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Author's Chapter Notes:
A big thanks to Ariel for being a fab beta and for helping with the French in this chapter. You are awesome.
Chapter Four: Jaloux?
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Buffy twirled her stake and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Nikole, who was scanning the cemetery, looking for any activity. Her ‘spidery senses’ had calmed down once she had gotten used to Nikole’s presence but she had to admit, it hadn’t been all that tingly to begin with.

Nikole’s presence had felt a lot like Angel and for a moment earlier, when she had first met her, she had thought it was Angel. However, when she tuned into it and the signature felt slightly different, more feminine and strong. Now that she knew Nikole wasn’t a threat, the vampire with half a soul seemed like someone she’d really get along with. There was something achingly familiar about her but Buffy couldn’t put her finger on it.

They had been patrolling for about twenty minutes and still nothing, not even a rising fledgling. The cemetery was silent, their trek through the area did nothing to disrupt its deadly silence. Their conversation stalled and Buffy racked her brain for something else to say.

“So you and Spike, huh?” Buffy asked, mentally smacking herself for not having more tact.

“What?” Nikole asked confused, glancing over at her.

“You, Spike, making with the smoochies,” she elaborated, keeping her face blank.

Nikole gave a little chuckle. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know if I’m up for a long term thing,” she answered with a shrug.

“Long term?”

“Yeah. I mean, you know Spike. Once he likes you and considers you his, it’s kind of eternal. He was with Drusilla for over 100 years. That’s total devotion. Plus, he’s a keeper. I wouldn’t want to get too attached and then have to leave or something,” Nikole replied, internally smirking at how well she was playing off Buffy.

“What do you mean Spike’s a keeper? Who’d want him?” Buffy asked with a scoff even though her brain was still processing all that Nikole had said.

“You’d be surprised. Spike is much more than you think he is. There’s tons that you don’t know. Spike isn’t just a vampire Buffy,” she said cryptically. “Like I bet you don’t even know how he got that scar on his eyebrow,” she continued and Buffy’s frown gave her the answer.

A low growl from up ahead caught Nikole’s attention and she motioned for Buffy to be quiet. Buffy felt the tingles on the back of her neck and pulled out her stake.

“Let’s have ourselves some fun,” Nikole said as she tore off after the group of vampires, pulling her own stake from her jacket. Buffy ran after her and soon joined in the foray. They were both a swirl of kicks and punches, working fluidly together.

Buffy dusted her last vamps and turned back to watch Nikole. She had to admit the girl was extremely good; she was like liquid. Buffy wondered if she looked like that when she fought. She knew she’d have a hard time taking her if she turned against them.

Nikole staked the last vamp and turned to her.

“Well that was a good warm up,” she commented as she brushed herself off.

“Hey, maybe you could help me train,” Buffy said as the idea popped into her head. “Giles and Riley usually help, but well, they’re breakable. And I can’t exactly ask Spike since you know, since he’s Chip o’ ahoy and all. So what do you think?” she asked after she realized she had been babbling.

“Sure as long as it’s fine with your watcher.”

“Oh yeah. I can just hear him now. He’d give his approval in his British babble and then give me a little spiel on the vast knowledge you have, blah blah blah, and then he would ask me why I wasn’t training and wasting my time standing around,” she said with a smirk. Nikole gave a little chuckle.

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The rest of patrol was only mildly entertaining. A few fledglings and two big ugly demons, but other than that, it had been quiet. They made their last round though Restfield Cemetery when Nikole stopped.

“Hey, isn’t Spike’s crypt around here?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll show you. I can ask him if he saw anything,” Buffy replied as she led the way. Yup, just going to go see if Spike knows anything. Has nothing to do with making sure they aren’t all over each other.

In her slayer fashion, she flung open the door, completely disregarding Spike’s privacy. A high-pitched scream met their ears and Buffy looked up, startled to see her little sister sitting across from Spike on top of a sarcophagus.

“God Buffy! Rude much?” Dawn shouted. Buffy opened her mouth in reply but the sudden steel grip on her arm stopped her. She looked down at the hand holding her and then looked up at Nikole. Her face was glazed over and she stared, as if looking into a void.

“Nikole, you okay?” Buffy asked waving her hand in front of her face. Nikole’s body went lax and she turned towards Buffy with a start.

“Sorry about that. Just spaced off for a second,” she replied, keeping the knowledge that Dawn was the Key to herself for now. She didn’t know how Buffy was going to take it and she was going to wait until she found a way to tell her without being staked. She let go of Buffy’s arm and looked over at Spike. He caught her eye and his quirked eyebrow told her that he could tell something was up.

Buffy turned back to stare at Dawn, walking over to her. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Spike’s helping me with my homework,” Dawn answered as if it were common knowledge while waving the book she had in her hands at Buffy.

“Huh?” Buffy asked confused.

“Your mum asked me to help the Bit when she found out I spoke French,” Spike explained.

“Mom...asked you...to tutor Dawn?” Buffy was flabbergasted. Since when does Spike help for anything other than to help himself? And mom asked him? Oh, there'll be some talking to her about this.

“Yeah, what of it?” Spike shot back, his tone defensive.

“Is she crazy?” Buffy screeched, more talking to herself than them, but Dawn was quick to speak up.

“Buffy quit being a brat. Spike’s just helping me.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to Spike. “Elle me rendre folle. Peut être elle est jaloux, non?”

Buffy’s eyes jumped between the two of them, having no clue what they were saying and wishing she’d paid more attention in French. Nikole snickered in her mind, understanding that Dawn thought that perhaps Buffy was jealous.

“Je pense que non, ma chère. Nous sommes finis ce soir. Tu dois retouner chez vous. Je pense que ta grande soeur aurai une problème si j'accompanais vous deux. à la prochien? Jeudi?” Spike replied, his French sounding slightly different with his British accent. He’d pretty much told Dawn that he doubted it and that they were done for the night; and that he’d walk her home but big sis wouldn’t take to it, then finally that he’d see her on Thursday.

“Yeah, same time,” Dawn confirmed. She and Spike exchanged air kisses on each cheek while Buffy watched with confusion.

Okay, this is so not the Spike I know. Maybe because you don’t really know him, her mind argued back as Nikole’s earlier words resurfaced. She pushed the thought down and watched as Dawn gather up her stuff.

“What?” Buffy asked indignantly as Dawn pinned her with a glare and huffed at her.

“You have to ruin everything don’t you? And being rude… I’m telling Mom,” Dawn mumbled as she zipped up her backpack and stormed past Buffy out the door. Buffy gave a ragged sigh before following after her and then pausing at the entrance.

“You coming?” she asked, looking back at Nikole.

“No, I’m going to hang with Spike for a while,” Nikole replied with a wink, turned just enough so Spike could see. Spike watched as a frown marred the Slayers face before she gave a shrug and went after Dawn.

“So pet, what game are you playing at?” Spike asked when he felt the Slayer walk out of hearing range. He walked past Nikole and shut the door, turning back to face her.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” she countered. “Falling in love with the Slayer.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about pet,” Spike said through clenched teeth, a muscle in his jaw giving a little twitch.

“Oh, but I think you do,” she said, piercing him with a knowing gaze. It was as if she could see right through him and Spike knew that he wore his emotions right on his sleeve despite his best attempts not to.

“Oh bollocks! Alright, so I’ve got a yen for the bird,” he admitted as he began to pace. “I know it’s wrong and all that rot, but what’s a bloke to do? It’s not like I asked for it.” He paced over to his duster and grabbed out a cigarette, lighting it up.

“I know what you mean Spike, better than you know,” Nikole said quietly, focusing on a spot on the far wall as memories floated to the surface.

“Is that right luv? Sounds like a story. Why don’t you tell us,” Spike asked as he leaned against a pillar and crossed his arms, training his eyes only on her.

Even though she wasn’t looking at him, he could see the anguished hurt behind her eyes and held back his inner William, who wanted to comfort the girl.

“I fell in love once,” she began, a whimsical smile appearing on her face. “He was sweet and funny, and everything I’d hope he’d be. I met him one night at a pub in London. We began a routine thing and then we started going to the theater and dinner. He made me feel alive again,” her face turned towards the ground and he saw the single tear rolling down her cheek.

“One night, we were out having drinks. Some vamp came in and decided to find a meal. When the vamp left, I excused myself to go after him. Well, turns out my guy trailed after me. He watched as I fought the vamp and let the girl go. I turned to face him and didn’t register that I was in game face. Gave him a good shock, then I got my own,” she said bitterly before clearing her throat.

“Turned out he was a watcher in training. Of course I’d already fallen in love with him and was pretty sure he felt the same way. He told me to stay away or he’d stake me. And I tried for a while to convince him that we could work. It got close one time, he missed my heart by an inch.” She subconsciously rubbed the scar on her chest through her shirt.

“He broke my heart completely that night,” she pressed on, indifferent to the tears that were cascading down her face. “I went on a rampage after that and spiraled downhill from there. It was a while later that I met Clem and he helped put me back together.”

Spike was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say. He watched as Nikole struggled with her memories for a second before looking up at him.

“I know what it’s like to love someone you shouldn’t and I don’t want someone else to go through that.”

“So what? You’re gonna help me get the girl?” Spike asked trying to kept the hope from his voice.

“Exactly William,” she answered.

He pulled a face at the use of his original name but didn’t say anything.

“So how do you plan on doin’ that pet?” Spike asked after a moment.

“Now we’re getting to the good part,” she said, wiping away the evidence of her tears. “You see, I think Buffy already feels something towards you.”

“Yeah, it’s called disgust and contempt,” Spike snapped back.

“Nuh huh, you should have seen her on patrol. She asked me about you and what was up with us,” she said, a smirk on her face at the incredulous look on Spike’s face.

“She asked about me?” His eyes were wide, a look of wonder on his face.

“I think she might have been a bit jealous. She keeps her emotions very roped in but I could still feel them coming off her. There’s something just beneath the surface and all I have to do is give it a little nudge.”

“Even if you do make her admit she feels somthin’, that’s not going to get her to admit it to her friends. Her precious Scoobies would never approve and then there’s Captain Cardboard and the fact that she sees me as a some dead, evil, soulless thing,” Spike rattled off, flicking down his cigarette and crushing it.

“You let me worry about getting everyone in the right set of mind. All you need to worry about is being the vamp you need to be,” she said as she poked him in the chest, emphasizing her point. “But first, do you really, truly love her?” she asked staring into his cerulean eyes. She already knew the answer; this was just a test to see if Spike could admit it to himself and to someone else.

Spike caught onto the game quickly but that didn’t change his reaction. He knew that if they started this, there’d be no half-ass attempts; it’d be all or nothing. “Yeah, I love her with all of my unbeating heart,” he stated, his eyes never wavering from hers.

“Good,” she said. “Now, first we’re going to have to act like we’re kind of together. It’d really throw her off.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m guessing you complain about Angel having a soul,” she replied and Spike’s grumble proved her right. “And if she sees that you can be with someone with a soul, albeit, I only have half a soul, I’m thinking it might change her perspective a bit. She needs to see that you could be good for her, which you are.”

“Alright, if you say so pet. I just hope this is going to work out and neither one of us gets staked in the process,” Spike mumbled.

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Tbc…





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