Chapter 1

“Buffy, wait up!” a voice called from behind her as she walked into the cemetery. Buffy turned around and saw Xander, one of her best friends, run towards to her.

“Hey Xander, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to the Bronze with Willow and Cordelia?”

“Yeah, I was supposed to, but figured you might want some company on your slayer adventure,” Xander said excitedly.

“You know I don’t mind going alone. It’s dangerous enough as it is, I don’t want to put you in unneeded danger also. Maybe it’s best you go meet Willow and Cordy after all?” she hinted subtly. She knew Xander always had had a weak spot for her. He’d been heartbroken when she’d turned him down, but luckily their friendship maintained, and if not grew even stronger. He’d taken it upon himself to protect her against all evil. Not that it really meant anything, as he couldn’t do much against the forces of darkness she faced on a daily basis.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to keep you company? Support you in your battle against evil. Be all manly and scream like a girl when a nasty comes my way?”

Buffy chuckled at that. Xander always knew how to make her laugh.

“I’m very sure Xander. Go have fun. Torture Cordelia about her clothing or whatever it is you do to make her go crazy.”

“Alright then, your wish is my comment.” And with a wave he was off.

Buffy sighed. She would love to go with her friends and party and forget about all the worries in life. But she had the unfortunate fait to be chosen to fight the forces of darkness.

“Come on now vampires, I don’t have all night to play.”

“Now now, that isn’t a very nice welcome to those poor vampires.” A voice came from her left.

She didn’t see anyone at first, until a dangerous looking man appeared from behind the trees. His face had her mesmerized with cheekbones that could cut glass, and eyes as blue as the ocean. He was wearing tight black jeans, a black shirt and his attire was completed with a long leather jacket.

Alarm bells went off in her head and she knew she wasn’t facing just any man. This one was emitting power she had never felt or seen before. Not even when she’d faced the master.

“Who are you?”

“The name’s Spike.”

She raised her eyebrow at that telling him just what she thought of that name.

“Don’t give me that look. Its not like Buffy is any better.” He replied to her with a smirk she thought was extremely sexy.

“How do you know my name?” she asked suspiciously.

“I know more than you think, Goldilocks. But I also heard your little boy toy talking to you earlier.”

“He’s not my boy toy.” Was her automatic responds.

Spike didn’t answer her last reply but instead started circling her, eyeing her up and down as if studying a package he’d just received in the mail.

“You are a bit small for a Slayer. The Powers that Be are getting a bit out of their game. I wouldn’t give you more than a year on the job.”

Buffy stuck out her chin and took a step towards him. “Do you want to give it a go then?” she challenged him.

Spike chuckled at that, causing chills to run down her spine.

“You don’t want to fight me love. I’m not here to do you any harm, even though you may not believe me right now.”

He was silent for a bit still circling her.

“I’m here to help you.”

Buffy looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“I don’t need your help.”

“Oh, but love, you do. More than you think.”

Buffy was at a loss. She wasn’t sure what was happening here, but a vampire offering her help… that was the last thing she’d expected to happen, ever.

Spike must have sensed her confusion at that point as he stopped walking and stood right in front of her.

“I think it’s best we went to see that watcher of yours.”


xxxxx


Buffy was studying the stranger that was walking beside her when they made their way to her watchers home.

“You know it’s not polite to stare.” He commented as he looked at her.

She blushed and quickly looked away. She may be the slayer, but her knowledge of men wasn’t that great. And she was intrigued as much as annoyed with the man walking beside her. Who was he to tell her she needed help, and from him of all people or vampires, she thought. But also did she feel a strong pull towards him. Something was seriously off here.

They arrived at her watchers house and Buffy knocked on the door, which opened moments later.

“Hello Buffy, back so early?” Giles said not seeing the vampire standing a bit to the side our of his view.

“Yes, well. I met someone who wanted to see you,” she said and at that same moment Spike made his appearance known to Giles.

“Hello Rupert, good to see you.”

“Spike! What are you doing here?”

Spike just raised his ‘scarred’ eyebrow, Buffy noticed, as if Giles would know the answer to his own question. Which turned out he did as he replied to himself saying ‘Oh yes, of course’.

Buffy looked at both men as if she was living in an alternate universe.

“You two know each other?”

“You could say so,” was all Spike replied.

“Yes, Spike here is like a guardian angel for Slayers.”

“You have got to be kidding me. Giles, this is a vampire! There isn’t anything angelic about him.” Buffy all but shouted at her watcher. She really didn’t know what was going on. This was all so wrong.

“Please Buffy, come in and I’ll try and explain it all to you. Spike, fancy a drink?” Giles gestured Spike to follow him in the house.

“You coming?” Spike asked Buffy who was still standing in the doorway unsure whether she should go inside or not.

Buffy walked numbly inside the house and closed the door behind her. She was watching the scene of Spike and Giles having a conversation while Giles was pouring them a drink. She walked further inside the house and sat down on the couch, never letting her eyes leave the two men.

“So Buffy, I suppose you would like to know what’s going on here?” Giles asked her as he sat down.

She was pulled out of her thoughts and looked Giles in the eyes, only then registering what he’d said.

“Well, it would be nice to know why you just invited a vampire into your home as if he was your best friend.” She replied sarcastically.

“Rupes, mind if I give this a go?” Spike interjected before Giles could reply.

Buffy looked at him with a look of disgust not sure if she wanted to listen to this creature who seemed to be good friends with her watcher.

“Look, I understand this is a bit odd to see. A vampire acting like he’s a saint or anything. And let me tell you, I really am not. The thing is… I’m not your average vampire. I was created by the powers that be to help the Slayer understand the ‘mind’ of a vampire.”

“So you’re not really a vampire then?”

“I am a real vampire in the way that I can’t go into the light, and most of what will kill a vampire, will kill me too. Though I have this nice little amulet that helps me to stay ‘alive’. But I haven’t been created by a vampire, and I have never killed a human being for my thirst of blood.”

“Ok… and what are you doing here?”

“As I said before, I’m here to help you with your duty.”

Buffy was looking at him, seeing the truth in his eyes. Eyes that were drawing her even closer to him. She looked away towards Giles.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about this?” she asked him accusingly, feeling like a fool for the way she reacted.

“Buffy, I was never allowed to tell you. Your idea about vampires was not the be meddled with. If you knew there was a vampire out there that was actually good, could make you wonder if there are any other good ones out there. Which there aren’t. Vampires are a breed like humans, some or more vicious then others, but they always have evil at heart.”

It was all a bit much. “I think I’m going to go home now. We can talk tomorrow a bit more can’t we?”

“Of course Buffy. I’m sorry this was sprung on you like this. I will see you tomorrow at school.”

Spike had gotten up from his chair and walked to the door with her. “I will walk home with you. I will need to know where you live anyway,” he said with a smirk.

Buffy just nodded, too tired to argue with the vampire. “Bye Giles”. She said and walked out of the house.

It was five minutes later before one of them made a sound.

“So you’re going to be here to help me with my slaying?” Buffy asked quietly.

“Well, I will watch you most of the time, and try and explain you by training you, how a vampire thinks and responds to certain things.”

“Hmm, okay. And how long have you been doing that now?”

“About 120 years now. I have met 5 slayers so far, and helped them with their task.”

“But they still died, didn’t they?”

Spike was silent for a minute. “I wasn’t able to save them from their deaths. I am here to help and guide the Slayer, but I cannot fight her battles. Those are her own.”

Buffy looked at him and saw the sadness in his eyes.

“It really touched you, didn’t it? When they died I mean.”

“Of course it did. Felt like I hadn’t done my job well enough. If only I’d shown them more, I might have helped them on that very day. But that’s just it… one good day, or one bad day for the slayer, is all it takes. You can never let your guard down and think you have him, before you’ve actually put that stake through his heart.”

“I’m sure you did a lot for them already.” Buffy replied. “Do you really think I won’t last long?” she asked worriedly.

They’d stopped walking and were standing in front of a two-story house with a nice big tree in front of it.

Spike smiled softly at her. “I don’t think you need to worry too much. I’m here to help you now.”

Buffy smiled slightly and put her arms around herself, not sure what to do.

“Now, lets get you inside. It’s time for little girls to go to bed.”

“I’m not a little girl.” She replied offended.

“Of course you’re not. But you still need your beauty sleep to stay as pretty as you are now. I will see you tomorrow, pet.”

And with that he was off, leaving her pondering about the last thing he’d said.



So what do you think? Something you want to read more on?

Chapter 2


Buffy woke up the next day with a strange feeling in her stomach. She lay in bed for a few minutes rethinking what had happened the night before. When she finally had accepted her fait of being the chosen one, and after fighting her big battle with the master, another challenge crossed her path. Of course it wasn’t necessarily a challenge as such because she didn’t have to fight this vampire. But a challenge in the way that she had no idea what to expect from this whole situation. And it annoyed her dearly.

She got out of bed and got ready for school, wearing her usual attire of a short skirt, a fancy colored top and knee high boots.

“Buffy honey, are you ready for school? I can drop you of on my way to the gallery.” Her mother Joyce called from downstairs.

“Yes mom, thanks. I’ll be down in five minutes.”

Adding the finishing touches to her make up and putting on her perfume, she grabbed her bag and walked down the stairs where her mother was already waiting for her.

“You are looking nice today. Anyone special should know about?” her mother asked her as they got in the car.

Buffy looked out of the window before answering. “No mom. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not worried honey, you are at that age that boys become more interesting. Believe me I know.”

“Mom! So not that I wanted to hear.”

Her mom chuckled at that. “Nothing to be ashamed off, I was young once too.”

“Right. Anyway mom, there is no boy who I fancy.” More like a 120 year old man that currently has me intrigued is all, she thought to herself.

She thanked her mom when they got to the school and made her way into her school building walking straight towards the library to visit her watcher.

“Hey Giles.”

“Buffy! How are you?”

“I’m ok, considering.” Buffy frowned.

“Yes, of course…”

Buffy sat down on a chair at the desk they usually sat at while doing their research. She dropped her bag on the table and sat back, eyes fixed on Giles who was standing at the register.

“Did you know this was going to happen, that he was going to show up?” She looked at Giles accusingly; feeling betrayed that he’d kept this from her.

“I wasn’t sure. He doesn’t visit all the slayers. It depends on how far they’ve come themselves already, before they send for him. Spike will not be summoned if the Slayer in question has not proven that she can already hold herself in a difficult fight. Your fight with the master must have been enough proof to the Powers, to send for Spike.”

“And now he’s here to help me.”

“Well, yes.” Giles was silent. “I don’t know what he’s going to do exactly. But I would like to ask you to work with him, and not against him. I know you don’t like the Counsel. But Spike goes beyond that. I don’t think he really fancies the council himself.”

Buffy couldn’t help but grin at that. She would like to see Spike give the council a piece of his mind.

“I can’t make any promises Giles, but I’ll do my best,” she replied and got up to go to her first class.

“I will be back after school for training.” She said before she disappeared through the doors.


xxxxx


“Hey Willow, how was the Bronze yesterday?” Buffy asked as she sat down next to her friend during their lunch period. They were sitting in the cafeteria enjoying the wonders of cafeteria food. Or as much as it could be enjoyed, because Willow just then pulled a face when she took a bite of her sausage. Buffy so wasn’t going to try that.

“It was great. Dingoes ate my baby played. I think the bass player is cute.” Willow blushed.

“Willow! Are you becoming a groupie?” Buffy teased her friend.

“Who’s becoming a groupie?” Xander asked as he sat down next to Buffy at their table.

“Willow fancies the bassist of Dingoes Ate My Baby.” Buffy replied before Willow could intervene, which caused her to blush even more.

“Wow Wills, never knew you would be that kind of girl.” Xander grinned before stealing her sausage and happily started munching on it. Both Buffy and Willow looked at him waiting for him to throw it back at her plate, but he continued to eat until it was all gone.

“So Buff, how was your night then. Fight any big nasties?” Xander asked now working on a chocolate fudge bar.

“No, didn’t fight any nasties. But I did meet someone.”

“Oh! You met a guy. Buffy met a guy!” Willow exclaimed excitedly, obviously happy she wasn’t alone.

“Well, it’s not really what you think.” Buffy started not sure how to explain the whole thing. “His name’s Spike, he’s 120 years old and he’s a vampire. Well, sort off.” Ok, so not that hard after all.

Her answer was met with silence and when she looked up she saw both her friends gawking at her.

Buffy sighed. “It turns out that there is a vampire out there, created to help Slayers with their duty. Don’t ask me any more, because I don’t know either. All I know is that I met him yesterday, and that Giles knew about this all along.”

“Wow.” Willow finally commented when Buffy finished.

“Yeah, I know. Believe me when I say I wasn’t too happy to find out that Giles knew and never told me. But he said he wasn’t allowed to say anything about this, to not change my judgment about vampires.”

“So you tell me there’s this vampire out there that is supposed to help you? Why would you ever want the help of a vampire? They are disgusting worthless creatures.” Xander interjected clearly not agreeing with what was happening.

“I don’t know Xander. I will have to wait and see.”

Just then the bell rang to tell them their lunch break was over. Each of them went their own way to class, contemplating what Buffy had just said.


xxxxx


Buffy walked into the library after school for her daily training session. What she hadn’t expected was to see Spike talking to Giles when she walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks. The creak of the door as it closed must have alerted the two men, as they stopped talking and turned towards Buffy.

“Ah Buffy, you’re here.”

She simply nodded and walked further into the room, never letting her eyes leave Spike’s face.

“Spike came over to see how your training is going.”

“It’s going good, thanks,” she replied, speaking to Spike.

Spike chuckled at that. “I’m sure it is. Though I would still like to see some of your moves.” He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, which caused Buffy to look away when her cheeks reddened.

“I didn’t get to see very much action yesterday. And to be able to judge your current form I will need to see how you fight.”

“What did you have in mind?” Buffy asked, sitting down.

“I’m coming with you on patrol tonight, and I’ll be watching you fight. That’s pretty much it.”

Buffy frowned at that. “So you’re just going to stand there judging my every move?”

She felt his eyes burn hot into hers. What was it with this vampire? She wasn’t supposed to be having any sort of feelings for this creature. Though the way he was looking at her, and making those suggestive comments had her riled up more than she liked.

“I won’t be judging you if that’s how you feel this is going to be like. I need to figure out your fighting style, and how you handle yourself when you face a real live vampire. I can fight you here, which we will be doing as part of your training. But that isn’t the same, as you won’t be faced with a fight that could be the end of your life. Because that is what you do when you fight your vampires. It takes them just one good day to succeed. And I’m here to make sure that day won’t be any time soon.”

Buffy was quiet after that. She knew very well she faced her death on a daily basis, and it wasn’t something she wanted to be reminded of all the time. She was only seventeen years old. That was by far too young to die for anyone.

“I will meet you tonight at your watchers house. Be there at 8.00 PM. I’m not a patient man, and don’t like to be kept waiting.” And with that he walked out of the library, leaving Buffy with her watcher.

Buffy looked up when Giles cleared his throat.

“I’m sure he isn’t that bad Buffy. He just really values his work and doesn’t want anyone to undermine the importance of it.”

“I suppose. Don’t worry Giles. I’ll be there at eight. And we’ll see how it goes from there.”

She got up from her seat and started walking away.

“How is it though that he can be here when it’s still light out?” she asked.

“That is something you will have to ask him about yourself.” Giles replied closing the subject for discussion.

As if things weren’t already weird enough as they were, Buffy headed out of the school building towards her home to do some much needed homework. She may be facing her death every single day, but that didn’t mean they made any exceptions for homework!