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76 Trials
 
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A/N: While I’m not a total conspiracy theorist about the Council, I do think it’s unlikely that every Slayer would have faced a vampire as bad as the one Buffy (who could have been a problematic Slayer) faced in canon.

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Chapter 76 - Trials

Buffy managed to make it to the parking lot before she started crying. She had been determined not to cry in front of Giles.

Unlocking her car, she got in and put the key in the ignition. She dialed Spike’s number as she drove out of the lot.

“Hey,” he answered. “I’m about to leave—”

“Don’t bother,” she said. “I’m on my way back.”

His tone immediately changed. “Buffy, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything.”

“What happened?” he asked sharply.

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Look, I’ll be there in a minute. Just stay put.”

She hung up the phone, and minutes later she was pulling into the apartment building’s parking lot.

He met her at the door.

Spike took one look at her face before he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her as they stood in the doorframe.
.
.
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They had ended up on the couch as the story poured out of her. What Willow had found, what Giles had done, what the Council wanted her to do.

His expression became increasingly fell as she spoke. Eventually, she stopped looking up and just rested her head on his chest.

Spike’s body was rigid beneath her, and the first two fingers of his left hand continued to twitch like he was ready to tear into something. Yet all the while, his right hand gently slipped through her hair as if it were completely unaware of what the rest of him was doing.

There was silence after she finished.

Buffy felt Spike relax slightly. Very slightly.

“I’m surprised you never heard of this,” she finally said.

“My experience with Slayers tended to be a bit more hands on.”

“I suppose the Council doesn’t talk about it much, either. I think Giles was surprised Willow put it together.”

“Seems like a smart bird. So, the Watcher. Should I take care of him for you?”

He was joking, yet he was completely serious.

“There will be no ‘taking care’ of Giles,” Buffy said firmly. She had sort of been afraid of this.

“Haven’t killed a Watcher in a while,” he continued.

“You’re not going to re-live old times now.” Buffy moved to look at him. “Just let me deal with him.”

Spike glowered down at her, now absolutely serious. “Why?”

“Because I said so. I know you’re angry—”

“Don’t think ‘angry’ covers it.” An edge crept into his voice. “You come and tell me what you just told me, and you didn’t think I’d want to rip his head off?”

“So, what, I was supposed to lie about it? Just leave that part out?”

Spike looked at her, mouth set in a grim line.

“I thought I could just tell you not to! I didn’t think I’d have to actually talk you out of killing him!” Buffy pushed away, sitting up.

His hand fell on the cushion, fist clenched. “Haven’t been paying attention, have you, pet?”

“You can’t!” Buffy waved her arm, halfway pointing at him. “Leave him alone. I mean it.”

“So you’re fine with everything he did.”

“No, I’m not fine with everything! I’m beyond furious with him, but you know, most people don’t jump straight to murder as a problem solver.”

“Vampire.” Spike smiled.

“Bodily harm is not an actual solution.”

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” he said, stiffly leaning back and putting his elbow over the armrest.

“I’m serious, Spike,” Buffy said. “Don’t you go do anything. Say it. Say you won’t.”

He glared at her.

She arched a brow in silent standoff.

“He could have gotten you killed,” Spike growled.

“And yet here I am.” She crossed her arms.

“If you’d been on patrol when that thing kicked in—”

“You would have been with me.”

“He didn’t know that. Didn’t care if some vamp got the drop on you—”

“I know. Believe me, I know.” Despite the fact about how terrible this test sounded—how she wasn’t even sure she could do it—it would have been so much easier if it hadn’t been a secret. How much more of an advantage would she have had, really, if she’d known about it? The Watchers would still control it; she would still have no power.

“Seems that some vamp getting the drop on me is kind of the point,” she said. “Look. Yes, I’m pissed at Giles. But that’s where it ends. I might even hate him for a while. But I don’t want him dead! Can you not understand that?”

“Maybe I want him dead.”

“You’re a vampire. You want everyone dead.”

“No, I don’t,” he said. “I just don’t particularly care if they live.” Spike tilted his head, as if considering. “Him, I want dead.”

“I don’t.”

“Well, let me know when you do want someone killed,” he said flatly.

Buffy stilled. “That’s not funny.”

“I wasn’t being funny.”

A chill settled over her as she realized that Spike was serious. He’d kill someone for her. Just like that.

That…was just one too many things to sort through right now. At least until she’d dealt with the problems at hand.

“I don’t want anyone killed,” Buffy said. “And you don’t get to go off on Giles, or anyone else I happen to get mad at.”

“I don’t care who you’re angry at. How about anyone who risks your life?”

Buffy just stared at him. He wasn’t even looking at her, wasn’t looking at anything. “Tell me,” she said, desperation creeping into her voice, “that you’re not going to do anything.”

Spike’s jaw clenched.

“Tell me you won’t.”

He said nothing.

“Tell me!”

Buffy suddenly decided on a change of tactics.

She took a deep breath, letting her hands fall in her lap. “I thought you wouldn’t because I asked.”

“I’m not your sodding slave,” he ground out, focusing on the window.

“No, you’re not,” she agreed. “And I’m not saying not to do it just because I want it. I’m asking you not to do it because it will kill me. I get that the vampire reaction is—what it is. But you can’t follow through with it. You have to get that I can’t live with that.”

He didn’t say anything.

“I can’t make you do anything. In fact, I couldn’t stop you. Right now, I couldn’t do a thing if you got up and went down there. I can’t fight you. I can only talk to you.”

“So talk.”

“You doing it might not mean anything to you in the long run, but I won’t be able to forget. I’ll never be able to forgive you. It won’t matter why you did it.”

His face shifted slightly, though he still didn’t look at her. “Anything else?”

“Yes. I didn’t think I would ever have to beg you for someone’s life,” she said quietly.

Her words hung between them like an accusation.

Spike turned to her, a different sort of frown settling over his features. He suddenly looked horribly troubled.

“I didn’t think you were like that with me,” Buffy said.

His mouth opened slightly. “I—I’m not.” He seemed pained.

“Do you want me to beg?” She knew he didn’t. From different things he’d said, she knew he’d hate seeing her like that, pleading. Especially right now.

“No.” His head seemed to shake by itself. “No.”

Especially now, when she was weak and he was strong. It was the idea of the power he held over her—not the idea of any words she might say—that shook him.

He held her saddened gaze, visibly distressed as his expression wavered.

“Please—”

“I won’t, all right?” He sighed. “I won’t do anything to him.”

“Thank you,” she breathed.

“Don’t say that, either.”

After a moment, Spike hesitantly put a hand back on her shoulder. Buffy let him.

“Really,” she said. “I mean it.”

“If you’re waiting for a ‘you’re welcome,’ it’s not gonna happen.”

“I wasn’t.”

Buffy exhaled and slowly relaxed beneath his touch. A minute passed, and she leaned into him.

“So what are you gonna do?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll just…never speak to him again,” she finished decidedly.

“Yeah, that’ll teach him.” The words were snarky, but there was no sting behind them.

“I don’t want to teach him. I don’t want to have anything to do with him right now.”

Spike perked up slightly. “How about I just give him a good scare?”

Buffy glanced at him. “I think it would take a lot to shake Giles up.”

Spike raised his brows. Clearly he was up to the challenge.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said seriously. “Anyway, Giles isn’t the problem right now. He may have helped cause the problem, but the problem is the Watchers that are here and what I’m supposed to do.”

Buffy made a fist against his chest. “I’m not strong enough to use a stake. I can barely swing a sword, much less cut through bone. Even if they let me in with a crossbow, I can’t hit anything.” She slumped against him and let out a shaky breath. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

“I could,” he said in a low voice.

“You can’t do it for me. It doesn’t work that way.”

“What do you want me to do?”

She sighed. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s a test for me. And it’s not like I’m in immediate danger. The vampire isn’t coming after me—if I don’t go to the house, I’ll never even see him. But…if I don’t go to the house, I don’t know what will happen with the Watchers. But if I do go to the house…I don’t know how to kill a vampire by myself. Not like this.”

Spike rested his head against the top of hers. “What are you gonna do?”

“Whenever I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

“All right.”

They fell into silence.

She sank deeper into the cushions, and Spike brought his legs up after a moment, stretching them out. Buffy shifted to lie next to him. She liked the way her body fit perfectly between him and the back of the couch.

She could decide what to do in a minute, in an hour. She wasn’t supposed to do anything until dark, anyway. Maybe if she could relax and clear her head, a brilliant plan would come to her.

Even if it would be easier to just stay here and forget.

Everything was quiet and still.

It was so quiet and still that Buffy slowly drifted into sleep and remained that way for the better part of the afternoon.

Later, she found herself standing up in the shadowed living room, looking down at the couch and watching Spike sleep. Faith was next to her, wearing dark jeans and a white tank top.

“These dreams are getting weirder and weirder,” Buffy said.

“Can’t blame me.”

“Oh, I think I can.” Definitely getting weirder. And getting creepily realistic.

Faith ran an appraising glance over Spike. “He’s easy on the eyes.”

“Hands off.”

“Relax.” She sauntered over to the window and peered between the blinds. Some piece of metal on her outfit clinked as she walked. “Sunset.”

“Great. Just great.”

Buffy idly wondered what would happen if she woke Spike up in her dream. Would he be Spike, or just however much like Spike the dream wanted him to be?

She shook him. Nothing happened.

“Let sleeping vamps lie,” Faith said, walking back over. “We need a little girl time. Just us Slayers. So, how’s it going?”

“Why do I think you already know?”

She smirked. “Not having much fun recently? No good slays?”

“Fun? You think this is fun?”

“Slaying? Fuck, yeah.” Faith wandered toward the kitchen. She casually hopped up on the table, planting her boot on a chair. “Nothing like it.”

“Figures.”

“Yeah? What does?”

“That you’d like killing.”

She laughed. “You’re the Slayer. You are a killer.”

“I kill vampires! I protect people.”

“But it feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Because I won! Because I’m doing good!”

Faith shook her head. “You’re missing out.”

“On what, the dark side? No thank you. I slay because I have to, because I can. I never wanted it. No one wants it.”

“I did. No one in my life wanted me for anything, then zap, and I’ve got this lady showing up saying I’m special, Chosen, the One. It was great.” She laughed. “For a while. At least until I figured out they didn’t care either, didn’t want me for anything except to do their dirty work. So I figured out how to have fun on my own.”

Buffy didn’t know what to say.

“So…you’re not here to make cracks about the Council taking my power away?”

“Actually, I was gonna say that they’re self-serving, misogynistic bastards.”

Buffy was about to make a remark about Faith knowing the word ‘misogynistic,’ but she sensed that the other girl was not actually trying to antagonize her.

“So…did you have a Cruci-thingy?” she asked.

“Nah, didn’t live long enough.”

“Oh.” Buffy looked down.

“Eh, what’s it matter now?” She hooked her thumbs through her belt loops and jumped off the table.

Buffy suddenly had the thought that human Faith would probably have no trouble killing a vampire in some resourceful and horrible way.

As if reading her mind, Faith looked at Buffy. A slow grin spread across her face. “I know a trick.”

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Buffy woke up instantly. She was still draped across Spike, and the living room was now completely dark.

She sat up.

Spike drowsily reached for her, muttering, “Warm.”

“I’m not your personal heater.” Buffy shook his shoulder. “Wake up. I’m going to kill that vampire.”

He was now fully alert. “What? Now?” he asked, immediately followed by, “Not by yourself, you’re not.”

She shrugged. “Fine, come on. But I’m doing it.”

“How?”

Buffy reached for her purse. “I know a trick.”
.
.
.
Night had already fallen, though it was by no means late.

Buffy spotted the house from the end of Pine Street. It stood by itself on one side of the wooded road, a very nice and out of the way location. There was a van parked even farther down the street. Subtle.

“You know they can’t see you,” Buffy said to Spike as she stepped back around the corner. “That would lead to all kinds of bad. I have to go into the house alone.”

He looked at her.

“I said that on the way over,” she reminded him. “I’ll be fine. I have a plan.”

Spike nodded, running a hand over her hair. “Well, go on, then.”

“Right.” Buffy took a deep breath and rounded the corner. She slowly began her nearly two-block walk down the old road. She wasn’t really sure what to expect. Was she just supposed to go in? Or would the Watchers stop her first?

However, as she neared the house, it became evident that while they may have been watching, she was completely alone. Well, that was fine with her.

Buffy took her time as she approached. Finally, she stopped in front of the house. Somewhere inside there was a vampire.

She was nervous. She was cautious. But she wasn’t scared.

The windows had been blocked up, she noticed, as she climbed the porch steps. There didn’t seem to be anything remarkable about the door, however, which opened inward at her touch.

It also closed by itself once she was inside. Buffy turned at the noise, only to find that the doorknob was missing and the door was stuck tight. So they’d rigged that up quite nicely, then.

She quickly looked around. It was dark except for a flickering glow that came from the adjacent room. Buffy carefully made her way in. There was the fire. Out of curiosity, she flipped the light switch by the door, but wasn’t surprised when the lights didn’t come on. Abandoned houses generally didn’t have their utilities paid up.

Buffy stood close to the fireplace and took in the room. At first she wondered why the vampire (who was presumably free, or she wouldn’t have much of a challenge) had left the Watchers’ fine unbothered. Then she realized that there was actually nothing to put it out with. The rooms seemed bare except for the broken down wooden furniture. Buffy guessed that the house had either been purposely cleared out, or that most of what could be easily carried away had already been gone when this had been set up for her.

So, the vampire.

She looked at the fire a moment more before she reached for one of the smaller logs. It was near the edge and only half stuck into the blaze. About the size of her arm, it served well enough as a torch.

Buffy started a slow exploration of the house, which was rather large and had a good number of rooms. Really, you’d think that the Watchers would have picked a smaller house. Sunnydale certainly had its share of abandoned property. It would have been a lot less work for them, at least, what with all the time they must have spent closing up the windows.

Finally, she covered the first floor and realized that she had to go upstairs. She was definitely going up before she went down into whatever was in the basement.

She started up the front stairway—because there was no way she was using that little narrow one in the kitchen.

As she came up on the landing, she heard the murmur of voices.

Buffy paused. There was only supposed to be one vampire.

Maybe there was still a Watcher here?

Slowly, she crept closer to the hall.

“…going about my business and they just grabbed me.”

“Huh.”

“They had nets and everything.”

“Wankers.”

Buffy halted in her tracks. That voice was very familiar.

“Haven’t had a bite in a day. Whenever they’re in here, they always have crossbows. And everything’s sealed up. But get this—they said the Slayer’s gonna show up. If I waste her, I can get out of here.”

A chuckle. “And you believed them?”

“Sure.”

“How long you been around, mate?”

“A while. So did they get you, too?”

Spike. Spike was in here. Spike was talking to the vampire.

Buffy abruptly felt angry, relieved, and exasperated all at once. Holding her torch, she made her way closer to the room.

“…yeah, I did a couple Slayers. But I don’t like to brag.”

“Since when?” she asked, pushing open the door.

She could make out Spike and the vampire, both in game face.

“Well, there she is,” Spike said.

“I thought I heard someone else here,” he said.

“What are you doing?” Buffy demanded.

“Just talkin’ to my new buddy…” Spike looked back at the vampire.

“Mike.”

“My new buddy, Mike, here.” He grinned and slapped the other vampire on the back. “Well, that’s the Slayer. Have at her.”

Buffy glared at Spike, but she could deal with him later. She held the piece of burning wood in front of her as the vampire closed in.

“She doesn’t look so tough,” he said.

She thrust it at him when he got within range.

He laughed. “Gonna have to do better than that, little girl.”

Buffy knew she had about ten seconds before the vampire realized she had something dangerous. Now wasn’t the time for quips, wasn’t the time for a good fight. Dusting him was all that mattered.

The vampire lunged at her, but she jumped back and twisted around. He came closer again, and Buffy swung the torch at him. She made several swipes at his head.

Through playing, he grabbed the arm that was holding the torch, meaning to take it away from her. Buffy reacted instantly, pulling her hairspray out of her pocket and shooting it into the flame.

A two-foot column of fire erupted into the vampire’s face. He screamed and jumped away, trying to put himself out with his hands. Buffy stepped forward, holding down the spray as the gases continued to combust.

But the vampire was already fully ablaze.

A moment later, he was gone.

She stopped spraying. Her torch flickered wildly for a moment before the flame returned to normal.

Buffy turned to look at Spike.

“You know what?” she said. “I don’t even want to know right now. What I do want to know is how did you get in?”

“Picked the cellar padlock.”

“Make sure you lock it back on your way out.”

Buffy turned on her heel, leaving the room, going down the hall, and walking downstairs. Spike clomped behind her. She went into the living room, and she heard him continue on to the cellar stairs.

She exhaled, sitting down by the fire and putting her torch back in. Give Spike time to get out. She really didn’t know where to begin with all the things that were wrong with his being in here.

After a moment, she pulled her stick back out of the fire and went over to the door. Buffy pounded on it loudly.

“Hey! I killed the vampire! I’m alive, so come let me out!”

Over a minute passed.

“Hey! Hello?!”

She heard a noise, and she stepped back as the door creaked open. The first thing she saw was a crossbow, followed by the Watcher behind it.

He glanced around as the door swung fully open, obviously checking to make sure that the vampire wasn’t somehow forcing her into saying that she was successful. He and another armed Watcher fanned into the house, taking up positions as a man with a clipboard followed them in.

“Everything seems to be in order,” he said to them. “But please begin the sweep.”

Buffy appraised him in the glow of the flames. She saw the other two Watchers switch on small electric lanterns as they started to go through the house.

“So are you like the head of the Council?”

He laughed. “Oh, no. He doesn’t come out for routine sorts of things like this. Much too busy, you know.”

“So can I go now?”

“Certainly. But I must make a report of how you disposed of the vampire.”

Buffy smiled. “Like this.”

She pulled the hairspray out of her pocket and discharged it into the torch, just a bit too close to the Watcher’s head for his comfort, it seemed.

He held his clipboard to his chest as he leaned back from the flare.

After another second, Buffy stopped.

“Quite c-creative. Er, points for ingenuity.”

He marked something.

“Well, Miss Summers, I must say you pass with flying colors.”

“Yay for me. Here,” she said, handing him the torch. She put her hairspray back in her purse.

“Do you always carry that with you?” he asked.

“Yeah. Of course.” Buffy shook her head. Men. She dug through her purse. “I’ve also got lip gloss, foundation, eye shadow, and this thing that’s a brush and a comb, though I don’t think I could fight vampires with it… And my stake’s here, too.”

She also had Spike’s lighter in her back pocket, in case there hadn’t been a fire lit. Her backup plan had been to use it—and probably burn herself horribly in the process. So she was glad at least that Giles had been right about the fire.

“Ah. Well, you’re certainly free to go.”

“Okay. No offense, but I hope I don’t see you guys again. This hasn’t been so much with the fun.”

Buffy slung her purse over her shoulder and walked out into the night.

Spike appeared at her side when she reached the intersection. Buffy turned on the next street and kept going.

“What the hell were you doing?” she said. “We agreed that I was going in alone.”

“You said that. I didn’t argue with you.”

“You should have told me. No! No, you shouldn’t have come! Do you know what could have happened if they had seen you? Do you even understand how badly that could have gone?”

“I think I know how to avoid a few Watchers. Who, by the way, weren’t even watchin’ the back.”

“And what if the cellar hadn’t had a lock you could open? What if it hadn’t had a cellar, hadn’t had a way in?”

“Then I guess you would’ve been alone. I wouldn’t have gone in the front door. Give me a little credit. But yeah, if I could get in, I was gonna.”

Buffy glared at him over her shoulder. She continued to walk.

“Oh? Why don’t you give me a little credit?” she asked.

“Maybe cause not five hours ago you were slinking around the place afraid to stick your head out the door.”

“You didn’t think I could do it. You thought you’d have to save me.” She was surprised that she felt disappointed.

Spike jumped in front of her, causing her to stop. “What I thought,” he said, “was that you were a girl up against a vamp.”

“And?”

“I know how easy it is to kill girls,” he said in a low voice.

“I’m the Slayer.”

“You’re a girl who was the Slayer. You’ll be the Slayer again. But right now, you’re just a girl. Just a girl who’s as easy to do as any other girl.”

“If that’s what you were going to do all along, why not just tell me?”

“You wouldn’t have gone along with it. And I didn’t want you to be relyin’ on me, especially if I couldn’t get—” Spike cut himself off. “Look, you made your decision and I made mine. Wasn’t gonna do it for you, wasn’t gonna stop you, but—”

“But what?”

“I wasn’t gonna let you get yourself killed doing it, either.”

“I had a plan!”

“Yeah, you did. A good one. But you think no one else had a plan?” Spike leaned in. “You think the ones I killed didn’t have plans? All it takes is One. Good. Day. No one’s gonna have theirs with you.”

“Everything was fine.”

“Do you know how easy it would have been for something to go wrong?” he shouted. Spike’s hands darted up, but he quickly clenched them as he remembered not to grab her. “Bloody hell, Buffy, do you realize what it would do to me if I lost you?”

He stepped away, taking a breath. “I did what I had to do,” he said quietly. “You might’ve had to risk your life for some bleeding test, but I didn’t.”

“I didn’t risk…” Well, it was a little risk. A part of Buffy knew that something could have gone wrong. But she also had known that she couldn’t go in thinking like that. She had to be confident; she couldn’t afford to second-guess herself. “I knew I could do it.”

“It wasn’t that I thought you couldn’t do it.”

“Pick a side, Spike. Either you thought I could or not.”

“You still know what you know about slaying. You know about vamps. You’re smart and you had a plan. And it was bloody brilliant, love. I’m not just sayin’ that. But I know how fast a fight can turn. I know how little it takes, how they don’t even realize you have them until— So you wanna be mad about it, fine. But I’m not gonna be sorry for watchin’ your back.”

Watching her back. Spike being there just in case—not there because he thought she needed a rescue, thought she couldn’t do it on her own.

“Okay,” she said. “I get that. I guess. And it’s not like I’m opposed to doing things with you. Obviously. But did you stop and think what would have happened if the Watchers had seen you? How bad it would be for me if they found out I was with a vampire?”

“Was just tryin’ to keep you safe.”

“How that could endanger me?” she continued.

“All right,” he said. “Maybe. But I really wouldn’t have walked in the front door.”

“Okay,” she said. “Okay.” Buffy brought her hands to her head. It hurt, and she had already kept him from doing something far worse today. “I’m just so sick of fighting today. I’m so sick of it.” She sighed, running her hands through her hair. “Nothing happened, it’s done now, so let’s just stop. We both did what we had to do. And I’m done. And the Cruciamentum is done, and I don’t want to talk about it any longer than I have to.”

Spike tilted his head uncertainly. “So we’re good?”

“Yeah.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. This time.”

Spike suddenly looked sharply to the right. Then he cocked his head farther to the side.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“Ssh.”

He pulled her into a yard, moving behind some bushes.

After a moment, she heard the voices herself.

“…nah, nuns are his thing.”

“Just saying. He does like to torture people who’ve heard of him, y’know.”

Buffy peered through the leaves and made out the shape of two vampires walking down the street.

“We could always take one back for him,” the vampire continued.

“Trying to suck up to the boss?”

“I bet he’ll be sorry he missed the fun. How long do you think a Watcher keeps?”

The other vampire laughed. “Few days. Might go bad before he gets back. So, where’s the place?”

“Down that turn there. Saw them down there yesterday. Dunno what they’re doing.”

“Well, we should at least be able to grab one. Have some fun.” Then he paused, sniffing the air. “Although…I think there’s some fun right here.”

A hand shot between the bushes, grabbing the front of Buffy’s shirt. Spike’s hand was just as fast, yanking the vampire’s arm forward and pulling him onto a waiting stake.

Buffy backed out of the bushes, Spike by her side. The other vampire was still standing on the sidewalk. He looked at the dust on the ground.

“That was a stupid thing to do,” he said, crouching to attack.

“Really?” Spike asked. “I don’t think it was.”

The vampire glanced at Buffy before he looked back at Spike. “Don’t want to share, I take it?”

“She’s mine.”

The fight was over so quickly it wasn’t even a fight. Within seconds, the second vampire’s dust had joined the first one’s.

Buffy punched Spike in the arm. “‘She’s mine?’ Can we get any more caveman? God, why don’t you just mark me?”

“Didn’t mind the last time I said you were mine.”

“Because that was all deep and romantic, not all possessive and grrr! And why did you have to dust both of them?”

Spike put the stake back in his pocket, giving her an irritated look. “Oh, don’t tell me you wanted a go at them, too.”

“Nope, one vampire killing is my limit tonight. And I no longer have the flame for my hairspray of flamey death. But it sounded like they were talking about Angelus. We could have heard something important.”

“Like he’s got a fetish for nuns?” he scoffed. “I could have told you that.”

“How about what he’s doing? Where he is?”

“Stake first, ask questions later.”

“That’s not helpful. It sounded like he hadn’t been around. And I know he hasn’t been bothering us. Which is really, really weird, considering that he’s probably got some sort of blood vendetta against you now.”

“Fine. Later we’ll find another vamp, ask him questions, and then stake him.”

Buffy sighed. “I know I’m the Slayer when these are my plans.” Then she smiled, looking in the direction of Pine Street. “You do realize you might have just saved a Watcher?”

Spike scowled. “Bugger.”
 
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