“Huh? What did you say?”
Buffy shut her eyes tighter. She was still lightheaded, it felt like something was… pushing at her mind. Weird. Maybe that demon had hit her in the head.
“I said, he has fought two Slayers this century, and killed both,” Giles. That was definitely Giles’ voice. “What I can’t understand is why he was with Buffy, he has never been known for mind games…”
Slowly, Buffy forced her eyes to open. The surroundings were vaguely familiar, and she was lying on a couch. Bit by bit the memories came back. The fight. The demon… running away. She sat up and saw Giles and Xander standing a little bit away from her, apparently caught up in a conversation.
“Is everyone okay?” she asked.
Both startled before turning towards her.
“Yes, we’re fine.” Giles said. “And you? How are you feeling?”
“Like my head’s gonna explode,” she groaned, pressing both hands against her temples.
Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she glanced around the room. Spike wasn’t there. Her first thought was that he’d already left, perhaps he hadn’t even come with them to Giles’ house. It seemed more likely; she doubted that the vampire would want to hang out with Giles and Xander. Not if she wasn’t deadly injured. And even then, he would probably be out searching for the new Slayer and ordering her to help him. Buffy smiled ironically to herself.
“The demon got away, right?” she asked a minute later.
“Yes,” Giles said. “But I have no idea what species it was, I have never seen any with those...”
“Creepy fingers?”
“I would say ‘talons.’”
Buffy just shrugged. Xander walked over to the sofa to sit down. For once he seemed to be completely at ease being in the same room as her; not running away or looking at anyone but her. She smiled a little, then frowned.
“Why did we faint?” she asked, meeting Giles’ gaze. “It happened like – wham! Spike got that weird slime in my face, then... blackness.”
“Slime, you say?” Giles said, the frown lines on his forehead deepening even more.
“It came out of a wound.”
“I will research it. I can’t imagine it being particularly dangerous, though,” Giles smiled a little. “You seem perfectly well now.”
Buffy smiled back. This had been a pretty good day after all. Her mother hadn’t freaked on her too much – Buffy suspected that Giles had something to do with that. She’d been grounded for the rest of the month though, but that was really not a big punishment after what she’d done. Still, she would need to patrol. Maybe Giles would want to go with her now when he saw that she was getting back in shape. Immediately, Spike’s face was in her mind’s eye. Would he still be able to come with? It didn’t seem like Giles had noticed the vampire factor, but he would without doubt if he saw another fight.
Maybe Spike could be good? Buffy shook her head. That was a ridiculous thought. All vampires were evil, after him... she should know. But... this vampire had helped her patrol, he’d even seemed to enjoy sparring with her. Perhaps if...
“Buffy,” Giles voice broke through her thoughts and she shook her head again.
“Yeah?”
Xander was watching her closely. While she was lost in thought Giles had gotten a book from the book cage and now he was leafing through it. When he found the right page, he slowly put it down in front of her.
Something was up, she could see tell by the expression on Giles’s face as she looked from him, to the open book. A picture filled one of the pages and she recognized the vampire immediately. His hair wasn’t bleached and he wasn’t wearing the leather coat, but it was definitely him.
Still, she couldn’t see the big deal. OK, he was known among Watchers. That showed that he wasn’t some stupid fledgling... that should be a good thing.... right?
“So?” Buffy said, a small tremor in her voice.
“This is William the Bloody,” Giles said, “also called Spike, a nickname he gained after torturing his victims with railroad spikes.”
Well, she already knew that. Spike had told her during their first patrol.
”He was sired by Drusilla in 1880, and spent around a century together with her and Angelus.” Giles looked Buffy straight in the eye. “He left the group after he killed his second Slayer and hasn’t been seen until now.”
“S-s-second S-Slayer?”
“He is also called ‘Slayer of Slayers’.”
Blindly, Buffy reached for the book and lifted it up. Sired 1880 by... Boxer Rebellion... Slayer... 1977... New York.... Nikki Wood... disappears without sign...
Swallowing hard, she lay the book down again. She wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t. Vampires were evil and selfish. Spike had probably just wanted to kill her all along. As soon as she’d helped him take him and Drusilla out, he probably planned to drain her.
A heavy hand was placed on her shoulder. “Buffy, you know what vampires are like,” Giles said “Even if Spike had been a fledgling you couldn’t trust him, vampires act solely for their own, selfish reasons. Now, when...”
She didn’t listen to the rest. She knew what his point was; no more seeing Spike. And she was cool with that, really. After all, he was just another vampire.
“... you knew he was a vampire?” Giles asked.
Buffy blinked, then forced a smile. “Yeah... vamp radar and all, I just thought...” She shrugged helplessly. “I won’t see him again.”
Spike threw the bottle against the wall. The sound of it shattering echoed in the bloody basement. In his bloody home. He picked up the glass too, but had crushed it in his hand before he'd time to cast it. Giggling like an idiot he let the pieces of glass fall to the floor. One had cut his palm and he laughed even harder, raising the hand so he could watch the blood dribble from the wound.
He wasn’t even half way to as drunk as he wanted to be. The laughter died on his lips. He shouldn’t have gone home so soon. He should definitely have drunk a lot more.
“Stupid, bloody Slayer...” he murmured under his breath, “Stupid, bloody Watcher... What the hell gives him the right, huh?”
Growling, he slumped down in the sofa and buried his face in his hands. Everything was Rupert’s fault. The revenge was almost in reach! If Spike hadn’t fainted. If the Slayer hadn’t fainted. If that fucking demon never had showed up. If the sodding Watcher hadn’t been so smart!
On top of all that he was getting a headache. A headache! Vampires didn’t get headache if they hadn’t drunk bottles of liquor.... and he had, all right, he had. But it shouldn’t be kicking in now! He hadn’t consumed enough yet, there’s now way the hangover should make itself known already!
Then he sighed deeply and closed his eyes. The Slayer’s face flashed before him. She’d never come near him again.
As Buffy lay in her bed that night, she was sure that her Watcher hadn’t meant to show his disappointment. But it had still been there. He’d had that same look in his eyes when she’d run off from her mother. He didn’t understand why she had teamed up with a vampire, of course he didn’t. She wasn’t even sure she understood herself.
A vampire wasn’t the ideal patrol partner. But he had showed up. He had dragged her out of her house, and out of her fear. He had sparred with her and watched her back. He’d been straight with her and hadn’t treated her with pity. But she had only known him for a few days, so none of that mattered. Giles would help her to really get on with the training now.
Slowly, she rolled over on her back, staring up in the ceiling. Her head hurt. Most likely because of all that had happened during the day, if she just fell asleep the pain would be gone by tomorrow. Screwing her eyes shut, she tried willing the sleep to come.
A second later her eyes shot open again. What if Giles expected her to kill Spike?
This was one weird dream.
Spike was absolutely sure that it was a dream. There was no other way that he could be standing in broad sunlight, in the middle of a cemetery, without shoes.
Blinking in the bright light, he looked over the place. He was still in Sunnydale, no doubt about that. He had spent enough hours hanging around these cemeteries when he, Angelus and Drusilla had spent a couple of years on and off in the city.
For the first time he noticed a fresh grave in front of him. It didn’t have any gravestone yet and it bothered him. Frowning, he sank down on his knees, reaching forward to touch the soil.
“Spike.”
He ignored the voice, instead focusing on the grave. He really didn’t like it. Or maybe he did. There was something appealing about it too.
“Spike!”
Irritated, he lifted his head. There was the familiar female, standing in the shadow of a crypt. She gestured for him to come. Well, he was nobody’s lap dog. He didn’t want to go. The grave was much more interesting than she. Still, his legs were moving and he found himself standing up and walking over to her.
“You know, I think I bloody well deserve to see your face now,” Spike said, “We’ve been meeting a lot.”
“Shut up,” she said.
Spike placed a hand over his heart. “Oh, pet, you wound.”
“I have something important to tell you,” she said, then her eyes suddenly went wide. “Don’t wake up!”
“What? Love, I’m not...”
“Listen, I –“
Spike woke just as he began to fall off the couch. He tried to grab hold of something, but thudded to the floor. Groaning he rolled over. Not a good way to start the day.
“Morning Buffy,” Joyce said as Buffy entered the kitchen.
“Morning.”
“How are you today?”
“Fine.” Buffy smiled at her mother, and if she noticed that it was a bit forced, she didn’t remark on it.
The conversation about her running off the other night, hadn’t been as terrible as she had feared. Her mom had been angry, but the anger had come out of fear. So there had been hugging and even a tear when she entered the house in the afternoon. Still, Buffy hadn’t managed to explain exactly what had happened and right now, it felt like she was just waiting for more questions.
Sitting down, she thanked her mother as a glass of orange juice was placed in front of her.
“Mr Giles seems like a very nice man,” Joyce said. “Did you say he was the librarian at your school?”
Buffy flinched. Quiz time already? It wasn’t even half past seven yet.
“Yeah.”
“What about this... Spike?” Joyce frowned. “What does he do?”
Pressing her lips together, Buffy managed to keep from giggling. She couldn’t really imagine Spike doing any kind of work, and definitely not sitting in a school desk. Then she stilled. He had killed two Slayers. Perhaps that could be considered work.
“Don’t worry, mom,” A strangled laugh came over her lips unbidden. “I won’t see him again.”
“Really?” The relief in her mother’s voice was obvious. “I’m happy you came to that realization yourself. I don’t think he’s good for you.”
Joyce walked around the counter and pressed a kiss against Buffy’s temple.
“You know I only want what’s best for you, Buffy.”
“She wants what she thinks is best for you.”
“I know.”
It was easy to track her. Her scent still lingered in the air and it couldn’t have been more than an hour since she had left the house.
Spike had gone there with the intention to explain. What, he wasn’t sure. By now, the girl must know everything about the two Slayers he’d killed.
He hadn’t thought she would go out on her own. What if Angelus decided that tonight was the right night for lurking in the shadows? He walked faster.
He caught up with her just in time to see her turn a fledgling into dust. Suddenly he felt anger well up inside him. Growling, he stalked forward and grabbed the Slayer by the forearm.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
TBC