Chapter 12

It took a few weeks, but things were finally back to normal at school. Harmony had all of her hair back and if it was possible, she became even nastier than usual, currently tormenting the resident nerd of Sunnydale High, Jonathan Levinson. Buffy shook her head in disgust, everything was much better when she was bald. Just because she couldn’t make her hair fall out again, didn’t mean she still couldn’t have some fun with the ditzy cheerleader. Buffy concentrated on the other girl, grinning when she took a spill and landed flat on her face in front of everyone.

“Ow, my ankle,” Harmony cried out, a group of students rushing to her side to help her up, mostly mindless fans of hers. “Oh God, I think it might be broken. How am I gonna cheer now? Don’t touch me! Can’t you see I’m in pain here? Get me to the fucking nurse, you idiots!”

Buffy turned back to her locker, finding it hard to wipe the smile away. “And now it’s out of my system.”


* * * * *


“You’re such a jerk.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “And you’re being a brat, I had to tell her. Tara is your teacher, she needed to know. You can’t pull a stunt like that, Buffy. How is that using your powers for good?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why does it matter? I made a total bitch trip and fall, so what? It’s not like I killed her, I just wanted to teach her a lesson. It’s not even close to what Amy did to her. I just wanted to have a little fun.”

He nodded, sitting across from her. “Right, and do you remember what happened the last time you wanted to have fun?”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you? It’s not the same thing, and you know it. I’m not gonna become some crazed, magic junky again. Don’t you trust me?”

“I do trust you, and that’s why I’m doing this. We talked about it, you knew what would happen if you messed up again. No magic for at least a week, and I’m taking away your spell books,” he said firmly.

Buffy pouted, which usually worked in her favor, but apparently not this time. “Fine, see if I ever confide in you again.”

Spike grinned, pleased that she didn’t put up a fight, and placing a kiss on the top of her head as he stood up. “You’ll thank me for this one day. It’s only because I love you, and know how great you could be. You have the power to become someone pretty damn amazing, Buffy. You just have to know how to use it.”

She couldn’t argue with him there, but really hated when he was right.


* * * * *


This was a bad idea, Buffy thought as she took in a deep breath, knocking on the door.

A dark haired man opened it a moment later, giving her a look of confusion. “Buffy? What are you doing here?”

She smiled. “Hey, Wesley, I know I’m probably the last person you were expecting, but I need some books. I’m doing a paper on genetics for school, and the library doesn’t really have what I’m looking for. I was wondering if I could check out some of yours.”

He nodded and moved back to let her in the apartment, still surprised to see his former Slayer’s little sister at his place. “Anything I can help you look for?”

Buffy shook her head. “That’s all right; I have a good idea of what I want. I remember everything pretty well from the last time I was here.”

Wesley agreed and left her to it, while he decided to make some tea. He came back out to see that she was still perusing the volumes on his shelf. “How is Faith?” he asked after what felt like a lifetime of silence.

Buffy stopped to look at him. “She’s doing okay, for the most part. I know she doesn’t say it much, but I think she misses you. Just because she quit the council, it doesn’t mean she quit you.”

He smiled sadly. “Faith no longer needs a watcher.”

“Possibly, but she could always use a friend. Well, found what I’m looking for. Thanks again, I’ll just be going now. We should totally visit more often. I’ll tell Faith you said hi,” she hurriedly got out, then left the apartment before he could respond.


* * * * *


“Are you bloody serious about this?”

Angel nodded, knowing exactly what he wanted. “I need to do this, even if she doesn’t accept me back, I have to at least try. I was a coward, took the easy way out without thinking about what it would do to her. I have to make it right.”

Spike had to give his grandsire credit for finally trying. “I know of a demon bloke in Africa, grants wishes and whatnot, but you would have to face some pretty gruesome trials in order to get that far. Not many have, if at all.”

“That’s fine, she’s worth it. For now, can you keep this between the two of us? I don’t want her to know yet, not until I succeed.” And there was no doubt in Angel’s mind that he wouldn’t.

“All right, but for her sake, try not to get killed. She can be a complete bitch at times, but the girl has a good heart. Inside is just someone who wants to be loved, hell, we all want that at some point, but with the kind of life Faith’s had to deal with, she deserves it. Don’t screw this up, or I’ll never hear the end of it from Buffy.”

He smiled. “Yeah, wouldn’t want that. Until I come back, you’ll watch her? I know Faith can take care of herself…”

“I won’t let anything happen to her,” Spike stated, cutting him off.

For some reason, Angel felt very reassured by that and with one more nod, took off into the night.


* * * * *


Buffy wasn’t exactly breaking the rules. She didn’t steal a spell book from Wesley, this was something her and Spike would need to do together, but before she brought it up with him, she wanted to learn more about it first. She may have put on a brave face for him, but the idea of Drusilla possibly showing up in Sunnydale had her terrified. Not just for herself, but for Spike as well. Buffy wanted to make sure that there was no way the crazy vampire could take him away from her, and a mutual claim would definitely do the trick. She just had to get Spike to agree.