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Chapter 8 – Flirting with Disaster


The next few days passed uneventfully. Buffy paid another visit to Wesley and filled him in on the details he was wondering about. She and Spike patrolled at night, competing against each other to see who could stake the most vamps. Buffy got to know Fred and Gunn a little bit better and was delighted in how much Spike’s friends resembled the Scoobies. Gunn was nothing like Xander, but he was fun to be around. Fred had a more quiet demeanor and was remarkably like Willow when it came to studying.

That night, Buffy and Spike were patrolling, except it was more like they were walking through the streets of Sunnydale and talking. Their friendly staking competition was abandoned for the night as she told him all about her friends and Giles. Spike almost had tears running down his face at Buffy’s description of the Wesley she had known.

“You mean to tell me that my Watcher was a ponce?” he asked, clutching his stomach as he tried to stop laughing.

“If ponce means frightened, nervous, anxious guy, then yeah, that was him,” she said with a smile.

Trying to imagine the resilient man who had trained him as someone who timidly hesitated to get into a fight, Spike shook his head with a smile. The Wesley he knew did not match up to the clean shaven, perfectly-attired young man that Buffy had known.

“He wasn’t all bad,” she continued. “I realized that much when he came back and wanted to fight the Mayor with the rest of us. He could have gone running back to England with his tail between his legs, but he stayed. He knew what was right. I never told him, but that got my respect. I always did feel kind of bad for thinking I got him fired. Of course, that wasn’t enough to make me return to the Council.”

“Yeah, they definitely don’t like an opinionated Slayer.”

“You know Travers?”

“Met him a couple of times. He retired last year, and now it’s some new guy named Nigel Grant.”

“Nigel? That name sounds familiar. Might have been the one I threw a sword at,” she said softly, smiling when she saw Spike’s expression of disbelief. “Long story. Anyway, it’s about time Travers retired. He’s pushing seventy. He was way too focused on the way the Council used to work and didn’t pay enough attention to what was going on around him.”

“Yeah, I gathered that much from the few conversations we had. It was pretty much, ‘Be a good boy and do as you’re told’.”

“That sounds about right.”

The pair walked in silence for a few more minutes, coming to a stop in front of the swing set in the park. Buffy turned around and sat down on one of the swings as she looked up at Spike. “So what about you? Had any apocalypses I should know about?”

“Just one. I don’t know if it’s up to apocalypse standards like you’re used to. A bunch of vamps and demons using some magic to open up the Hellmouth.”

“That’s never any fun,” Buffy said with a grimace on her face.

“They were easy enough to stop. Definitely no stories like the ones you have. You’re pretty much a legend as far as Slayers go.”

Laughing as she pushed off the ground to send her swing flying into the air, Buffy pumped her legs to get her higher, shaking her head. “A legend, huh? So that explains why you never heard of me.”

“I’d heard of you, pet,” Spike said, walking around to push her from behind. “I just didn’t pay attention to details.”

“Sounds familiar,” she said, thinking of all the lectures Giles gave her. The two relaxed as Spike pushed Buffy at a relaxed pace. Coming to a stop a few minutes later, he glanced up at the sky and sighed.

“I hate to cut out early, love. I made a promise to see someone tonight.”

“Translation-your girlfriend is mad at you for spending so much time with another woman and wants you to come over for some quality time.”

“That about sums it up, Slayer.”

“No big. I’ll make another pass, and then I’m on my way home.”

“Buffy, I don’t like you patrolling alone,” he said with an overprotective edge to his voice.

“Spike, I’ve been doing this for longer than I can remember. I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, so that’s how you died three times.”

“Hey!” Buffy cried indignantly. “To be fair, I did call the shots one of those times.”

“That’s true,” he said with a grin.

“Still standing, aren’t I?” she grumbled, huffily crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

Swallowing hard, Spike fought against the pull his body felt toward the woman in front of him. Wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms, he fidgeted nervously, shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather duster. “I, uh, I better go.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly. “You probably should. You don’t want to be met with World War three when you get there.”

“No, definitely not. I’ll see you tomorrow, Summers.”

“Yeah…see you then.”

Slowly walking away, Spike felt the tumultuous feelings building inside of him. Every time he left Buffy, he felt like he was cheating on her by being with another woman. Never mind that the other woman was his girlfriend who he could hardly stand to be around anymore. With a soft groan, he hung his head as he made his way through the streets of Sunnydale. His life was a mess.





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