You’re going to live a long life, Slayer. I’m going to see to that.”

“You are?” Buffy asked in surprise, her breath coming out in sharp pants when he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“You’re going to be around for a long time, luv.”

Buffy felt as if she was getting lost in his eyes as he leaned forward and left a soft kiss on her cheek.

“We better get inside.”

She could only nod as he opened the door to the shop.



An hour later, Buffy was about to walk out the door when Spike stopped her. His hand lingered on her arm, causing a small tingling sensation to spread through her body as he turned her to face Giles.

“Buffy, do you feel okay getting home by yourself?” Giles asked.

“Yeah,” she answered skeptically, her brow furrowed as she looked at her Watcher.

“I need Spike to help me with a few details regarding the demon that attacked you.”

“Okay,” she said softly, giving Spike a last look before she walked out the backdoor.

Spike was skeptical as Giles led him back to the main room of the shop, walking behind the counter and opening up the drawer. He tightened his jaw when he saw the wad of cash that was pulled out.

“You’ve kept up your end of the bargain,” Giles said, counting out the bills and laying them on the counter. “Kept an eye on her, even when you didn’t have to. I think you’ve earned it.”

Spike looked at the money with trepidation for a moment before hesitantly picking it up and stuffing it in his pocket.



Buffy was a few feet out of the Magic Box when she realized she was still wearing Spike’s duster. Turning around, she walked back in, already taking off the coat and offering it to…nobody. Walking toward the open door that led to the main room, she stopped when she saw Giles holding a stack of cash, studying his lips as they began moving.

“You’ve kept up your end of the bargain. Kept an eye on her, even when you didn’t have to. I think you’ve earned it.”

Looking at them with tears in her eyes, Buffy watched Spike look at the money before taking it from the counter and giving Giles a brief nod.

Backing away from the door, she let the duster fall on the ground before running out of the shop. The two people she thought she could trust had been arranging a business transaction behind her back. A sob ripped from her throat as the betrayal washed over her.





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