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A/N Please read the story “Fireworks” under the name Goldilocks. It’s the first story that Allison and I wrote together and we’ve decided to post it on this site. And please make sure you read the A/N at the beginning. I also meant to post this on the last update, but I wanted to give a huge thank you to Mandi from Vampire’s Kiss for making “Beyond Forever” the fic of the moment!



Chapter 5 – Competition


Buffy sat on the floor with a water bottle in her hand, leaning against the door and watching Spike carefully as he sat across from her. He seemed to be studying her as she rested from the vigorous training session. They had been sparring for a good twenty minutes with only one interruption when Giles had come in to check on them before Spike suggested that they take a break, seeing that the young woman was getting a little winded.

“How are you holding up, Slayer?” Spike asked, his eyes showing true concern as he looked at her.

Buffy shrugged, looking at the water bottle as she swirled the liquid around, watching as it lapped at the plastic. “I’ve been better,” she replied with a soft smile.

Buffy was constantly reminding herself that she was sitting with Spike- notorious Slayer of Slayers and that he wasn’t a member of the Scoobies, eagerly wondering how she was. She didn’t know why he cared how she was doing, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling happy that he did.

Buffy looked up to see Spike’s eyes still studying her carefully. With a sigh, she gave him the answer he was looking for. “Some days are harder than others.”

They sat in silence for another moment before Buffy spoke again.

“Where are the snide remarks tonight?” she asked quietly, looking at him through her lashes, almost fearing his answer.

“Not as much fun if you can’t hear them,” he said with a smile.

Buffy had to smile, shaking her head as she bit her lip. “Leave it to a vampire to not ‘tread lightly’ around me.”

“You don’t need someone to tread lightly, Slayer,” Spike replied, tilting his head to look at her. “You need someone to remind you who you are.”

“Who I was, you mean.”

“No,” Spike said, shaking his head, making sure she was looking directly into his eyes. “I mean who you are.”

The two blondes stared at each other for a long moment, each feeling the connection that was passing between them.

“Your turn,” Spike said after a minute.

“For what?”

“I expected you to throw a fit when I walked in and you didn’t…much. Why not?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t treat me like I was glass,” Buffy replied with a shrug. “Maybe that’s what I need.”

Spike was about to respond when he heard raised voices in the next room. Tilting his head toward the wall, he listened for a minute before rolling his eyes. “Bloody hell.” Looking back at the Slayer, he saw her confused look as her brows furrowed. “Riley,” he said, clarifying it for her.

Spike frowned when she immediately seemed to shutdown. There was no sign of the Slayer or even Buffy anymore- now she was back to being the meek little girl who had to depend on everyone else.

“Slayer-“

Spike was soon cut off when the door of the training room flew open. He was immediately on his feet as the teutonic boy-toy walked in.

“I’ll take it from here, Spike,” Riley said, his voice dripping with hostility as he looked at the vampire.

“I don’t think so, mate.”

“Get away from my girlfriend.”

Buffy watched the display before jumping to her feet and stepping in between the two men. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to admit it, but she was worried that Spike might be getting into something he couldn’t handle with the chip in his head. Considering he was the only one to make her feel like her old self, she wasn’t about to give up that feeling. At this point, she didn’t care if it was a vampire who was giving it to her.

“I think you might want to talk to the Watcher,” Spike said, knowing that Buffy was watching the conversation and trying to comprehend as much as she could.

“I don’t need to talk to anyone,” Riley said in such a soft tone that even
Spike’s vampiric hearing had trouble picking it up. He was also turned in a way that Buffy couldn’t see him, and Spike could see the frustrated look on her face.

“Ohhh,” he said in a drawl as a slow smile spread across his face. “You don’t care that Giles wants me to help the Slayer?” he asked in a loud voice, delighting in the fact that Riley’s eyes nearly doubled in size. “You’d rather risk putting your girl in danger than have some evil, soulless creature helping her?”

Buffy looked over at Riley, her mouth dropping open slightly before she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to see Giles in the doorway, she clenched her hands into fists as the three men seemed to get into a more heated argument. It appeared that it was Spike and Giles versus Riley and that thought alone was enough to confuse her. Buffy tried to keep up as best she could and noticed that Spike, unlike Riley, stayed turned toward her the entire time so that she could see what he was saying.

“That’s enough!” she finally yelled in frustration, watching as all three men looked at her. “Giles, do you want Spike to help me?”

“Yes,” the older man said with a nod.

“Do you think it will be beneficial?”

“I do.”

“Then it’s settled,” Buffy said, shooting a look at Riley. “Spike helps me train and patrol…end of discussion.”

Buffy watched the hurt puppy dog look come over Riley’s features as he nodded before turning and walking through the door, back into the main room.

Turning to Spike, she saw the gentle smile on his face that she was rarely privileged to.

“We patrol tomorrow,” Spike said, looking into her eyes.

Once again, Buffy was amazed that she was able to look into his eyes and understand him instead of studying his lips. She nodded in agreement. “Meet me at my house.”

Spike gave her another smile and nodded as he walked out the door.

Buffy wasn’t ready to admit it, but she was relieved that Spike was helping her. She finally felt like what she was facing was a hurdle that she had to overcome and not some insurmountable object.

‘Maybe there’s a chance that I can be myself again.’



A/N Thank you so much to: Peta, glassgoddess, Mariana, songgal, gypsy_jin, samica, Cordykitten, Steph, Jane, Rana, and Dee for reviewing the last chapter!





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