The day passed surprisingly quickly after that, spent watching mindless television, doing the laundry as promised and with distractions of every possible kind to keep them both from thinking about the things which were troubling them most. They ate a quiet dinner and not long after, Buffy felt the sudden urge to be outside, in the dark, fighting. The last time she had patrolled seemed like a lifetime ago. When she suggested her plan though, her mother wasn’t exactly pleased.
“But, Buffy, do you really have to go out looking for trouble?” Joyce asked worriedly, “I mean, surely bad things will come to you. You don’t have to go after them, do you?”
“It’s my duty, Mom. They won’t come to me so I have to stop them… out there.”
She could see her mother really didn’t like the idea but had no idea what to say to pacify her.
“You don’t need to worry, Joyce.”
She was surprised as Spike spoke up, eyes flicking to her before turning towards her mother.
“She’ll be safe. She’s… well, she’s the best Slayer I’ve ever seen.”
She found herself blushing at the unexpected praise and he sent her a shy smile.
“Don’t know anything she couldn’t take out. If you’d ever seen her fight, you’d know there’s nothing to worry about.”
“She’s really that good?” Joyce asked, seemingly out of curiosity as opposed to disbelief.
“She is,” he answered simply, eyes fixed on her for a long moment before he turned his attention back to Joyce, “In my professional opinion, that is.”
Joyce smiled warily and then turned to her with a sigh of defeat.
“You’ll be home before midnight?”
“Of course.”
She was on her feet in seconds, ready to go, but her mother’s voice halted her momentarily.
“Why don’t you take Spike with you?”
She turned back to them, eyes flicking from her mother to Spike and back again.
“I’m sure getting out will do you both good… And I have to admit, I’d feel better if you had someone with you.”
She glanced at Spike and gave him a hesitant smile.
“Well, I mean, if you want to…”
“Wouldn’t say no to a bit of fresh air,” he admitted with a slight smile.
“Okay, cool. You ready to go?”
“Sure,” he answered, rising to his feet and moving to her side, “Gonna be interesting, seeing it from the other side.”
She smiled widely and pulled on her jacket as they moved towards the door.
“Be careful!” her mother called, “Both of you.”
“Bye, Mom!” she called back with a laugh, opening the door and beckoning Spike in front of her.
She didn’t realise how much she had missed being outside at night until she stepped down onto the path and took a deep breath.
“Hmm, I missed this,” she murmured absentmindedly.
“Sadist.”
Surprised at Spike’s low comment, she turned to him in shock, and then when she saw his half-smile, she started to laugh, shaking her head slightly.
“Thanks.”
He smiled softly again and they set off into the night side-by-side.
“I usually stop by at Giles’ before patrol… you know, see if he’s heard anything… if there’s anything particular I need to look out for.”
Spike nodded, hands shoved in his pockets as they walked through the leafy, quiet suburbs of Sunnydale.
He looked so odd without his jacket, smaller somehow, but she couldn’t imagine what sort of bloody memories were associated with his once-prized possession. Before she knew it, she was opening her mouth and asking him.
“Spike? Your jacket… I mean… I was just wondering…”
At first he looked stunned, but it soon turned to a weary sort of acceptance that suddenly made him look a lot older.
“You want to know why I don’t want to wear it.”
“It’s just… you’ve always worn it. Every time I ever saw you, you had it on.”
“Loved that jacket,” he murmured, half to her, half to himself, “Loved what it represented… at one time. Now… it’s too much.”
She fell silent and he paused in his step, his eyes focussed on the floor for a long time before he finally raised them to her.
“Took that jacket from a Slayer… after I killed her.”
“Oh.”
It was like a blow to the solar plexus, winding her. She had never even thought that it might be a prize, a trophy stripped from one of his victims. It made her shudder, but when she saw the miserable look on his face, she quickly covered her uneasiness.
“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to, like, pry or anything.”
He nodded slowly and they continued on their path to Giles’ in silence.
They reached Giles’ a few minutes later and she noticed the way he hung back.
“We won’t stay long,” she reassured him as they moved to the door and he nodded, hands still stuffed in his pockets.
“Are you okay with this?” she asked, drawing to a halt and watching him with concern, mistakenly taking his nervousness as a sign of his unwillingness to take part in the life which had been so recently the opposite to his.
“Yeah, I just… Not looking forward to the inquisition.”
“Huh?!”
He gave her a small smile, boots scuffing at the ground.
“The Watcher and all your friends know, right? Know ‘bout the soul and all?”
“Yes.”
“Gonna be a mite curious to see the freak show then, I reckon.”
His words, tainted with anger, shyness and embarrassment, stilled her for a moment but then she took a step forward and laid her hand on his arm.
“Not afraid, are you?”
“Of course not!” he retorted and she knew once again that his competitiveness would work in her – and his – favour.
“Well, let’s go,” she said softly, “I’ll look after you, I promise.”
She gave him a teasing smile and was glad when he scowled at her – but the next minute, darted worried eyes towards the door as it opened.
“Buffy!”
She turned to her Watcher, staying close to Spike, and didn’t miss the tension in his body as Giles’ curious gaze moved to him.
“I’m off on patrol so I can’t stay long,” she announced, drawing her Watcher’s gaze back to her.
“Of course,” he answered, darting another look at Spike before turning to move back inside, “Come in.”
Spike gave a look of surprise and it took her a few moments to realise why: he had been invited in with no preamble and with no crossbow aimed at him. She smiled and tugged on his arm, urging him on.
“You didn’t think I’d make you stand outside?” she asked with a smile and he sent a confused look her way before shaking his head and following her inside the house.
It was only as she shut the door behind them that she realised she hadn’t even considered the possibility that now showed itself: not only Giles to deal with, but the whole Scooby gang. As several pairs of curious eyes fell on the silent vampire, she flashed him an apologetic smile and moved into the room, hoping to distract attention from him.
“So, any news?!” she asked cheerily, leaning against the back of the couch – and not so subtly obstructing their view of the vampire.
“You mean apart from the whole end of the world thing your boyfriend tried to pull?” Cordelia remarked with a smug smile.
“Yeah, apart from that,” she answered weakly, only a little heartened by Xander’s apologetic smile on his girlfriend’s behalf.
“It’s been surprisingly quiet of late,” Giles spoke up, seemingly unable to stop his wandering eyes from being drawn to the vampire who lingered by the doorway.
“Exactly why I need to get out and kick some vampire ass. They’ll think they’re safe.”
“Ah, yes, you said you were going on patrol. Are you sure you’re ready, Buffy?”
“Yes, Giles. I really need to be out of the house.”
“Well, yes, I see,” he commented, polishing his glasses and replacing them, only to throw another quick glance at the silent vampire.
A silence fell over the room and she glanced at the vampire, giving him a wry smile that he returned halfheartedly.
“So, Spike, how’s it going?”
She wasn’t the only one surprised by Oz’s question – not least because he was usually as silent as the vampire was now – and she glanced at Spike again, not missing his own surprise.
“Fine,” he answered quietly, eyes meeting Oz’s and then moving to hers, “I’m just, err, gonna wait for you outside, Slayer.”
She couldn’t help but smile as he made a quick escape, shutting the door behind him. She shook her head and turned back to her friends.
“Well, that went well.”
She turned to Oz and smiled genuinely.
“Thanks though. For trying.”
He shrugged in reply and she perched on the edge of the couch, letting out a sigh.
“He’s, like, crazy quiet,” Xander commented lowly, as if the vampire might hear him.
“Better than just crazy,” she remarked, “Trust me.”
“He seems better though,” Giles commented.
“Yeah. He’s slowly getting better. I mean, once he started to feed again, he started to get less crazy. This is his second crazy-free day.”
Giles nodded, absorbing this information and looking for all the world like he would enjoy quizzing her on the subject. Willow spoke up though, preventing him from continuing.
“And… how’s Angel?”
She could almost feel her friends’ anticipation as they waited for her answer and she sighed, averting her eyes from them.
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“You don’t seem so sure,” Xander commented.
“You didn’t sleep with him and send him evil again, did you?” Cordelia blurted out, “Because, really, that would just be stupid.”
“Thanks,” she bit out, “And no. He’s fine. We’re just… we’re spending some time, err… not seeing each other, at the moment.”
“You broke up?!” Willow exclaimed in astonishment, wide eyes watching her with surprise.
“Maybe,” she answered sadly, unable to lie to her friend, “I don’t know. There was a lot of shouting and… well, I’m just not ready to talk to him right now.”
“Wow,” Willow breathed.
“So, we got his soul back for no reason,” Cordelia stated in her bored tone, “Great.”
Forcing herself not to react to Cordelia’s provocation, she turned quickly to Giles.
“I’m patrolling the south side of town today. Only until midnight though. My mom imposed a curfew.”
“How is she taking things?” he asked.
“Really well, actually. She was a bit, like, do you have to go out and fight but then I explained and… well, actually I guess Spike convinced her with his ‘she’s the best Slayer I’ve ever seen’ line.”
“He said that?” Willow asked.
“Yeah. Must mean something, coming from someone who killed two of us, right?” she exclaimed, and instantly thought of the jacket he had taken from a dead Slayer. She straightened, her expression turning sombre.
“Anyway, patrol awaits.”
“You’ll let me know how it went tomorrow?” Giles asked.
“Of course.”
He nodded and with a short ‘goodbye’ she left the house and quickly set off with Spike at her side.
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