Chapter 2
AN: Thanks to my betas for their help with this.
A Little Over A Month Later
Elizabeth Williams, or Beth as everyone called her, left the nice Italian restaurant after her shift was over. She wanted nothing more than to head back to her tiny apartment. Relax and get some much needed rest. But no, she at least had to do some patrolling first... even if the town was low on the action. There was hardly ever anything for a slayer to do, not that she was complaining. It was nice not living on a Hellmouth. If the baddies came all this way, they might as well make the short trip the rest of the way to Sunnydale; so, they usually did. Some decided on little pit stops, though, and that's when she was able to get her slayage on.
She undid the red scarf tied around her neck, part of the restaurant uniform, and stuffed it in the pocket of her black slacks. With that off, she was able to at least undo the top few buttons of her blouse, get a bit more comfortable than the stuffy outfit usually allowed. Next she undid the tight bun her now dark brown hair was in, letting the loose curls bounce free down her back and finger combing it out. Much better.
The town was quiet as usual and she was nearly done, glad to finally be heading back soon.
Turning to head back towards her apartment, she stumbled as the heel on her cheap shoe snapped off. Bound to happen sooner or later, the kind of mileage she was putting on the things... it was actually the second pair she had broken since she had been there. She bent to slip them off to walk the rest of the way back to her apartment barefoot, but froze as she was straightening. That tingle. Figures they would come at the worst possible moment. Gah.
She finished straightening then turned around. Her eyes went up and up. My god he was a big one... This was giving her the worries, but she never backed down from a fight when there was a chance she would make it out alive. She stayed where she was and let him come towards her. He wore a smirk the whole time. Really, there was no reason for him to expect that he had run into the slayer in this tiny town.
When he was close enough for her liking, she dashed forward in a blur of motion to take him off guard with her attack. They fought and she thought to herself, he was good but no other vampire ever compared to Spike. The dancing they did. She shook her head and tried to rid it of those thoughts. Bad thoughts. Too distracting. Sure enough, she took a sucker punch to the jaw and fell backwards.
Grr... stupid Spike... always causing me trouble... she thought to herself as she pushed herself up and dusted off her skinned hands on her pants. Her feet were fairing worse, cut up by the glass, tiny stones, and other such things on the ground.
She ignored the pain and dove into the fight again with abandon. All she needed was something to use for staking him since she couldn't very well bring a stake to the restaurant with her... She ducked a blow and glanced around as she did so, grinning when she caught sight of a tree off to the side with a broken branch sticking straight out towards them. She pummeled him, getting him to where she wanted, then brought up her foot to kick him hard. He went sprawling into the tree with the broken branch sticking through his chest. He had a moment to register shock before exploding into dust.
She dusted off her hands with an accomplished smile then turned to head home, but nearly walked into the chest plate of someone new. She tilted her head back and found herself looking up at a very large and very ugly demon.
"Good god, don't I ever get a break?" She muttered exhaustedly.
"Actually, I sent that guy along as a distraction and to tire you out a bit." The demon said in amusement before cocking back his fist to slam it into her face, sending her to the ground with a cry of pain.
She barely got her elbow under her when next his heavy boot smashed into her ribs and she rolled across the ground, scraping up her arms even more. This was not looking very good. She winced and went to sit up quickly before he kicked her again, brushing messy curls out of her face.
"You wouldn't, by chance, be willing to call a time out, would you?" she gave a nervous chuckle as he advanced on her. He growled and she rolled her eyes with a sigh, starting to push herself up. "No, didn't think so..."
She got to her feet and he was already lunging at her before she could get her bearings. She spun to kick him in the gut, but he grabbed her leg to use it to swing her away like a doll. A tree luckily broke her fall and she grunted in pain. This was sooo not looking good. Her eyes rolled upwards as the demon towered over her, and then moved to lift her up again for more punishment.
That was until an arrow exploded through his shoulder. He reared back and roared in pain, spinning to see who was responsible. He began tussling with a person that Buffy couldn't see, what with the dark and the quickness of their moves as they moved out of her field of vision. It didn't help that the other person was probably dwarfed by the large demon that kept blocking her savior from view.
She started to lower her head, relieved for the time being that it didn't look like she was going to die. That feeling was short lived as someone knelt by her head and she jerked in alarm.
"Shhh, we're here to help you," a familiar voice said.
"Cordelia!?" She lifted her head quickly to look at the other woman. "What... what are you doing here?"
Cordelia looked just as shocked. "Could ask you the same thing." She glanced Buffy over as she helped her old comrade up. "Wow, you certainly did change the Barbie girl look."
"One, it's personal. Two, the outfit is the remains of my uniform for my waitressing job, and three... you say that as if it were an insult to the way I looked before." The slayer planted her hands on her hips, shifting on her throbbing feet.
"Look little miss unappreciative-"
"Girls! Girls!" Wesley stepped between them and held up his hands. "Now, we are all adults and can try to be civil here."
"Okay..." They both said in unison and looked away.
"So I mean, it was good luck you were here to save my butt, but why were you here?" Buffy looked back to Wesley and lifted her brows. "And I can assume the guy doing away with the demon must be Angel?"
"Yes, it is," he nodded. "Cordelia had a vision of a demon attacking a young woman and we were able to track it here. It was fast and with your change of appearance, she understandably didn't know it was you in her vision."
She glanced towards Cordelia. "Vision?"
Cordelia nodded and turned to watch Angel as he headed their way after finishing off the demon. He rested the ax on his shoulder and looked at Buffy, brows shooting up.
"Buffy..."
"In the flesh... that you saved... again..." she spread her arms.
"So you've been here the whole time? You didn't really go far, did you," the corner of Angel's mouth lifted. "And you look... nice." His eyes drifted over her.
"Yeah, even covered in dirt and bruises..." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I've been here. My intention wasn't to go to the other side of the world and I'm close enough that if there's a major apocalypse or something I can go running back. How do you know about any of this, though?"
"Willow called me the night you ran off after finding your note on the counter. Wanted me to keep an eye out in case you came to LA again or at least passed through." He took a step forward. "You really should go back or at least give them a call. They're really worried about you, Buffy."
She frowned and started to back away from him slowly. "Look, I'm sorry they dragged you into this and thank you for saving my butt again, but it's really none of your business. Please stay out of it and don't tell them where I am. I'll... I'll just run again if you do." She lifted her chin stubbornly.
"Fine, I won't... but on one condition."
"What?"
"You call them yourself. You don't have to tell them where you are or anything, just let them know you're okay."
She frowned at the ground and scuffed her foot for a moment, wincing at the pain from the cuts on the bottom, before looking up at him from under her lashes. "Fine. I... I really got to get back now, though. He really laid into me and I need to see what damage he did to me then get some rest. Got another shift at the restaurant again tomorrow, too." She turned to limp off in a hurry before they could stop her.
"Beth" showed up for work the next day, uniform immaculate again after an emergency trip to the all night Laundromat. She hobbled around on her still sore feet; slayer healing wasn't THAT fast. Her mind was only half on her work as it dwelled on the events of the night before and their ramifications.
Angel might tell her friends anyways... They didn't know where she lived; at least they hadn't followed her close enough for her to have sensed him. Maybe the other two had? Maybe he did after a little time... she was sure she had left a blood trail even the youngest of fledges could follow... Or even find where she worked because they would probably easily assume she worked at a nice restaurant from the look of her uniform. It was such a small town that there were little choices for where she probably worked.
So, if it was likely he would squeal on her, and likely he could find her or tip them off on where to find her, should she start making plans to get the hell out of dodge?
She sighed and turned to take some dishes to the back, but stumbled at a stab of pain. She dropped them and startled out of her thoughts as she quickly bent to gather them up. Then there was the tingle and she jerked, dropping the glass again. She forgot it and lifted her head to look around in alarm.
Her eyes went to the door and locked with the azure gaze of the man who had just entered. She swallowed hard.
Spike.
So Angel did rat her out. She knew it.
Either that or Spike had astonishing luck. Or she had astonishing bad luck...
Her money was on the Angel ratage, though.
His eyes locked with hers as he spotted her and he began prowling in her direction purposefully. She stood quickly and looked at the waiter that had come over to help her.
She licked her lips nervously, "I... I'm not feeling well and I... I cut my hand cleaning up..."
Without further explanation, she turned and fled towards the kitchens, ignoring the pain in her feet. Her heart was hammering and she kept glancing over her shoulder as she hurried out the back door into the alley behind the restaurant. Maybe she could make it to her apartment through the back streets even quicker and get back before he caught up to her. Maybe.
She felt the tingling that said he was catching up and took off running down the alley to put as much space between them as she could get. Adrenaline helped her run through the pain. She knew Spike and he wouldn't give up just because she obviously did not want to talk to him. Stupid stubborn man thing...
Coming around a corner, a figure dropped from above and right into her path. The bleached vampire growled at her in warning and she stopped, getting the message to not turn and run again. So instead, she stood there trying to catch her breath while shifting on her feet. Spike straightened, still vamped out.
"You ran from me?" His lips curled and he tilted his head.
She pressed her lips together and looked away with a frown.
He stalked closer to her. "Look at me, Slayer." When she still stubbornly refused to, he took her chin and brought it around to face him. "When have you ever run from me... well... since I got the chip?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Well, obviously not because I'm scared of you... you are the least scary vamp ever."
"Oi! No! That's almost as bad as insultin' my bits an' bobs!"
"Well now that you mention it..." her eyes rolled downward pointedly.
"OI!" He roared and nearly shook her, instead pressing her into the wall and grinding into her. "Does that feel like a wee one t' you?!"
Her eyes were wide in shock and she forced herself not to actually look down again, thus embarrassing herself any more. She just stared with brows raised, thinking this was the worst moment for him to be making a pass at her.
"Besides... not the least scary... Angel is! You've seen the bloody poofter... when he's in game face he's cross-eyed for cryin' out loud. He looks like an even bigger wanker!" He threw up his hands.
"Does everything you say lead to a stab at Angel?" She rolled her eyes again.
"Hopefully."
"Just get off me already."
"No."
She frowned. "What do you mean 'no'?" her voice broke slightly. "You can't just-"
He held up a hand to stop her as he stiffened, nose working then he quickly picked her up to sit her on a crate nearby. He lifted her feet, removing her shoes to inspect her feet. Running had reopened some of the gashes and he had smelled the blood.
"What happened t' your feet, pet?" His face shifted back to normal as he looked up into her eyes.
"My shoe broke last night and I had to fight the vamp and the demon all barefooted." She explained tiredly. "I figure Angel told you all about that when he called you to rat me out. I'm sorta surprised he called you, though."
"He didn'. He called Red an' they sent me 'cause, as we just saw, you can' run from me an' I'm the only one as strong as you in case you got physical." He picked her up and began carrying her down the alley. "Though, I seriously doubted you would have tried t' hurt the white hats, no matter how bloody annoyin' they are."
"What are you doing?" she struggled a bit, groaning as it just made her bump the random bruises over her body.
"Bein' a gentleman an' carryin' you t' your place, you dense bird. Now just stay still, you're only hurtin' yourself more." He gave her an exasperated look as he shifted her in his arms to get her comfortable again. "We can' stay in the alley anyways. The smell of your blood is goin' t' start attractin' vamps."
"It already attracted one and that's bad enough," she made a face.
"I'll drop you, slayer." He warned sharply.
"How do you know where I live anyway?" Her nose wrinkled as she answered herself. "The icky smell thing again, huh?"
"Yeah, the 'icky smell thing'..." he replied dryly. "Now just relax an' let the big bad vampire take care of you."
He got to her apartment and paused to let her open the door then carried her inside once she muttered an invitation. He set her down on the futon and looked around the Spartan-like one room apartment. The only section walled off was the bathroom. There were kitchen appliances in the corner near the door. Besides the futon, there was a television on a cheap little end table and a lamp.
He knelt in front of her and lifted her feet again to look at them, then started massaging them gently. "Now, we got t' have a talk here, pet. You need t' come back t' Sunnydale. I don' know what happened t' make you run off, they weren' exactly keepin' me in the loop, but I'm sure there's a way t' work it out, yeah?"
She pressed her lips together and frowned down at him, her annoyance helping her ignore the feeling of his hands and what it was doing to her. "I'm surprised they even want me back," she snapped. "They were the ones who had the problem and my leaving should've pleased them..."
"Didn' please me..." he muttered and lowered his head, concentrating hard on her feet.
Her brows went up then she rolled her eyes and glanced away. "Oh yeah, no more slayer-shaped booty calls..."
"Bloody hell!" His head shot up again and his hands squeezed her feet a bit harder than he meant to. "Is that all you think I care about, Slayer?"
"Isn't it?" She winced at the manhandling of her foot and tried to pull them away in fear of him twisting them off in a fit of pique. "I mean evil vampire with a chip can't go get his kill on... so instead he drinks and finds pretty girls to hassle?"
He growled at her and grabbed her feet back, jerking her towards him by her legs. He leaned his face close to hers and snarled, "If I just wanted a pretty chit for a bit of a slap an' tickle, then would have given up on a bloody annoyin' bint like you a long time ago, believe me. The crumbs you throw me are the only things that make it worth chasin' you. An' was a slap in the face that you ran without a soddin' word of good-bye t' me. Lumpin' me in with those wankers..."
She stared at him, frozen and unsure of what to do. "I... I didn't think you'd care..." She chewed on her lip then lifted her chin. "Doesn't matter, though. I still don't want to go back. Dawn hates me and the others resent me for not being so appreciative about them inconsiderately ripping me from heaven."
"Nibblet doesn' hate you. She needs you an' so do the others." He finally could resist no longer and leaned in the extra inch or two to capture her lips. "I need you."
"Spike..." her brows drew together. "But I can't seem to do anything right by her. And my friends, the fact that I couldn't even die in peace just proves how they rely on me for everything and then by the same turn, blame me for everything. Well, unless they can pin it on you..." she looked at him and shrugged apologetically. "I relied on Giles too much and he left. They rely on me too much and I left."
"So this is payback for them bringin' you back?" He tilted his head.
"No! If they really need me, I'll come back. I'm not abandoning them." She shook her head and looked away, "I just need a break. Is that so hard to comprehend?"
His face softened and he fingered one of her soft curls. "Definitely deserve a vacation, pet. Doubt they would deny you that if they could... but there's a difference between that an' what you did."
"I know..." She pouted slightly. "But still... I don't think I'm ready to go back to all that. It's not like before. They're trying to pretend it is, but it isn't... and I'm tired of pretending for them and pretending to be happy-go-lucky Buffy. I just... I'm not sure I'm up to any of it anymore and I wasn't doing so hot as it was. Dawn probably hates me even more now after I ran..."
He caught her by her upper arms, shaking her until she looked at him again. "Dawn doesn' hate you! She's a teenager goin' through a rough time an' has the ragin' hormones. She loves you an' anythin' she said she didn' mean an' was said in the heat of the moment. She loves you and she'd fight for you as fiercely as you would, an' did, for her. You haven' seen the way she's been since you left... cryin' an' regrettin' what she did, blamin' herself... wastin' away, she is."
"She is?" Her chin quivered.
"So you'll come back?" His hands gripped her slightly tighter, looking at her expectantly.
"I... well, I... I want to come make sure she's okay and stuff... but still, I can't stay there. They'll know where I am this time and can get in contact with me. I want my space for a bit, from them all." He started to look away self-consciously and she got the message, reaching out to touch him lightly. "Not you. You're the only one I don't have to pretend around."
"Thanks, pet." His eyes lit up then he quickly acted nonchalant. "Maybe there's a compromise... This place is not much an' you deserve much more than this. You're comin' t' stay with me. Can be close in case the others need you, easy t' keep in touch with, an' I can keep a good eye on you."
"Oh, your crypt is better than this?" Her eyes rolled and she started to get up.
He stood quickly in front of her. "No. Would get a proper place for us. Got a good bit of money stashed away over in England that I never really touch. 'Sposed t' be for emergencies, but gettin' us a nice place is important an' I'll have the money wired over here. You don' need t' work even, jus' patrol an' rest. Do whatever you want, pet."
"You're serious about this..." She blinked at him shocked.
"Bloody right I am! You won' even have t' lift a finger if you don' want t'. I just want t' take care of you, any way you'll let me."
She bit her lower lip. "I don't know... not sure Dawn would like that much.... not sure the others would like that either. Could make things even worse."
"Right then, an' if they told you they were okay with it?" He took out his cell phone and held it out to her. He lifted a brow as he looked down at her, challenging her. "C'mon an' call them."
"You got a cell?" She looked down at it, but didn't take it. "You probably have it programmed to the most annoying ring tone you could find, knowing you."
"Just take it, bloody annoyin' chit..." He thrust it into her hand.
Buffy looked down at the phone with a sigh and went to start dialing, but it chose that moment to burst to life. It vibrated and started playing the chorus to Rebel Yell quite loudly. She dropped it in alarm, sending it clattering to the ground where it bounced around seemingly to its own music. She gave him a look at his choice of music then bent to pick it up.
She pressed the talk button and Willow said quickly, "Spike! Did you find her? Is she okay?"
"It's HER, Will." the slayer chuckled. "I'm fine and he's here with me. I'm sorry for making you worry like that. I just... I was pretty upset and I just needed to get away for awhile."
"Dawn's really sorry... she didn't mean to chase you off. She keeps telling us she didn't mean anything she said and is so sorry for her outburst," She paused, "We're just glad you're okay, though. Are... you coming home?" She asked tentatively.
"That's what we're discussing at the moment. We were hoping you could help us settle this," Buffy looked up at Spike then continued, "I... don't want to come back to the way things were before I left and continue to live like that. Spike offered an alternative... he wants me to go live with him. For some reason I'm almost entertaining the idea, but I know you guys wouldn't like that. Especially Xander. And Dawn would probably get even madder with me..."
"If that's what you really want... I mean, if you really want to live with him then it's okay with me and I'm sure Dawn will be thrilled you two made up. She wasn't jealous of you both. Sure, she had a small crush on him for a bit, but really, she wanted you both to be happy and didn't like the way you treated him. That actually goes doubly for me, you know. And, well, you can tell Xander to buzz off, because he can't tell you who to live with. Anya will help me gang up on him for sure." She paused. "As for taking care of Dawn, well... I've been doing a good job of it so far with the help of Spike and Tara. I think I like doing the motherly thing."
"Tara? So you two made up?"
"Yeah..." She could tell the witch was blushing slightly. "So, with the lack of problems from us about the living together, does that mean you'll be coming home?"
Buffy smiled and looked at Spike with a sigh, knowing he heard every word. "Thanks, Will. I guess I can give it a try. I'll see you soon, night." She handed him back his phone. "Look, I'm still not all sure about this, but I seem to be the last one to think this is where we were headed. So, I'll at least give it a try. No promises on it being permanent, though. Okay? And there's definitely going to be ground rules."
"That's 'nough for me, luv," he smiled widely and pulled her close. "Will do you right, I swear on it." He brushed some brown locks from her face and sighed, "You ruined your lovely blonde hair... loved it so..."
"You missed my hair?" She wrinkled her nose up at him.
"Missed every soddin' bit of you, pet," he kissed her hard and ran his hands over her body as he pushed her back down onto the futon.
tbc...