Chapter 22 Halloween (Part 1 of 3)

"Look out!" Buffy yelled as she threw a stake at the vampire coming up behind Robin.

Robin ducked and the stake hit it's mark, dusting the vampire instantly. Buffy, Spike, and Robin all looked around the crypt to see if that was the last of the vampires who had been nesting there.

Spike had not been happy about brining Robin along on this expedition, but Buffy had reasoned that if he was fighting some vampires, maybe it would keep him from doing something stupid and charging in after Angelus. The truth be told, Robin had a lot more business fighting vampires than Xander or Willow did. He was a good fighter. Buffy had to give him that.

"I just don't get why vampires choose to live in places like this," Buffy said, looking around at the cobwebs and the sarcophagi.

"I don't know, a few candles, clean up the mess a bit, maybe bring in a tele, wouldn't be so bad," Spike said admiring one of the gargoyles.

"You're kidding, right?" Buffy asked.

"What I don't get is how that little tomb up top opens up into this big a space. And I'd swear I didn't see those windows outside," commented Robin. "Speaking of. . ." Robin nodded toward a trap door that led to a lower level.

The three of them gathered around it. Spike opened it, and Buffy swept her flashlight around the dim space below. Not seeing an immediate ambush, she carefully started down the stairs. Spike and Robin followed close behind. They spread out and searched the lower cavern.

"See, here you go," said Spike. "Bet you anything this leads to the sewers. Handy that." He stood at the mouth of a tunnel.

"I so hope you're not thinking of moving," was all Buffy could say.

It looked like all the vampires had been in the upper level. The crypt was now deserted.

"No worries, pet. I've paid my rent through the rest of the year. A place like this. It'll have new tenants before long."

Buffy wasn't sure if Spike was teasing her, or if he really did think the crypt was a nice place to live. Vampires were, after all, just strange.

"Why would you want to chain your prisoners to the bed? Doesn't that make it hard to sleep?" Buffy asked as she looked at the large bed with thick chains dangling from the headboard.

The two men exchanged a look. Spike came over to her and put his arm around her.

He whispered in her ear, "The chains aren't for prisoners, luv."

Buffy could feel her face turning scarlet.

"And on that note, I think I'll be going. We seem to have cleaned this place out," said an equally embarrassed Robin who quickly made his exit.

"God, you must think I'm so. . ." Buffy couldn't seem to find a word that described her.

"Cute?" suggested Spike. "Look, luv, don't be embarrassed. I think it's. . . endearing." He paused to take her face in his hands and tilt it up so that she was looking him in the eye. "I love you. It wouldn't matter to me if you were more experienced, but since you're not. . ." He smiled at her. "Well, luv. The thing about experience is, you can always get it. And I thought you always liked our. . . training sessions."

"Well, you are a good teacher," she said, kissing him lightly. "Not to um, ruin the mood, but can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, pet."

"It's just, I mean I'm pretty sure, but I don't know. That is. . . Robin's not really your son is he?"

"No, vampires can't have children. Fact is, his mom was already a couple months along when I first met her. His real father, well he was never interested, never around. Robin always called me dad, and when Nikki died, well. . . he was, he is my son. You know?"

Buffy smiled and nodded.

"Anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"Actually, yes. See, it's going to be Halloween in a few days and-"

"No worries, pet. All the demons and vampires stay in that night."

"I know, Giles told me. That's why I was wondering. . . Since I don't have to be the Slayer that night. . . maybe we could, you know. . ." She took a deep breath then quickly finished, "Go on a date?"

"I'd love to," he said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy looked over a shelf of plastic pumpkins in the costume shop. Suddenly the pumpkin lit up and made a screaming sound. Quickly she put it back down as Willow approached her holding a bag.

"What'd you get?" Buffy asked her.

"A time-honored classic," said Willow as she held up a ghost costume.

"Okay, Will, can I give you a little friendly advice?"

"It's not spooky enough?"

"It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween."

Willow smiled. "Free candy?"

"It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions."

"Oh, I don't get wild," said a nervous Willow. "Wild on me equals spaz."

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you."

"Hey, Xander," Willow eagerly greeted her other friend, glad to get away from the topic of her being wild and sexy. "What'd you get?"

He pulled a toy military rifle out of his bag and held it up for Willow to see.

"That's not a costume," Buffy pointed out.

Xander gave Buffy a look, then turned to Willow. "I got fatigues from an Army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King, baby!"

He smiled at Willow. She smiled back.

Buffy, however, had completely forgotten about her two friends, distracted by a costume. Slowly she walked over to it. It was a long blue dress with a hoop skirt. Over the top of the dress was a white apron. On top of the mannequin rested a straw bonnet that tied under the chin with a big blue satin ribbon. Next to it was a shepherd's crook, which also had a blue ribbon tied around it.

The shepherdess costume was beautiful, and charming, with a low enough neckline to keep it from being childish.

She reached out to touch the frilly lace on the apron. "Look at this."

"It's amazing," agreed Willow.

"Too bulky. I prefer my women in spandex," Xander commented.

The shop owner noticed them looking and came over to them.

"Please, let me," he said in a British accent, taking the dress off of the dressmaker's mannequin.

"Oh, i-it's..." Buffy didn't know how to describe it.

"Magnificent," the shopkeeper finished. "Yes, I know. There." He held it up in front of Buffy so she could see herself in the mirror. "What a pastoral dream you make. I think we found a match. Don't you?"

Buffy looked apologetically at the shopkeeper. "Oh, uh, I-I'm sorry. There's no way I could ever afford this."

"Oh, nonsense," he said. "I feel quite moved to make you a deal you can't refuse."

She looked back into the mirror, took the dress, smiled dreamily as she held it up to her chin, and wondered what Spike would think when he saw her.

Chapter 23 Halloween (Part 2 of 3)

"What did Mrs. Davis give you?" Buffy asked the kids she had been forced by Principle Snyder to escort as they went Trick-or-Treating.

They all pulled out toothbrushes.

"She must be stopped. Let's hit one more house." She got from where she'd knelt down to examine the kids loot. Her tight sausage curls bounced as she did so. "We still have a few more minutes before I need to get you back."

As the children went to ring the doorbell of the last house, a wind began to blow. Buffy looked up; something wasn't quite right. But both Giles and Spike had told her nothing happened on Halloween, so she didn't worry too much about it. Besides, she had more important things to worry about, like meeting Spike at her house for their date.

They were going to the Bronze and after th. . .

She blinked her eyes. Where was she? She'd never seen houses like these before. And strange box like things sat on wheels all along the street.

She had only a moment to wonder about all these things before a small red devil leapt out at her. She screamed and ran down the street, away from the horrible monster. What was going on? How had she gotten here? And where were her sheep?

Suddenly a strangely dressed girl stepped out in front of her. The girl had bright red hair and her clothes - well, they were barley clothes at all. Bo Peep wondered how she could go out in public like that.

"Buffy! Are you okay?" the woman asked.

Before she could reply, two more monsters came roaring toward them.

A young man lifted a strange looking gun to his shoulder and took aim.

"This could be a situation," said the calm, collected young man.

He too was dressed strangely, but his manner suggested that he was some sort of solider. He was also very good-looking thought Bo Peep.

"Buffy, what do we do?" the red-head asked. She seemed to be addressing Bo Peep, but what sort of silly name was Buffy?

The young man fired off several rounds from his strange gun. All without reloading! Then he lowered the rifle and looked back at the two girls.

"Buffy, are you alright?" the girl asked her.

"What?" was all she could think of to say.

"Are you hurt?" the young man asked.

"Buffy, are you hurt?" asked the girl getting more and more concerned.

"Buffy?" she asked. "I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Bo Peep. I don't suppose you've seen any sheep around here, have you?"

The crazy girl turned to the soldier, "She's not Buffy.'

"Who's Buffy?" he asked.

"Oh, this is fun," complained the girl.

"Who are you?" Bo Peep asked.

"We're friends," the girl told her.

"Friends of whom? Everything is strange! How did I come to be here?" Bo Peep asked them.

The girl gave her a week smile, then asked the soldier, "How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayer?"

"What's a Slayer?" he asked.

A monster came around the tree behind Bo Peep and roared, fangs bared and claws raised to attack. Bo Peep screamed at the top of her lungs, and whacked it with her crook knocking it down and out.

"Not bad," appraised the soldier. "I suggest we get inside before we come across anything else."

"I agree. These things are much tougher than wolves; who knows what they are doing to my sheep."

"Come on," the strange girl said. "I know a place. A friend's."

The girl led them to one of the strange houses. Along the way she introduced herself as Willow, and she claimed that the soldier was Xander, although he didn't seem to think that was his name. Not that he offered another.

When they got to the house the soldier, Xander, threw the door open and looked inside, pointing his gun into all the corners.

"All clear!" he called out to them.

Willow walked in. "Hello? Mrs. Summers?" No one answered. "Good, she's gone."

Xander closed the door.

Bo Peep smiled at him and walked over to him.

"I want to thank you for being so brave. I don't know what I would have done if. . ." coyly she let the sentence trail off.

"No problem, ma'am. Just doing my job."

Suddenly there was a banging at the front door. Xander went to investigate, and the two girls followed.

"Don't open it!" screamed Willow.

"Could be a civilian," he said.

"Or a mini demon," Willow insisted.

"Oh! Maybe it's one of my sheep." The other two looked at her skeptically. "Well, it could be. You'd be surprised how often they find their way back on their own."

Xander was scanning the outside through one of the small windows in the door. He jerked back just as a monster punched through the glass and reached for him. It pulled its hand back as Xander raised his rifle.

"Not a civilian!" screamed Willow.

"Affirmative!" agreed Xander as he took aim through the broken window.

"Hey! What did we say?!" shouted Willow.

Xander let loose a volley of bullets. Willow winced at the noise. Bo Peep covered her ears. Xander rolled away from the door when he finished his burst.

"Big noise scare monster, remember?" he said.

"Got it," Willow agreed.

Outside a woman screamed. Xander looked back out the window.

"Damn it!" he yelled.

He opened the door and went out to rescue the stranger, pulling the door closed behind him. Moments later he came back, pulling in another oddly dressed girl by the arm. This one at least was covered from head to toe, but her clothing was skin tight, and covered with strange spots. On her head she wore something that appeared to be animal ears.

"Cordelia!" called Willow. Evidently she knew her.

"Wait a... What's going on?" Cordelia demanded.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of," explained Willow.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?" responded Cordelia in a condescending tone of voice.

"You know us?" asked a surprised Willow.

"Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?" Cordelia asked.

"A lot's going on," Willow said.

"No kidding," Cordelia began. "I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume!" She showed them a torn sleeve. "Do you really think that Party Town's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

Xander took his shirt off and put it around her shoulders. Bo Peep was horribly jealous. He hadn't given her his shirt. Of course she was dressed and this Cordelia girl wasn't.

"Here," he said.

"Thanks," Cordelia replied insincerely.

"Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off," suggested Willow.

"Let me know if you see any of my sheep while you are out there."

Cordelia looked at her strangely. "What's that riff?"

"I-it's like amnesia, okay?" Willow explained. "They don't know who they are. Just sit tight."

"Who died and made her the boss?" asked Cordelia.

Willow walked straight through the wall behind Cordelia. Bo Peep couldn't believe her eyes.

Xander, however, set to work immediately barricading the door. He upturned a table and set it against the window.

He pointed to Cordelia. "You! Check upstairs. Make sure everything's locked up."

"Do you think my sheep will be all right?" she worried.

"Lady, I'm sure they're fine. Now help me with. . ." he bent down to pick a picture up off the floor. "Whoa!"

Bo Peep peered at it over his shoulder. It appeared to be her, Xander and Willow.

"She must be right. We must have some kind of amnesia," the soldier said.

"I don't think so. I don't even know what that is, so how could I have it."

"It's memory loss," explained Xander.

"I remember things just fine," said Bo Peep.

"Okay, answer me this then: Where are your sheep?"

He had her there. She had no idea what had become of them.

Just then a man all in black entered from the back of the house. He might have been good looking, thought Bo Peep, if his hair hadn't been almost white. Not that he looked like he was all that old.

"Thanks god!" the stranger said. "You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there."

Both Bo Peep and Xander looked at the new comer in confusion.

"Who are you?" they asked in unison.

"Spike, you know, we had a date tonight. . ." said the man in black.

"I don't think so. You look very strange. I'm much more likely to be dating the soldier here," Bo Peep told him.

"Him?" he cried with outrage.

"Do you live here?" interrupted Xander.

"No, and you know that. Buffy, what the devil is going on here?"

At the moment Cordelia came back in. "They don't know who they are," she explained. "Everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing." She smiled flirtatiously with the man in black. "How are you?"

The lights went out.

Xander addressed the newcomer. "You take sheep lady and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me."

Cordelia followed Xander as Spike headed back the way he came.

"But I don't wanna go with you! I like the man with the musket!"

"C'mon," he said, pulling her by the arm.

"Do you have a musket?" she asked. "I have my crook, but it's really only good against wolves. Oh! Have you seen any sheep?"

He glared at her, and then he noticed the door to the outside was open.

"I didn't leave that open," he said.

Quietly he moved toward the door, looking around for an intruder. He closed the door. Another door behind Bo Peep opened, and a vampire leapt out at her. She tried to push the door closed on him. The man in black grabbed the vampire and wrestled him to the floor.

"A stake!" he commanded.

"A what?" she asked, confused.

"Get me a stake!" he growled.

She looked around but all she saw was a large knife on the counter. She picked it up, and hurried over to the man.

"Hurry up!" he called.

He turned to look at her and his face had become distorted like the vampire's. His eyes glowed yellow, and his mouth was full of teeth worthy of the most vicious wolf Bo Peep had ever seen. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran for the door.

"Buffy, no!" he called after her.

She ran outside into the night. In the distance she could hear yelling and screaming, but the street she was on seemed deserted for the moment. At least until she ran head long into a large chest.

"Ooof!" she grunted as she nearly went over backwards, but a strong hand steadied her.

"Here now, m'lady," said the voice that she supposed must belong to the chest she'd run into.

She looked up into what she thought might have been the most beautiful face she'd ever seen. As she composed herself she took in the gentleman she'd run into. And she was sure he was a gentleman. His dark suit was strange, but she was sure it must be expensive. His hair stuck up in a funny way, but she could forgive him that. After all, his face, his chest, his arms - he was possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

'And he called me m'lady!' she thought. How polite he is. Not like all those other people.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"Tis no problem at all. And where might a little lost lamb like yourself be goin' on such an evenin'?" he asked.

"Oh! Lamb! I almost forgot my sheep. Have you seen them? I've lost them and I don't know where to find them."

"Why ya know, I did see some sheep earlier."

"Really? I'd be forever in your debt, sir, if you could take me to them." She smiled coyly at him.

"Call me Angelus. T'would be my pleasure."

With that he offered her his arm, and lead her off into the night.

Chapter 24 Halloween (Part 3 of 3)

"Buffy! Get away from him!" came a frantic yell from behind her.

At first she didn't realize that she was the one being addressed. Then she remembered that everyone seemed convinced her name was Buffy.

She turned to look, and saw Spike had come running after her. His face looked normal again, but she still remembered what it had looked like only minutes before. Besides, what girl in her right mind would leave the company of a man named Angelus, for one who called himself Spike?

"We have to go," she told Angelus. "He's not what he seems to be, he's a monster."

"Is that so m'darling?" He chuckled softly. "And just what do you think I am?"

Bo Peep looked up at him and saw that his face had changed, just like Spike's. She screamed and tried to get away from him, but he held her tightly.

"Ah, the sweet smell o'terror. How I do love it. Ah-ah-ah," he said to Spike who had started to advance on them. "Come a step closer, me boy, and I'll snap her pretty little neck." He wrapped one had around her throat. "And neither of us wants that, now do we. The blood is just never as sweet when they are already dead."

"Now then," he continued, putting his other arm around her waist, and holding her tightly against him. "I think the lady and I are going to go have our selves a bit of fun."

"Then I think we have a problem, mate," Spike said, suddenly calm again. "See, I'd rather you snap her neck than let you run off with her."

"No! I think. . . That's a bad idea," protested a panicked Bo Peep.

She was so busy worrying about the two monsters who were arguing over her, she didn't notice Xander appear from the direction of the house, or that Willow was with him.

All at once Bo Peep heard a gunshot, and it felt as if something had passed just by her. Angelus' grip on her loosened, and she broke away from him without thinking. Running straight into the arms of Spike. She screamed again and once more found herself trying to break free from an impossibly strong grasp.

"Nice shot!" commented Willow.

Angelus roared behind her. "That hurts. I'm gonna have to make ya pay fer that."

"Take her," Spike yelled, pushing her toward Xander.

The vampires leapt snarling at each other, like two wolves fighting for dominance. Bo Peep had never seen anything like the savagery the vampires showed toward each other. For a moment she was mesmerized by the violence as the monsters tried to pound each other into dust.

Then she came to. Realizing this was her chance to escape them both, Bo Peep turned to run and. . .

Without pausing Buffy broke her shepherd's crook over her knee to make a stake. Then she dove into the middle of the fray, knocking Angelus off of Spike, who had fallen.

She expected Angelus to wrestle with her for possession of the stake. Time honored tradition said that they should both try and force the pointy end into the other one. But instead, Angelus rolled with the force of their collision, came up to his feet, and began to limp quickly away, leaving Buffy to try and get up without tripping on her full skirts.

As she got to her feet she looked back to check on her friends. Xander was looking at the toy riffle he was holding, Willow was gently poking him to test her solidity, and Spike was getting to his feet, although he looked completely thrashed.

For a moment Buffy didn't know what to do. The Slayer in her told her to run down Angelus, but the girl just wanted to make sure her boyfriend was okay. As she struggled with the decision, she looked away from Spike only to notice that Angelus had disappeared. Evidently, he could limp at super human speeds too.

The decision having been made for her, Buffy ran back to Spike to check out his injuries. As she was helping him up, Xander walked over to them.

"Hey, Buff. Welcome back," he greeted her.

"Yeah! You, too," she said, absent mindedly.

"You guys remember what happened?" Cordelia asked.

"It was way creepy. It's like I was there, but I couldn't get out," Xander commented.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," agreed Cordelia. "This outfit's totally skintight."

"You okay?" Spike asked Buffy.

"Me? You're the one who looks like a hamburger."

"Eh," he waved his hands as if it was nothing. "I've had worse."

He put his arm around her shoulders and led her away. They walked toward Spike's place. An uncomfortable silence settling between them.

Finally Spike broke it, "So what's with the get-up anyway?"

"You don't like it?" asked Buffy, crestfallen.

"You look beautiful. You always look beautiful, I just don't get it."

"I thought. . . you know, the other day you said you liked it, that I was innocent and stuff. I thought, I don't know. It's dumb. It made sense at the time."

She looked down at her feet.

"It's not dumb, and I meant it, about you looking gorgeous. But I like you just the way you are, pet. You know that, right?"

She nodded, and they continued again in silence.

"How did you know?" Buffy asked suddenly.

"Know what?"

"That Xander could make that shot. I didn't even know he was there, not that I was being percepto-girl."

"I didn't," came his solemn reply. He grimaced, then stopped and turned her face to look at him. "It was a gamble. Fifty/fifty. See, snapping your neck, that would have been clean - easy. Angelus doesn't kill like that - at least not his victims, his real victims. Only their families, their loved ones. Those he kills that way. Sometimes worse. Point is, I took a gamble that he was here, for you, and not me. And I was right. He wants you to suffer more before he kills you. Funny kind of way, that means you're the safest person from him in Sunnydale right now."

"Yeah, real funny."

Chapter 25: Lie to Me (Part 1 of 2)

A boy was sitting on the jungle gym waiting for his mother in the encroaching night.

"C'mon, Mom. She's always late," he complained to the darkness.

A woman in a white gown walked slowly up behind him.

"Are you lost?" Drusilla asked the boy.

He looked at her. "No. My mom's just supposed to pick me up is all.

He climbed down off the gym.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" she asked.

"No, thank you."

She touched the gym as her eyes lost focus. "My mummy used to sing me to sleep at night." She began to walk slowly around the gym, letting her fingers trail over it as she sang, "Run and catch. The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch." She stopped. "She had the sweetest voice. What will your mummy sing when they find your body?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to people," came the boy's nervous reply.

"Oh. Well, I'm not a person, see, so that's just. . ."

She was interrupted by Spike who stepped out of nowhere, between her and the boy.

Keeping his eyes on Drusilla, he told the boy, "Run home."

After a moment's hesitation, he ran off. Drusilla watched him run away.

"Don't suppose there's any point in asking you to leave?" he asked his Sire.

"Why should I? Will you hurt me?" she asked excited. Then she looked up as if someone was whispering in her ear. "No. No, you can't. Not anymore."

"You'd be surprised what I can do, Dru."

"No," she said sadly. "My dear boy's gone all away, hasn't he? To her."

"That's right, luv. And if you aren't scared of me, you should be scared of her. She did Darla. She'll do you and Angelus, too."

Drusilla giggled. "She has no idea what's in store." She leaned forward, as if to kiss him. "This is just the beginning," she whispered in his ear. Then she pulled away without kissing him and gave him an evil smile.

Slowly she walked away. Neither vampire noticed the Slayer who'd stood on a nearby roof, watching the whole thing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning at school, Buffy walked dejectedly through the halls. She hadn't slept well the night before, wondering who the woman was who had been with Spike.

Other people's love lives were so much less complicated she thought as she saw Ms. Calendar and Giles talking.

When Ms. Calendar walked off, Buffy greeted Giles. "Hey."

"Hello," he replied, still looking after Ms. Calendar. They headed toward the library. "Um, did we hunt last night?"

"I did a couple quick sweeps downtown."

"Any encounters?"

"Nothing vampirey."

Which, she told herself, was not a complete lie. Spike didn't really count as a vampire, and she couldn't be sure if the woman he'd been talking to had been or not. Then again, only a vampire would have worn a dress like that on so cold a night.

"Uh, I've been researching your friend Angelus. Uh, the profile is fairly unappetizing. But I-I still haven't got a bead on why he's here. It's possible that it's revenge for Darla's staking. But we shouldn't rule out the possibility that something more diabolical has drawn him to the Hellmouth."

"You'll figure it out."

"You alright? You seem a little glum," noted Giles.

"I'm fine," she said, unconvincingly.

They stopped outside the library's door.

"Why don't you take the night off?" suggested Giles.

"Okay. That'd be nice," she replied with a complete lack of enthusiasm.

"Yes. You could spend some time with Spike."

"I don't know. He might have other plans," she answered as she walked off to class.

During her history class, she told Willow what had happened via the time-honored tradition of note passing.

Willow passed her a note which asked: Do you know who she was?

A boy in the class answered the teacher's question. "Well, it seems like Louis XVI was just sort of a weak king."

Buffy and Willow glanced at each other. Buffy started to write an answer on the note.

"That's fair enough. Uh, any other impressions?" asked the teacher.

"I just don't see why everyone's always picking on Marie Antoinette," said Cordelia. "I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good, and people just don't appreciate that kind of effort."

Buffy finished her answer to Willow and passed back the note: No Dark hair Old dress pretty

"And I know the peasants were all depressed. . ." continued Cordelia.

"I think you mean 'oppressed'," corrected Xander.

"Whatever." Cordelia dismissed him. "They were cranky."

Buffy folded the note and handed it back to Willow.

"So they're, like, 'Let's lose some heads'. Uhhh! That's fair. And, and Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake!" pointed out Cordelia.

Willow finished another note.

"Yes, well, that's a very interesting perspective," said the teacher.

Willow handed Buffy the note.

"Um, would anyone else like to comment?" the teacher asked hopefully.

When Buffy opened the note and read, 'Vampire?' she sighed.

Just then the bell rang.

As they walked out of class, Buffy verbally answered Willow's note, "I don't know. I don't think so. They seemed pretty friendly."

"Who's friendly?" asked a confused Xander.

"No one," Buffy evaded.

"Spike and a girl," supplied Willow.

"Willow, do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy asked.

The last thing she wanted was to involve Xander in anything that might look like Spike was losing interest in her.

"Hey, it's me. If Spike's doing somethin' wrong, I wanna know. 'Cause it gives me a happy!" Xander smiled.

They headed into the lounge and Willow sat down on one of the couches.

"Mm, I'm glad someone has a happy," said an annoyed Buffy.

"Aw, you just need cheering up. And I know just the thing!" Xander tried his best, if silly, dance move. "Crazed dance party at the Bronze!"

"I dunno. . . " sighed Buffy, crossing her arms.

"Very calm dance party at the Bronze?" suggested Xander. Buffy gave him a glum look. He sighed with resignation. "Moping at the Bronze."

He sat dejectedly on the couch next to Willow. A student neither he nor Willow recognized walked up the steps behind Buffy.

"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase," said the boy.

Buffy uncrossed her arms and turned around.

"Ford?" she asked, wide-eyed with surprise.

"Hey, Summers!" he greeted her as they hugged. "How ya been?"

"Oh, my God! What are you doing here?" she asked, excitedly.

They let go, but continued to hold hands.

"Uh, matriculating," he replied.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred," he explained.

"This is great!" Buffy was almost jumping up and down.

"I'm glad you think so," Ford said, smiling.

Xander, however, was scowling on the couch.

"I didn't think you'd remember me."

"Remember you?" Buffy asked. "Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth grade crush."

"So! You two know each other," Xander broke in.

"Oh!" Buffy gasped. She'd completely forgotten her friends. "I'm sorry. Um, this is Ford! Uh, Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow!"

Buffy and Ford sat together on the other couch opposite Xander and Willow.

"Hi," said Xander.

"Hey," Ford answered back.

"Nice to meet you!" Willow spoke with far more enthusiasm than either of the two guys could muster.

"Uh, Ford and I went to Hemery together in L.A." Buffy explained to her friends. Then she turned back to Ford. "And now you're here. For real?"

"Dad got the transfer and boom, he just dragged me outta Hemery and put me down here."

"This is great!" Buffy exclaimed. Then, remembered her own fears when she moved to Sunnydale. "Well, I mean, it's hard, sudden move, all your friends, delicate time, very emotional, but let's talk about me!" she put her hand on his knee. "This is great!"

Willow noticed the hand, and smiled. "So, you two were sweeties in fifth grade?"

"Not even. Ford wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Well, I was a manly sixth-grader," Ford joked. "I couldn't bother with someone that young."

"It was terrible," Buffy said in a self-mocking tone. "I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song, 'I Touch Myself'." She suddenly realized how that could be misinterpreted and looked nervously at Xander and Willow. "Of course, I had no idea what it was about."

Ford gave his forehead an embarrassed scratch while Xander just smiled at the thought and nodded.

Buffy turned back to Ford. "Hey, are you busy tonight? We're going to the Bronze, it's the local club, and you have to come."

"I'd love to!" he said. "But if you guys already had plans. . . Would I be imposing?"

"No, only in the literal sense," Xander said sarcastically.

"Okay, then! I, I gotta find the admissions office," Ford got up. "Uh, get my papers in order."

"Well, you know what?" Buffy also stood up. "I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys in French!"

She took his arm and lead him away.

"It was good to meet you," Ford called out to her friends.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Xander, Willow and Ford were playing pool at the bronze. Ford made his shot and set up for another as Buffy arrived at the table.

"Ford! You made it," she greeted him.

"Wasn't hard to find," Ford told her.

"Buffy," Willow teased. "Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition."

"Oh my God," said Buffy, horrified. "Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill."

"You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets," he joked with her.

"Care to make a small wager on that?" Xander challenged him.

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Ford, try not to talk." Buffy turned to go to the bar.

As she got near, she saw Spike nursing a beer.

"Hi," she called to him.

"There you are, pet."

"You drink! I mean, drinks. Non-blood things," she stuttered.

"Guess there's a lot about me you still don't know."

"I believe that," she said, thinking about the mystery woman. "So. What'd you do last night?" she tried to ask innocently.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all. You ceased to exist?"

"Naw, I watched some tele."

"Oh."

Buffy was angry, and a little scared. If it was nothing, if that woman he'd been with last night was no one, why wouldn't he mention it?

Seeing that Spike wasn't going to fess up to his midnight rendezvous, she gave up and headed back to the pool table, and a simpler life. Spike followed her.

"Didn't want that soda after all?" Ford asked her.

"Not thirsty," Buffy said.

"Hey, Spike," Willow greeted.

"Hi," Ford welcomed him.

"This is Ford," Buffy introduced. "We went to school together in L.A."

"Nice to meet you." Spike shook Ford's hand while eyeing him with suspicion.

"Whoa! Cold hands!" Ford exclaimed.

"You're not wrong," Xander commented.

Buffy shot Xander a look.

"So, you're here visiting Buffy?" Spike asked.

"No, I'm actually here to stay. Just moved down."

"Hey, Spike?" Willow broke in trying to ease the tension. "Do you wanna play?"

"Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight. Um. . . I'm a little hot." She turned to Ford. "You wanna take a walk?"

"Um, sure. That'd be nice," he said.

"Hold on a minute," Spike said. He put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Did I do something? Are you mad at me?"

"What could I possibly have to be mad about?"

"Don't know, pet. But you obviously are, and I'm obviously not going to guess why, so why don't you just tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Ford, will you excuse us for a minute?" Buffy said, annoyed. She and Spike stepped away from the others into a corner of the Bronze. "You want to know what I'm mad about? I saw you. Last night. With that. . . woman."

"Dru?"

"I guess. I don't know her name. Long pretty brown hair, white dress. Ringing any bells?"

"Yeah, that's Dru, I mean Drusilla. My Sire."

"Oh? Oh." Buffy tried to remember what little she knew about Spike's Sire, which wasn't much. "You killed a Slayer for her, didn't you," she whispered.

"Yeah. I did."

He looked down at the floor as if he couldn't look at her. Buffy was surprised, Spike always seemed to crave eye contact; he always seemed to want her to look at him.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. How I'm supposed to feel about this," was all she could think of to say.

"Well, she's not a threat. I mean, she's a vampire, so of course she's a threat, but not to us. You know that, right? All that stuff I used to feel for Dru. . . she was my Sire, and before the soul, I loved what I was. What she made me. But now, you're everything to me. You know that right?"

"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry."

Spike kissed her on the forehead. "It's all right, luv. I've been known to be jealous once or twice in my life. So why don't you walk your friend home, and I'll try not to be too jealous myself, huh?"

She smiled back at him. "Okay. Deal."

Buffy returned to the pool table and she and Ford went outside.

"So, that was your boyfriend?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. Sorry about the drama back there."

"It's all right. I'm not, causing problems or anything am I?"

"No, it's good. But-"

Buffy stopped. She could hear noises coming from around the corner that sounded suspiciously like a vampire.

"Um, my purse," Buffy made up an excuse. "I-I, I left my purse at the Bronze. Uh, could you get it for me?"

"Uh, okay." Ford turned back toward the Bronze.

"Good. Run! Thanks!" Buffy called after him.

As soon as he wasn't looking she started to run around the corner. Sure enough, there was a woman being attacked by a vampire. As Buffy pulled the vampire off of her, the woman ran. Buffy was thankful for once to be rescuing a victim that had the sense to get away. It never ceased to amaze her how many of them just hung around.

Then she forgot about the woman and focused her attention on the vampire. She ducked one of his punches. She kicked him in the face. The vampire swung at her again but Buffy grabbed his fist and held it while she punched him in the face. Then she drew out a stake and ended the fight with a clean blow to the heart.

As she was brushing vamp dust off of herself, she heard Ford's voice.

"What's goin' on?"

Surprised, she spun around to face him.

"Um. . . uh, there was a, a cat," she lied. "A cat here, and, um, then there was a-another cat. . . and they fought. The cats. And. . . then they left."

"Oh. I thought you were just slaying a vampire," Ford said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Whating a what?"

"I know, Buffy. You don't have to lie. I-I've been trying to figure out the right time to. . . to tell you. I know you're the Slayer."

Buffy was stunned, but also delighted. They started home again talking about life and unlife in L.A.
 

Chapter 26: Lie to Me (Part 2 of 2)

The next night Buffy was patrolling near the school with Ford.

"And on your right, once again, the beautiful campus," said Buffy, playing tour guide. "I think you've now seen everything there is to see in Sunnydale."

"Well, it's. . . really. . ."

"Feel free to say dull."

"Okay. Dull's good." Just then he noticed two people running by and up the steps of the school. "Or maybe not so dull. Is that more vampires?"

"Must be the weather," Buffy said as she pulled out a stake and a cross.

She handed the cross to Ford. He took it, but then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his own stake.

"Stay close to me," Buffy ordered him.

She hopped up the steps the vampires had just run up and cautiously looked around. Ford was close behind her, cross and stake held ready. She looked around the corner and saw nothing.

"Maybe they were just passing through," Ford suggested.

Buffy turned around to look at him. "I don't think so."

Then a blonde female vampire grabbed her from behind and tried to bite her. Ford took a step back. Buffy kicked the vampire in the face, then grabbed her by the arm and flipped her over onto her back. Her companion - a male vampire - rushed at Buffy and grabbed her, pulling her over a railing with him. She landed in a crouch on the grass below and got up while the vampire rolled to his feet. She kicked him in the jaw, making him fall backward.

She lost track of Ford, and hoped he was okay as she knocked the vampire out with a punch to the face and staked him. She ran back up the stairs to Ford, who was crouched down.

"Where's the other one?" she asked, looking about.

"I killed her." He coughed. "I, I killed her and she just turned to dust. It was. . . amazing!"

Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise. Ford was doing good for his first night of slaying. Even so, she sent him home to rest up. Then she called Giles and arranged to meet him at the library.

"Sorry to beep you guys in the middle of. . . stuff," she said to Giles and Ms. Calendar when she met them at the library. "But it seemed really weird."

"No, you did the right thing. Absolutely," Giles agreed a little too strongly.

Ms. Calendar stopped in her tracks. "You hated it that much?"

"No!" Giles insisted. "But, but, uh, vampires on campus is, could have implications. Very, very grave. . ."

"You coulda just said something," Ms. Calendar told him.

"Uh, honestly, I, I've always, I've always been interested in, in, uh, monster trucks," Giles tried to backpeddle.

"You took him to monster trucks?" Buffy asked, amazed.

"I thought it would be a change!" Ms. Calendar explained.

"It was a change," Giles said softly.

"Look, we could've just left." Ms. Calendar was beginning to get annoyed.

"Wha-what, and miss the nitro-burning funny cars?" said Giles sarcastically. "No, couldn't have that."

"Okay, can we get back on the vampire tip here?" Buffy tried to rescue him. "These guys were here with a purpose."

"Yes, yes, and, uh, we must, uh, ascertain what that purpose is," Giles agreed.

"Where's your friend?" Ms. Calendar asked.

"I sent him home," Buffy told them.

Giles sat at the table. "Oh, uh, good. Yes, the less he's involved in all this, the safer he'll be."

"He did bag a vamp his first time out," Buffy bragged.

"Really? In any case, let me get some of my books. I-"

As Giles headed into his office, the blonde female vampire that Ford claimed he had staked, ran into Giles as she ran from his office. Buffy ran to help Giles, but was knocked to the floor underneath him when the vampire gave him a hard shove.

The vampire jumped up onto the table and leapt over the mezzanine railing, allowing her to escape through the stacks.

Ms. Calendar helped Giles and Buffy up. "Are you guys okay?"

"A book! It took one of my books!" Giles yelled with outrage.

"Well, at least someone in this school is reading," Ms. Calendar commented.

"He said he killed it," Buffy said mystified. "That's the vampire Ford said he killed."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Drusilla was talking to a bird that lay dead in a cage.

"You sing the sweetest little song. Won't you sing for me, hmm? Don't you love me anymore?"

Angelus walked up behind her, angry.

"Do ye know what Lucius tell me, Drusilla?" She didn't answer, just continued to make twittering noises at the bird. "He tells me you went out the other night."

"My tummy was growly," she pouted. "And you were out." She turned her attention back to the bird. "Come on." She whistled. "I'll pout if you don't sing."

"And he says that ye saw that whelp of yers, William."

"Spike?" She smiled, then continued to talk to the bird. "I'll give you a seed if you sing."

"The bird's dead, Dru. Ye left it in a cage, and ye didn't feed it, and now it's all dead, just like the last one."

Drusilla cowered and whined. Angelus struck her across the face.

"Ye don't go out unless I say ye do. And ye don't go talking te that pitiful thing ye sired. Is that clear."

Drusilla nodded. She got up slowly, rising up against Angelus, then she began to nibble on his ear.

"Do you forgive me, Daddy? Or have I been a bad girl?" She made a little barking noise.

"This is so cool!" came an unfamiliar voice out of nowhere.

Angelus looked up to see a living teenage boy enter the room.

"I would totally live here," the boy said.

"Does anyone pay any attention? Who the hell is supposed to be on watch?" Angelus yelled.

His senses told him that his minions were scurrying for cover.

"I know who you are," the boy said to Angelus.

"What a brilliant lad ye are." Angelus said sarcastically. "Too bad the world will never know of yer wit."

Angelus vamped and growled at the boy.

"I came looking for you, Angelus. You are Angelus, right?"

Angelus was a little startled. The boy really did seem to know who he was, and he wasn't scared. It wasn't half as fun if they weren't scared.

"Ye've got a real death wish, me boy. It's almost interesting."

The blonde vampire came in then and walked up to Angelus handing him the book she had stolen from Giles. Angelus began to leaf through it.

"Ah, this'll be useful. We may have to tweak it a little." Angelus turned his attention back to the boy. "So, how did ye find me?"

Angelus was aware of the slightest tremor in the blonde vampire. Just enough to answer the question for him. He'd deal with her later.

"That doesn't matter. I've got something to offer you." The boy paused. "I-I'm pretty sure this is the part where you take out a watch and say I've got thirty seconds to convince you not to kill me? It's traditional."

"Well, we wouldn't want to go against tradition now would we?"

Angelus grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him against the wall. To his disappointment the boy barely flinched. It was as if he was scared of nothing.

"So, ye've got thirty seconds to convince me not to kill ye. But I should tell ye, I'm a hard sell."

"Yes!" the boy cried with glee. "See, this is the best! I wanna be like you. A vampire."

Angelus laughed. "Well that's not going to happen."

Angelus snarled and moved in to bite the boy.

"Wait, Daddy. The boy has things to say," Drusilla interrupted.

Angelus relented. He could always kill the boy later.

"Well, feature this: I'm offering you a trade. You make me a vampire, and I give you the Slayer."

"And how would ye do that, me boy?"

"I know her; she trusts me. I can lead her into a trap. I've already got the whole thing set up."

"Is that so? Ye know her? The two of ye're close?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for years. She's even got a crush on me."

"Now that is interestin'," Angelus said with a grin.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy was getting ready for her nightly patrol when she heard a knock on the door. She went downstairs to answer the door. When she opened the door no one was there. She was about to close it, when she looked down.

"NO!" she screamed, immediate grief devastating her.

Lying on her porch was Ford's body. His hands were crossed over his chest, like a body ready for a funeral, and in his hand he held a single red rose.

Buffy leaned down to check his pulse. He was so pale, so still, that she wasn't surprised when she saw bite marks on his throat.

"No, Ford," she whispered through her tears as she cradled his head in her lap. She knew she should do something, but she couldn't think what it was. All she could do was remember all the times they had shared together. Remember her grade school crush, and wonder how she could have failed Ford and let this happen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm so sorry, pet. Are you all right?" Spike asked as he stood back, feeling hopeless.

Buffy was kneeling down by Ford's grave, placing flowers on it.

"No, I'm really not."

He knelt down beside her and put his arms around her. He knew it wasn't much, but he also knew it was all he could do.

"He came here to see me before he died. . ." Buffy said softly.

"It's not your fault, pet. You're not the reaso-"

"But I am. He didn't move here. His father wasn't transferred. He ran away from home. He had cancer. He was dying, only had a few more months to live, and he came here. To see me. I don't even really know why. He just wanted to see me and because of that. . ." she couldn't speak anymore, she was so choked with tears.

"Shhh, there there."

Spike cradled her in his arms and gently rocked her.

"It's not your fault, pet. It's still not your fault. It's not right, not right that he lost the time he had left, but he wanted to see you, and he did. That's something. Not much, but it's something."

Finally, Buffy got her tears under control.

"He's the last one. This has to stop. We have to find Angelus. Ford's the last one," Buffy vowed as a hand reached up from the earth.

She was almost casual as she pulled Ford up from the ground, and drove a stake through his heart.
 

Chapter 27: What's My Line (Part 1 of )

It had been another in a series of frustrating nights for Buffy. She'd been searching Sunnydale for Angelus for almost a week now. She'd staked what seemed like a record number of vampires, but she was no closer to finding him than she'd been before.

Although tonight she'd caught a couple vampires stealing from a tomb. Unfortunately, one of them got away.

Wearily, she started to climb through the window of her room, only to find Spike standing in front of her mirror holding Mr. Gordo, who seemed to be floating in the mirror. Without saying a word, Buffy threw her bag through the window and onto the floor.

Spike jumped at the sound and turned around.

"Buffy! You startled me, pet."

"Score one for me."

She crouched down by her bag and reached into her hair to pull out a few clips.

"Just dropping by for some quality time with Mr. Gordo?" she asked, as she started her nighttime routine.

"Huh?" Spike was confused.

"The pig."

She opened her trunk and dumped the bag inside.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." He regarded the toy. "What sort of girl has a stuffed pig an no teddy bears or dolls?"

"I think I'm a little old for dolls. And don't you dare say anything bad about Mr. Gordo. You're far more replaceable than he is."

"You're in a snit tonight." He carefully set Mr. Gordo down on her pillow. Then he sat on her bed and stretched out. "Don't suppose I could do anything to cheer you up?" he smiled suggestively at her.

She dropped her hair clips into a desk drawer, then faced him.

"You could start by getting you boots off my bed," she said annoyed. He complied. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He reached out for her, and pulled her to him by the waist.

"Can't a fellow come see his girl without a reason? And why'd you come in through the window?"

"Huh?"

"Thought your mum was out of town."

Buffy crinkled her nose. "Habit. And how do you know that?"

"Your mum and me are friends remember?"

"So you wait for her to leave town so you can take advantage of her daughter?"

He stood up, very close to her, and looked her in the eye.

"I would never take advantage of you." His voice was quiet, but deadly serious. Then he plunked back down on the bed and smiled widely at her. "There really is a bee in your bonnet today, isn't there?"

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," she apologized. She sat next to him and rested her head against his chest. He moved his arm to put it around her. "Look, I've been Cranky Miss all day. It's not you."

"So what's bothering you, pet? Besides the obvious."

"We're having this thing at school," she admitted.

"Career week?"

"How did you know?"

"Once a stalker. . ." he joked.

She smiled. "Right. Well, then you know it's a whole week of 'what's my line', only... I don't get to play. Sometimes I just want. . ."

"What do you want, luv?"

Buffy glanced into her mirror. She was alone in the reflection.

"The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life. Like I had before."

He pointed to a picture on her desk of her as a child, ice-skating.

"That the life you want?"

"Oh my God." She laughed and stood up. "My Dorothy Hamill phase. My room in L.A. was pretty much a shrine. Dorothy dolls, Dorothy posters, I even got the Dorothy haircut. Thereby securing a place for myself in the geek hall of fame."

"Why'd you want to be like her?"

"I wanted to BE her. My parents were fighting all the time, and skating was an escape. I felt safe."

"So when'd you last put on your skates?"

Buffy sighed. "About a couple of hundred demons ago."

"There's a rink out past Route 17, it's. . . closed on Tuesdays."

"Tomorrow's Tuesday."

"So it is, pet. So it is."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Giles walked to the center table in the library, balancing a large stack of books. He carefully set them down and leaned over a bit to straighten the stack, but he leaned too far and the books began to fall over.

"AH!" he cried as he rushed to stop them.

Buffy put her hand on top of the stack just as he did the same, and they pushed it back up.

Relieved, Giles said, "Buffy. Thank you. I've been, uh, indexing the Watcher diaries covering the last couple of centuries. You would be amazed at how numbingly pompous and long-winded some of these watchers were."

"Color me stunned."

"So, uh, I trust last night's patrol was fruitful?"

"Semi. Mm, I caught one out of two vamps after they stole something from this jumbo mausoleum."

"They were stealing?" Giles asked with interest.

"Yeah! They had tools, flashlights, whole nine yards." She paused. "What does that mean anyway? 'Whole nine yards'? Nine yards of what? Now it's gonna bug me all day," she whined. Then she noticed that Giles was ignoring her and pacing furiously. "Giles, you're in pace mode. What gives?"

"Um, this vampire who escaped, did you see what he took?" he asked.

"No, but I could take a guess and say it was something old."

"You made no effort to find out what was taken?" Giles asked with anger.

"Have a cow, Giles! I just figured it was your everyday vamp hijinks."

"Well, what if it wasn't? This could be very serious! I mean, i-i-if you'd made an effort to, uh, to be more thorough in your observations. . ."

"Y'know, if you don't like the way I'm doing my job, why don't you find somebody else?" Buffy was genuinely annoyed. At times she thought Giles didn't appreciate the risking of life and limb she did on a nightly basis. "Oh, that's right, there can only be one. As long as I'm alive, there is no one else. Well, there you go! I don't have to be the Slayer. I could be dead."

"That wasn't terribly funny. You notice I don't laugh."

"Wouldn't be much of a change. Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?"

"Do we have to be introspective now? Our only concern is to discover what was stolen from that mausoleum last night."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Drusilla sat on her bed, waving her hand over an intricately carved gold cross held out to her by Angelus on a red velvet pillow.

"Would this be it then?" Angelus asked her.

"It hums. I can hear it," she told him.

"Once yer well again, we'll have a coronation down Main Street, and invite everyone, and drink for seven days and seven nights." Angelus promised his favorite Childe.

Behind him his bookish minion asked, "What about the Slayer? She almost blew the whole thing for us. She's trouble."

"And who's fault would that be?" Angelus asked. "No matter though. We'll do somethin' about her. Can't have her interfering now can we. I'd wanted to play with her some more, but perhaps it's time to pass the job along. The Order of Taraka should do."

"The bounty hunters?!" the minion gasped with fear.

Angelus was annoyed to think that some ancient order inspired more fear than he did.

Drusilla had dealt out three tarot cards: a Cyclops, a centipede and a panther.

"They're coming to my party," she said excitedly. "Three of them."

Angelus looked absently at the cards.

"Uh, yes, but. . ." stuttered the minion. "The Order of Taraka, I mean... isn't that overkill?"

"No such thing," Angelus said with a smile.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Buffy skated around the rink, trying not to think about anything related to Career Day or slaying. It almost worked. At least she was able to forget about the awful test that had told her she was doomed to a life as a cop.

The slayer stuff was a little harder to forget about. She and Giles had discovered that what the vampire the other night had stolen was something related to some guy named Du Lac. Not only that, but the vampire that had stolen one of Giles' books had stolen one written by Du Lac. Giles was afraid that the two together could be used to bring about some bad mojo.

Slowly, though, the rhythm of the skates on the ice even pushed these thoughts from her head. Until she slipped and fell, sliding backward into the sidewall of the rink.

As she started to get up, an arm wrapped itself around her neck and lifted her off the ice. A large, less than pleasant looking man with only one eye, had her by the throat. He began to choke her against the railing of the rink. Buffy tried to pry his hands from her throat as she struggled to breathe.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Spike come running across the ice, his eyes blazing gold.

"Buffy!" he cried.

He leapt toward the man who held her, and tackled him, knocking him off of Buffy. She fell back onto the ice. Spike lifted the man to his feet and punched him in the face. But the man wasn't even fazed and punched Spike in the stomach, sending him back into the wall. Spike came off the wall and jabbed him in the face again, but the one-eyed man just shrugged it off. He punched Spike in the face and gut in rapid succession, making him stagger into the wall again. The man then grabbed Spike by the throat and lifted him up.

By this time, Buffy had finally caught her breath and gotten to her feet. She came skating toward them at a fast pace. The man turned to face her as she grabbed a net that was hanging on the wall of the rink and and used it to swing up with her foot and hit him in the throat with the blade of her skate, crushing his trachea.

He let go of Spike and grabbed his own neck, unable to breathe. He took a few steps onto the ice and collapsed there, dead.

Angry, Spike rushed over to the corpse to examine it. Seeing a ring on the man's finger he took a close look at it.

"The Hellmouth presents: Dead Guys On Ice. Not exactly the evening we were aiming for," said Buffy.

"Fuck." Spike said, looking closely at the ring. "We have to get out of here."

He began to pull her toward the exit.

"Hold on!" demanded Buffy. "What's the deal? I just killed a Super Bowl champ or something?"

"I'm serious!" Spike snarled. "You need to get out of here." Then he softened. "Are you okay?"

She put her gloved hand on his cheek and looking at the cut above his eye.

"What about you? That cut!"

"Don't worry about me. This is bad, Buffy. We gotta get you outta here."

"What, you mean hide?"

"Well, yeah. That's a good place to start. At least till we know how many we have to deal with."

"How many what?" Buffy asked. She was getting annoyed.

"Assassins. Look, Buffy, someone's called out the big guns. Will you just. . . I need to know you're safe. Till we know what's going on. Okay?"

"Hey," she called gently to him, looking him in the eye. "It's me. I'll be okay. You're not getting rid of me that easy Mr."

He couldn't help but smile at her.

"You're right. You're the Slayer. I just. . . It's hard not to worry."

"Maybe this'll help stop you from worrying?" she said, as she moved in to kiss him.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. They were both so enraptured by each other, that neither of them noticed the strange girl watching them from the shadows.
 

Chapter 28: What's My Line (Part 2 of )

Buffy knocked on Spike's door. She was starting to freak. It was bad enough the way Spike had reacted to the ring, as if she was some girl who couldn't protect herself. But Giles, upon hearing about it, had reacted the same way. He actually thought she should hide.

His tales of unstoppable assassins hadn't helped. Buffy had walked through the halls of Sunnydale High thinking that anyone and everyone might be after her. Sure, Spike had stopped the one-eyed man, but according to Giles, this order would have sent more. They wouldn't stop until she was dead.

Well, if she was going to hide, she figured she'd hide with Spike. Recent events had kept her from having much quality time with him, and she thought that if they didn't do some serious making out soon, she'd explode.

So there she was, waiting outside his door for an answer.

When no answer came, she softly called through the door, "Spike?"

She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So she twisted the knob hard, breaking it and opening the door. She slowly entered and looked around. She closed the door behind her and turned on the lights.

Buffy made her way to his bed and lay down on it, breathing in his scent from the pillow. She curled up and fell asleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Spike stepped into Willy's. It was after hours and Willy was sweeping up.

Willy didn't look up, just shouted, "We're closed! Can't you read the sign?"

Spike stepped in front of him.

"Oh, uh... hey, Spike. I didn't recognize you in the dark there. What, uh... what can I do for you tonight?"

"I need information."

"Yeah? Man, that's too bad, 'cause... I'm stayin' away from that whole scene. I'm livin' right, Spike."

"Sure you are, Willy. And I'm taking up sunbathing."

"C'mon, man. Don't be that way! I-I treat you vamps good! I-I-I-I don't hassle you, you don't hassle me... We all enjoy the patronage of this establishment. Everybody's happy, right?"

Spike wouldn't be put off. "Who sent them?" he menaced.

"Who sent who?"

"The Order of Taraka."

"I-I. . . I tell ya, I haven't been in the loop." Willy was getting more and more nervous.

"Let's try again, mate. The Order of Taraka, they're after the Slayer."

"C'mon, man."

"Was it Angelus?"

"Look, Spike, I-I got some good pigs' blood in, good stuff, my fence said. . ."

Spike grabbed Willy and smacked his head into the bar. Then he pressed down hard on Willy's
head with his hand. It was hard for Spike not to hurt Willy more. Everyone Spike cared about was in danger, and not from just anyone. From Angelus. Even when Spike had been soulless he'd hated the elder vampire.

"Damn it! Ah. . ."

"Been a while since I killed a man. Might take me a couple tries to get it right," Spike growled.

"Oh, Angelus will draw and quarter me, man!"

"Don't worry about Angelus, he's not long for this world."

"You know he ordered those guys! Angelus's sick of your girl getting in his way!"

"Where do I find him?"

"I tell you that, I'm gonna need relocating expenses! It'll cost you!"

Spike jerked Willy up and slammed him against a wall.

"Didn't quite hear that. What did you say?"

"Okay! Okay! He and that freaky chick of his are. . ."

Before Willy could finish, a foot suddenly connected with Spike's face. Both he and Willy fell to the floor. Spike looked up to see a young pretty girl standing over him. She had a beautiful dark face. Her long black hair fell in waves from the ponytail high on her head.

She smelled human, but she didn't hit like one. There was something in the way she stood, in the look in her eyes that was familiar to Spike. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn she was the Slayer.

The girl grabbed the broom Willy had been using, and broke the handle off. Then, using it as a stake, she attacked Spike. He rolled out of the way of her thrust.

Willy took the opportunity to flee from his own bar.

Meanwhile, Spike got back to his feet, only to duck another swing from the strange and quiet girl. She tried a direct thrust with the stake which Spike just knocked aside, but she followed it up with a punch to the face from her other hand and used her momentum to spin around for a kick that sent him through the door into the back room.

He crashed into several cases of beer. Angry, he vamped as she charged him again. He was stuck fighting this girl who didn't speak. As she knocked him to the ground, he once again noticed that she seemed to have the strength of a slayer.

Not only that, she was a good fighter. Although he got several blows in, she took them without flinching, and forced him backward. Too late he noticed the cage she had driven him into. She knocked him to the ground, then slammed the door of the cage shut.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

She laughed - the first sound she'd made since she'd shown up - as she stepped back.

"You think this is funny?" he asked.

She shut the bolt, locking him in.

"I tink it is funny now. Dat girl. De one I saw you wit before?"

"Piece of advice. Stay away from her."

"I'm afraid you are not in a position to treaten."

"When I get outta here I'll do more than threaten!"

"Den I suggest ya move quickly." She looked up at the windows. "Eastern exposure. De sun will be comin' in a few hours. More dan enough time for me to find your girlfriend."

"Come back her you bleeding stupid bint!" Spike yelled after her as she left.

Then he attacked the cage door, trying to force it open. The cage held though. He had no idea why Willy needed a cage in the back of his bar, but it had obviously been made to withstand demonic strength.

He couldn't give up. The sun was rising, and if he became a pile of dust, he would no longer be there to help Buffy. Not to mention the kissing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Instinct woke Buffy. Without thinking she rolled to the far side of the bed as a hatchet struck the pillow where her head had been.

A dark skinned girl was holding the hatchet and swung it at Buffy again. Buffy was a step ahead of her, however, and flipped herself off the bed over the girl's back and onto the floor behind her, ready to fight.

"You must be number two!" Buffy said.

The girl swung the hatchet at Buffy who ducked the swing and grabbed the bed curtain. She pulled it down and over the girl's head and knocked her to the floor with a kick to the head.

The girl quickly scrambled out from under the curtain and stood with the hatchet up and ready.

"Thanks for the wake-up, but I'll stick with my clock radio," Buffy quipped.

The girl swung again but this time, Buffy caught the hatchet by the handle. The girl pulled her around and slammed her into the wall, pushing the hatchet into her chest. Buffy pushed the hatchet up and away from her. The girl pulled down on it, flipping Buffy over onto her back. She bared down on Buffy.

"Come on, don't make me do the chick fight thing," Buffy grunted.

"Chick fight?"

"You know."

She let go of the hatchet with one hand and dug her nails into the girl's hand. She gritted her teeth and grunted in pain, but refused to let go. So Buffy grabbed her arm and rolled her over and away. They both scrambled to their feet.

Buffy kicked the hatchet out of the girl's hand. The girl tried two kicks which Buffy easily blocked. Buffy ducked a swing to her head and swung back, but the girl grabbed her arm in mid-swing and flipped her over onto the coffee table, smashing it. Buffy winced, not so much because of the pain, but because Spike didn't have much furniture, and she hated destroying what little there was.

Buffy kicked the girl as she reached down and knocked her to the floor. They both got up and circled each other.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Who am I?" Buffy was incredulous. "You attacked me! Who the hell are you?!"

"I am Kendra! De Vampire Slayer!"

Buffy looked at her in utter disbelief.

A little winded, Buffy asked, "Okay, one more time. You're the who?!"

"I'm de Slayer."

"Nice cover story. But here's a tip: you might wanna try it on someone who's not the real Slayer."

"Ya can't stop me! Even if ya kill me, anodder Slayer will be sent to take me place."

"Could you stop with the Slayer thing? I'm the damn Slayer!" Delusion girl was beginning to piss her off.

"Nonsense! Dere is but one, and I am she."

"Okay, a scenario." Buffy held up her hand in a peaceful gesture. "You back off, I'll back off, but you promise not to go all wiggy until we can go to my Watcher and figure this out."

"Wiggy?"

"You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?"

Kendra considered the offer a moment, then relaxed her stance and crossed her arms.

"I accept your scenario," came Kendra's formal reply.

"So. You were sent here?"

"Yes, by my Watcher."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To do my duty. I am here to kill vampires."
 

Next