Chapter Three
Buffy sat on the couch in her… well, once again, her living room. She was lost in her thoughts. Merrick… he was dead, Because of her. She clenched her jaw and grimaced, Because of Lothos.
Joyce, who was sitting next to Buffy, looked to the husband she had for the past year now, Rupert Giles, “Hank said she has been distant. He couldn’t take her attitude, so he sent her back.”
Giles sat down across from Buffy, in his favorite arm chair, “I just got off the phone with the Watcher’s Council. The reason Buffy made that fire at Hemery was because she was saving the school from vampires.”
Joyce was shocked beyond disbelief, “From vampires? Surly, my daughter’s not…”
Giles put his hand over his face, “She was called the new Vampire Slayer the night William died.”
Buffy’s mother tried to remain calm and took a steady breath. “Spike is still alive.”
Giles gave her a reassuring smile. “Yes, he is. But the fact still remains… my son… was dead for a few moments.”
At those words, even though she didn’t hear them, only announced to her that there were people sitting with her, Buffy looked up. “So mom, you’re married to Giles now?”
Joyce smiled at hearing her daughter’s voice for the first time since Hank had brought her home, “I am.”
Buffy nodded her head. She then thought of her little sister. “How’s Dawn?”
Giles grinned. “She’s great as ever. Just the other day she and Spike-”
Buffy looked sharply to Giles, “Spike. Where is he?”
Giles frowned a bit. “He should be home soon. Why?”
Buffy shook her head. “Last night, I had a dream… it’s nothing.”
“You dreamed that he had died.” Giles said gravely, understanding the shift in her mood.
The teen glanced back up at her stepfather. “How-”
“Buffy, I am also a Watcher-” Giles was interrupted himself.
Buffy shot up out of her seat, screaming, “I quit! You can’t make me… I won’t… I don’t care!”
Joyce took Buffy’s hand, which the girl swatted it away, “Honey, Rupert-”
Giles kept his voice calm as his eyes never left Buffy’s, “If you don’t care, then why did you ask about my son?”
“To tell you that... I don't care, which... I don't, and... now told you, so…” Buffy stopped her muttering and sat back down.
Just then the door barged open with Spike holding a broken axe.
“Da, I’m sorry but…” His voice died away when he saw the girl that had plagued his dreams for the past year sitting on the couch next to his stepmother.
Buffy stood back up and eyed him warily. “What are you doing with an axe?”
Spike ignored the question and narrowed his eyes in confusion, commenting on her accent that was soon waning over the amount of time she had been away from her L.A. friends. “Did you leave an’ become a valley girl or somethin’?”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “I can see you haven’t changed much.”
Spike put the axe down. “More than you would know.”
Buffy arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms, “Is that right?”
He stood up to her, nose to nose. “Are you lookin’ for fight?”
Buffy felt her female pride and the Slayer in her to rise. “I’m sorry. I don’t play with boys.”
Spike arched his scarred eyebrow. “Is that why you left? You didn’t want to… play with me? Or were you scarred of what was to… come?”
The next thing Spike saw, along with her face full of self righteous indignation, was her fist. The punched to his nose sent him across the room into the wall.
Buffy’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t meant use that much force on him, especially since he was a… normal… human – What the hell!?
“Buffy!” Joyce stood up and reprimanded as Spike shot up, holding his nose.
“Da, Joyce, leave, Buffy’s some sort of demon.” It was the only thing he could think of to explain her superhuman strength.
“Did you just call me a demon? And what the hell are you?” Buffy noticed that the blood on the peroxide teen’s nose had gone away.
Giles rolled his eyes, “William, Buffy is-”
Spike rushed the blonde, sending them both out the window onto the front lawn. Recovering from the ground, they both went into a series of punches and kicks, with Joyce yelling after them, “You both broke the window! You both are grounded!”
“What kind of demon are you!” Spike demanded, punching Buffy.
Buffy’s head snapped back, but she held her ground. “I’m not a demon. I’m the Slayer. What are you?”
Spike paused in just enough time to have his legs kicked causing him to topple over. Buffy straddled him, holding a stake against his chest.
“Are you a vampire?” She demanded for him to answer.
Spike pushed himself up on his forearms, “Did you say you were the Slayer?”
She leaned back, “Yes.”
He shook his head. “That’s not possible. I’m the Slayer.”
Then Buffy realized it. He had no signs of being a vampire. She could feel his heart beating fast from the rush of their fight and noticed that he wasn’t cold at all. He was warm and… Buffy shot off his lap, having felt his reaction to having her on top of him.
She pocketed her stake in the waist band of her jeans. “Well, I can tell you, I am the Slayer.”
Spike stood up and put his hands in the pockets of his duster when he saw his father heading towards them with a disapproving look on his face. Pulling the duster around himself, he effectively hid his reaction to the fighting from Giles.
“William, you bloody know well not to rush into things without explanation. There are certain measures one must take when fighting-” Giles was stopped short.
“I don’t live by the rules anymore. Or haven’t you noticed?” Spike said bitterly. “I tend to die that way.”
Buffy finally met Spike’s eyes, “You did… I saw…”
Giles sighed. “Spike, Buffy is a Vampire Slayer. She was called the moment you drowned.”
Spike glanced at Buffy in disbelief and back to his father. “No. Not her.”
Giles nodded. “It is true.”
Buffy felt light headed. No, this couldn’t be happening. First Merrick… Now Spike… but, he was still alive… but he had… Buffy took off into the house.
Spike had watched her go looking as if the hounds of hell where after her. Maybe they where… “What’s wrong with her?”
Giles put a shoulder around Spike as they headed into the house. “Her Watcher had died a few days ago. I can only guess with all this excitement on top of that has her very confused and upset.”
“What are you going to do?” Spike wondered as father and son climbed the porch stairs.
Giles looked at Spike pointedly. “First I am hiring the both of you to work at the Magic Box so I get compensation for the damage your fight had caused.” He then added softly. “But most importantly, be there for Buffy. She is going through a hard time and she will need all the help she can get. After all, she’s not only my other Slayer now, she’s also my stepdaughter.”
Spike then stopped at the front door, fear overcoming him. “Mum, Joyce…. she isn’t…”
Giles laughed. “Just be glad she gave up and went to bed in a huff of anger. I can’t guarantee how she will be in the morning though.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
To get rid of any confusion, Spike took Buffy's place as the Slayer in Season One. When Spike drowned, Buffy was called, much like when Buffy drowned in the series and Kendra took her place. Also, when Merrick said he had been looking for Buffy for a long time, he was exaggerating. It only took him a few days to find her after Spike died.