CHAPTER 131 - SLEEP & POSSESSION

Sleep is a funny thing, and most times, eventually, separate from any lovemaking, which might come beforehand. We sleep by ourselves for most of our lives, and in our sleep, we dream alone, if not of others.

Usually, Buffy and William would awaken, one curled around the other's back. Hugger and huggee, though that line was often a matter of splitting hairs. Or, Buffy would fall asleep on William's chest, until one of them would move. As is with most solitary activities, often either of them would wake momentarily, to find themselves in their own little island of bed space, though each could feel the adjacent warmth coming from the person next to them. A leg or arm might be moved to lightly touch the other's, to reassure themselves of the other's presence, or a turn initiated, to once more come back into the hugger/huggee position.

But the most difficult sleeping position to maintain between two people was front to front, arms and legs entwined.

It was now in this position, which Buffy realized they were actually falling asleep. Her left arm underneath his right shoulder, her hand on his head. Her right arm around his back, his left around hers. Her left leg on the bed, touching his right, her right between his right and left. Her head against his chest, just below his neck.

It was in this most intimate position, when her breathing and heartbeat fell in sync with his, that made it possible, even in sleep, for her to be reminded that she wasn't alone; that she loved and was loved.

And in sleep, or perhaps a momentary wakefulness, William's hand would roam her back, coming to gently cup her behind, pulling him towards her. And in sleep, she would respond in kind, pushing her stomach closer to his, where even in slumber, she could feel his desire, hard against her. And automatically, her breath would speed up, for a couple of seconds, until they fell back into a deeper sleep. Another time, she might partly awaken to feel him gently touching her breast or kissing her.

All of it gave her an overwhelming feeling of closeness, that she didn't want to end. "Not now, not yet," she would wish fervently, when either of them stirred, doing what she could to ease cramped limbs, so that they could ‘comfortably’ stay that way a while longer.

There was something almost beyond the pale of her words, beyond lovemaking even, that Buffy would feel most protected, most possessed even. Not like some old-fashioned, anti-feminist (though that might be argued) idea of ownership, but a man-woman thing, ancient and right, somehow. When William pulled her to him in his sleep, and she felt his desire, she knew he was claiming her, possessively. Possessing. Possessive. With love and protection, he claimed her.

And when she responded, she claimed him back, as well.

END CHAPTER 131

CHAPTER 132 - SUMMER

JUNE 30, 2009
MONDAY
3:00PM

The sound of gravel could be heard crunching, as the DeSoto sped up the drive.

The driver's door was flung open, and seconds later William was in the house.

"Elizabeth!"

"I'm in here."

"Guess what?" William called out excitedly, as he bounded into the kitchen.

"What?"

"Professor Wittman offered me a job being his teacher’s assistant during the Summer II session."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he saw me as I was leaving today and asked me if I'd be interested."

"I didn't know professors had T.A.'s during the summer," Buffy said, surprised.

"He told me they usually don't, but he's in the middle of having some sort of medical treatments, and his wife hasn’t been well, either, so he’s not having a very easy time of it at all. That’s why the university agreed to let him hire someone.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’d be interested, but that I had to talk to you about it first.”

“But you want to?” Buffy asked.

William nodded, “I think so. The pay is better than at either Montessori or the library, and I’d get somewhere between 25 - 35 hours a week. At least until the end of Summer II. After that, who knows if he’d still need an assistant or if he’d still want it to be me,” William said, shrugging.

He continued, “If I do, I’m not sure which class I’ll be able to fit around that, if at all. I might just take an online course instead. Oh, and I’m thinking I’ll probably have to just quit my job at the library for now. I could probably still be able to do the outdoor work for Montessori in the evening or morning,” he looked over at Buffy, “back to where I started, eh?”

“You sure you’d want to go and get all sweaty with the outdoor stuff with Montessori after working all day?”

“Well, I could always work at the library instead, but I think I’d rather like the diversion, after grading papers and helping with lesson plans, which is what he said I would be doing. Maybe helping him make some lecture notes and such. What do you think? I hate to give up either job, if this is only going to last for a little over a month or so...”

“I don’t know,” Buffy said, “I think that Montessori would be glad to have you whenever you could work for them. Even if you didn’t work for them for a month, I think they’d still want you back, if you were available. The library likes you, too, but I don’t know if they’d have such a lenient policy.”

William nodded his head, “Guess I’d better think it all over, eh, luv?”

She nodded, “By the way, what class is Wittman teaching this time?”

“Classical Literature in the 18th and 19th Centuries,” he replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The summer progressed, and William and Buffy went to school; William to his new job as Professor Wittman’s T.A.; hers at Montessori. William also found a course called Painting with Watercolors, offered early in the morning, twice weekly, and which he could fit in before the starting time of his job there.

Both Montessori and the library told him they’d work around his schedule, so two nights a week he worked at the library for a couple of hours. For Montessori, he worked one evening per week; and every other Saturday or Sunday, whatever day best fit his schedule.

Buffy found it strangely disconcerting to be going off every morning to school, without William. She’d sometimes look out the windows of her classroom almost wistfully, thinking she was going to see him out and about, as she had for the last 9 months. She felt like that after school too, when she’d always met up with him at the library, before they went home together.

The first week, he drove over from San Marcos on his lunch hour every day, just to see her for about 20 minutes, before having to turn around and drive right back. Buffy knew he did it because it made them both feel good to touch bases with each other in the middle of the day, but she also didn’t want him to have to be so hurried, so she told him he needn’t come every day. After that, he only did so occasionally. They also found a nice little park, about half way between the two towns, so a couple of times a week, they would meet there at lunchtime.

They worked, sparred, fenced, and planted both flower and vegetable gardens. She didn't have any eye for details as far as what type of flower should go where for maximum effect, or for a three-season effect; she just liked what she liked. William, on the other hand, drove them to nursery and garden centers, looked up information on gardening, and bought books on the subject. He wound up doing most of the layout, though he made sure to buy most of the flowers that she liked, even if they didn't exactly fit into a planned garden.

He wanted to make many of the beds raised, so he asked Clem to help him build those. Although William groused at having to buy 'dirt,' Buffy convinced him that it would be infinitely easier and less time consuming, than having to dig it all out of the hard ground. Luckily, they were able to borrow an old beat-up truck, which Edna still owned, for transporting the fifty 40lb. bags of dirt from the nursery to their garden. This dirt would be their top 6 - 8 inches.

When it was finished, and all the flowers and vegetables had been planted, it looked really great, and Buffy was appreciative that he had such a good eye for beauty.

Clem decided that he also wanted a couple of raised beds, and so William helped him with his, too.

"You know, Buffy, in the fall we could can some of the tomatoes and other vegetables for the winter," Clem suggested.

"Uh...yeah. Well...I'm not sure I'm the canning type," Buffy said. In fact, she'd once seen a sign that really epitomized her attitude on the whole domestic thing. It had read: 'The only thing domestic about me, is that I live indoors.' That was more or less, her motto.

"Well, it's not that hard, but if you don't want to, I can probably can some of your vegetables for you," Clem offered.

"You don't have to do that, I mean, it's not that hard or expensive to just buy them when I need them."

But Clem insisted that if he was going to can for himself, he might as well do it for them, too.

She sighed. William and Clem were certainly more domestic than she ever was or probably would be.

Oh, well.

The three of them shared a lot of dinners that summer, mostly cooked on a small gas grill and served around their new outdoor table and chairs. The guys would inevitably talk, not about sports or such, but about home repairs. One weekend, they'd finally made a plan to finish the bathroom floor, but first they sanded the old, rough wood-hewn walls, and Buffy was finally able to paint them, something she'd never done before. Part of it was that she didn't want to change anything as it had been from the time she'd come up there with him. Maybe if she'd lived there alone for another 5 years, she might have changed her mind and made it more to her liking, but except for little changes, it had pained her to think of changing things from the way he'd had them.

However, now that the 'he' in question was here and all for updating things, she had no problem what-so-ever with the proposed changes. New floor and paint in bathroom. Check. New toilet eventually. Check and double check! Vampires didn't need much in the way of toilets, and this one had obviously been put in as a second thought. Well, nevermind that. New and improved kitchen cabinets and floor, eventually. Check and check!

They'd taken a long weekend over July 4th, to drive up the coast and visit some places that sounded interesting, as well as visiting some vineyards, making it as far as Big Sur. Dawn and John had gone with them. They'd splurged and come back with half a case of their favorite new wine.

Buffy never saw the picture William had drawn that night again. When she'd asked about it, he'd told her that he'd accidentally ruined it, when his teacup had tipped over onto it. In the interim, he'd made her lots of other lovely pictures, some even in the same pose, but in modern clothes. She was going to ask him if he could do that, why not of the dress, but she knew there was something about that, which disturbed him. She had further proof of that, when she leaned down to vacuum underneath their bed, and the box was gone completely. She decided to not push the subject any further.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JULY 26, 2009
SATURDAY
10:00PM

"So, now I think you must agree that A Midsummer Night's Dream is the funnier play," William said to John, as the four of them walked out of The Olde Globe Theatre, having just seen the Taming of the Shrew.

"Hmm...I'll let you know over coffee," John said, adding good naturedly, "if you’ll buy."

"Agreed," William said, as they wandered towards Starbucks.

The tickets for the play had originally been for June, but due to some construction going on at The Olde Globe, the date had been changed.

"Hmm..." Buffy said as they approached the coffee shop, "looks different than it did last time."

"Maybe it wasn't just The Olde Globe that was getting a facelift; maybe it was all of Balboa Park," Dawn suggested.

Buffy shrugged.

They ordered their favorites again; an Iced Latte with skim milk for Buffy, Espresso for John, an Iced Mocha for William, and an Iced Vanilla Mocha for Dawn, and took their seats.

There were two guys behind the counter this time; Eddie and Ralph, both law students from SDSU. This time when the buzzer went off, Eddie immediately went to the back office.

"I heard it," said Aaron to Eddie, as he adjusted the monitors. His heart sped up, as he spotted the two persons of immediate interest who had been there a couple of months before. Again, they were with two other people.

"How long have they been here?"

"About 2 minutes, if that long," Eddie replied.

"Okay, here's the plan..."

"So, what do you say now, John?"

"Okay, William, I give! I think that you're right. Overall, A Midsummer Night's Dream is the funnier of the two plays, both written and performed. But that's only because it's a bit more textured. I still say Taming of the Shrew is good, even better for just guffaws."

William grinned, "How about you girls, what do you think?"

Buffy moaned, looking at Dawn, "They want us to remember back to what we saw in May? Okay, I think I have to put my money with A Midsummer Night's Dream, too," she said, smiling at William, who smiled back at her, pleased.

"Dawn?" John asked.

"Uh...yeah, Midsummer Night's Dream. Sorry, honey."

John threw up his hands; "The majority has spoken, alas!"

They talked some more about the plays and other things.

"So, same plan as before? You guys going to follow us to Julian?" William asked.

"Sure, sounds good," John answered.

Buffy got up from her seat, "I'm going to make a pit stop before we get going," she said, looking at Dawn.

"Yes, sister, I'll go with you," Dawn grinned, "you know, it's really pathetic, she can't go to the bathroom by herself."

William and John grinned, knowing how it was with the girls.

"I'll have you know that I go to the bathroom by myself all the time, isn't that so, William?"

"Well..." he said, blushing as he thought of how they were both sometimes in and out the bathroom, regardless of what the other happened to be up to at the moment. He cleared his throat, "Yes, that's correct," he said, hoping this line of discussion was at an end.

John was laughing as the girls walked off.

"For a minute there, Buffy, I thought William was going to give us T.M.I.," Dawn said, rolling her eyes.

"Uh-uh, he knows better than that," she laughed, as they walked into the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"William, how about I pick up us some of their house coffee for tomorrow morning and some of those scones they have in the case over there?" John asked, pointing to the right of the cash register.

"That’d be very nice, but unnecessary, really. We have both coffee and tea at the house."

"I know you do, I just want to do this, that alright?"

William nodded and John got up and walked to the counter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This looks like our shot," Aaron said, getting up, “now, get out there and distract them.”

Eddie nodded and left the office.

Aaron went to the back of the room, and got an empty garbage bag and put it into the spare garbage cart. He opened the closet and unzipped a garment bag and slipped on the maintenance jumpsuit and cap that Wolfram & Hart had provided. Lastly, he put on a mustache and a pair of black rimmed glasses. He opened the back door to the store and pulled the garbage cart through it.

Eddie came up to the counter and nodded to Ralph to take the new customer's order, while he waited on John.

"What flavors are these scones?" John asked.

"Hmm, let's see. Blueberry, apple, and pineapple."

"William," John called over to him, "what's your pleasure? Blueberry, apple, or pineapple?"

"Would you like a taste?" Eddie asked.

"Sure, if you have some samples, I don't want you to..."

"No, that's fine, we'll be getting some new ones in tomorrow morning, anyway," Eddie said, taking three of the scones out of the case."

John shrugged, as he turned around to William, motioning him over with his hand.

William set down his coffee cup and walked over to the case, just as Eddie was handing out small pieces of the scones for them to taste.

Aaron, who had been watching from around the corner, saw the perfect opening, and wheeled the cart into the cafe. With a glance at the counter and towards the bathrooms, he quickly picked up the four coffee cups off the table, and tossed them into the special garbage bag, then turned around to leave.

Just then, Buffy and Dawn were coming out of the bathroom.

"Shit!" Dawn said.

"What's shit?"

"That guy just threw away our drinks," Dawn said, pointing at the man, now wheeling the cart out the door, "and mine was practically full! You'd think he'd have known they belonged to someone, since our jackets are on the backs of the chairs, wouldn't you?"

Buffy looked, a couple of their programs from the play were also there.

"Hey!" Buffy said, heading over to the door, where the man was about to leave with his garbage cart.

Aaron ignored her, but Buffy caught up with him and tapped him on the arm, "Hey! I'm talking to you, what's the big idea, taking our drinks?" Buffy asked.

John and William turned from the counter, as they heard Buffy talking.

Aaron whirled around and glared at her, unable to think of what to say. Buffy repeated herself, noting both the nervousness, and hostile body language.

"Miss?" Eddie called from the counter. " Um... he's deaf, he doesn't speak either. I'm sure he just made a mistake, we'll be glad to replace all your drinks for free."

"Oh...I'm sorry," Buffy mumbled, as she watched Aaron hurrying out the door, pushing the cart.

Buffy turned and walked over to the counter.

"I'm sorry about that, Miss," Eddie said, "he's a bit slow, too. Doesn't always notice things other people would."

"Like the fact that someone has left their table for a moment?"

"We'll be happy to replace all your drinks, if you'll just tell me what you had," Eddie repeated, a nervous smile pasted on his face, while Ralph looked on nervously, as well.

"Never mind, I don't want anything else, but you guys can, if you want," Buffy said, curtly.

William came over and put his arm around her, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Can we just get out of here?" Buffy said, her tone sharper than she intended, the incident having upset her for some reason she couldn't define.

William nodded curtly and withdrew his arm, “Of course,” then looked at the others.

"I'm ready," Dawn said, shrugging and looked over at John.

"That's fine," he said, picking up the bag, containing the coffee and scones.

They got their jackets and walked outside.

"See you guys in Julian," William said, when him and Buffy got to their car.

"See you then," Dawn said, looking over quizzically at Buffy, who ignored the look.

William didn’t say much as he drove them out of San Diego. He commented that John and Dawn were right behind them, after losing them for a few minutes. Other than that, he pretty much kept his eyes on the road.

“I’m sorry,” Buffy said, once they got on the highway.

“For what?”

“For snapping at you back there, at Starbucks.”

He patted her leg, letting her know that he wasn’t upset about it. She put her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes, trying to forget about the stupid incident.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11:30PM

“We’re home,” William said, gently shaking her.

“Huh? What? Oh, I didn’t realize I’d dozed off. Seems that's all I do when you drive us back from San Diego.”

“That's okay, I don't mind. No wonder you wanted to leave, you were exhausted, although the coffee may have helped with that,” he grinned.

“Yeah, probably,” she said, lightly, as she got out of the car.

John and Dawn were already out of theirs, holding their overnight bags.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, they played cards and board games. This time, Dawn brought a Trvial Pursuit, Shakespeare Edition, which of course, her and Buffy sucked at, while John and William had no problem.

While they played, John and Dawn asked William about his new job at the university, and he eagerly talked about it and the class he was taking.

A couple of hours later, the girls were in the kitchen putting away the night's collection of cups, plates, etc., when Buffy looked over at Dawn.

"You know that thing that happened at Starbucks? That was really weird."

"What? That guy who took our drinks thing?" Dawn asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, he seemed...I don't know, like really anxious when I confronted him."

"He's deaf, he probably gets his signals crossed all the time..."

"No, Dawn. It was something else about it. And I don't think he was deaf, either."

"Why?"

"Because he paused when I first called out to him, then kept going."

"Are you sure?"

Buffy nodded, "About 95% sure. And when that guy at the counter called to me to tell me about it, I saw him turn his head the same time I turned mine."

"Maybe he just turned his when you turned yours? I mean, lots of deaf people have to use their other senses, so maybe he saw you."

"I don't know, it seemed like he turned his before me, or at least at the same time. It was just...the whole thing just seemed off somehow."

"Back to seeing elephants, when it's just coffee?"

"I guess. I hope so,” Buffy said, “I really hope so.”

END CHAPTER 132

CHAPTER 133 - FORCES GATHER

OFFICES OF WOLFRAM & HART
LOS ANGELES
JULY 26, 2009
11:00PM

Lilah reached across the bed to answer the phone.

"Ms. Morgan? This is Aaron Hill, I'm the manager at the Balboa Park Starbucks..."

"You got them? You're sure? Good! Just hang onto them, and I'll have someone pick them up within the hour. Oh, and I'll make sure the boss knows about your excellent work, Aaron."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOS ANGELES

JULY 27, 2009
SUNDAY
7:00AM
SUNDAY

“What’s up?” Knox asked, stifling down a yawn as he opened up the lab door to Lilah.

“This is what’s up,” she said, holding out a box. She’d gotten up the night before and had waited at the Wolfram & Hart loading dock in back of the building for the truck to arrive. When it had, she had personally signed for the cups, which had been picked up in San Diego.

He took off the lid and looked at the four coffee cups, each one in a separate slot. “You got me out of bed to offer me Starbucks?” he asked, innocently.

“No, you idiot! It’s what’s in this coffee, or on the lids! It’s the DNA, which I need you to isolate and preserve.”

“Sure, no problem. You want to tell me why?” he asked, amiably.

“Do I ever?” she returned, throwing him a backward glance. “Just make sure you get it done today.”

“I can’t promise you that, it depends on some variables.”

“Such as?”

“Such as isolating the human DNA from the coffee’s DNA.”

Lilah looked at him, “Coffee’s DNA?”

“Well, coffee comes from beans, beans grow, all living things have DNA, therefore...”

“How long then?”

“Maybe three days, if I start right now.”

“Then you’d better start,” she said, “but if you get it done sooner, and correctly, I’ll see that you get a bonus.”

“I’ll try,” Knox said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOS ANGELES

JULY 29, 2009
TUESDAY
9:00AM

“Tell her to come in,” Angel said to his secretary, who had just let him know that Lilah was there to see him.

“Good morning, Angel,” she said, smiling as she walked in.

“What’s good about it?” he asked.

“How about this?” she said, handing him a folder. It contained a tape of William and Buffy at the Balboa Park Starbucks, and also the report from Knox that he’d been able to isolate and preserve four distinct traces of DNA. And about a dozen or more, not so distinct.

Angel looked up at Lilah, “Why so many?”

“Well, Knox conjectures that some of the not distinct ones might come from the employees themselves, as they put their hands on the lids to close them, others from factory workers as they put together the products. Everyone leaves DNA tracers.”

“Shouldn’t workers be wearing plastic gloves or something? Make a note of it, from now on, everyone that has anything to do with Starbucks, uses gloves.”

“Angel, Knox assures me that there are at least four very strong ones. And those came from saliva traces. I’m sure that your William and Buffy are included in those, and the other two, her sister Dawn and boyfriend.”

“He’s sure?”

Lilah nodded.

“Very well, he’d better be. Second thing; were you able to locate the most important participant in our little scheme?”

Lilah nodded, “He’s in a federal prison in Texas, high security; think it used to be run by the initiative, but there’s been a turnover since they’re not officially an organization anymore.”

“So, what are you telling me, then?”

“I’m telling you that it shouldn’t be that hard to break him out, not with the schmucks who took over the inititative’s posts. We already positioned someone on the inside, when you first told me about him.”

Angel nodded, “Good, then lets do this and get him to Los Angeles as soon as possible. Make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Lilah started to walk out, “Oh, and send for Dru, too.”

“Where do you want her, once she’s here?”

“There’s some holding cells in the basement, which ought to work just fine; completely concrete, but with amenities. I just want to make sure that everything and everyone is here and ready, as soon as it’s a go.”

“Aren’t you worried about doing this right under the Senior Partner’s noses?”

“No, I think we came to an understanding a long time ago. As long as I’m not working against their interests, they don’t mind if I take a little time and resources on my own personal projects.”

“Very well, Angel.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMARILLO, TEXAS
WORTH FEDERAL PRISON
THURSDAY
JULY 31, 2009
7:00PM

Prisoner 5382-94 sat on the side of his cot in his windowless 6’ x 8’ cell, reading the latest pulp fiction novel, which had come by on the library cart that day. Only once here at Worth, had he been able to find a book, which although looked to be a pulp fiction, actually had quite a few caster’s spells and factoids about magic. But most the time, it was the same old 20 or so books, that he and the other 2 dozen or so maximum security prisoners had to choose from. This book, ‘The Maiden from Glouchester,’ he’d already read probably 10 times, since he’d been incarcerated here for the past half dozen years.

Before that, for two and a half years, he’d been in a prison in California, which he was sure he would’ve eventually been able to escape from. At the very least, their library was infinitely better. He’d been able to request all sorts of books which a chaos worshipper like himself could find handy, usually under the guise of a romance novel, but with spells hidden within the verses; if one knew how to find them.

But all that changed with his being moved to this prison in the middle of nowhere.

The days and nights were endlessly the same. He was only allowed out once a day, for 50 minutes, and then by himself. Most of the prison guards didn’t talk much to him at all, only stopping to give him his trays of food, or to pick them up again, half an hour later. He was only allowed a spork in which to eat his meals with, and that had to be accounted for, as did everything else on his plate.

The only thing that had changed in his barren landscape for the past year at all, had been a new guard, who had started a couple of weeks ago.

The man’s badge read Win Bigg. The prisoner had to smile at that.

“It’s short for Winston,” the man told him, “parents used to be tobacco farmers.”

“Interesting,” prisoner 5382-94 replied.

That evening when he delivered his tray at 6:00PM, there was something underneath it.

“Put this on at 9:00pm, sharp. No questions now!” Win told him.

Prisoner 5382-94 looked at him quizzically, then slowly lifted up the tray.

Now Win had returned for the tray. He only nodded to the prisoner, but made no eye contact or further comment.

At 8:00pm sharp, the lights went out for the evening, and the semi-nightlights came on; which were still fairly bright. At least his cot wasn’t directly underneath one. He closed the book and lay down on his pillow, underneath which lay a type of mask, which had been laid flat under the tray. He turned over towards the wall and tried to examine it. It was very thin, but he thought he could feel a filter of some sort, over the mouth and nose.

Laying there, counting the minutes off in his head, he finally got to 8:59:45, reached under his pillow and put the mask on. He lay there, his hands underneath his head and waited for whatever was going to happen to start. Approximately 20 seconds later, he heard a thud, then another, followed by another still. He rose up, and looked out, surprised to see a small group of heavily armed men, all coming towards his cell. They looked at him; Win nodded to them, then took out the keys and opened the door.

“Ethan Rayne?”

The prisoner nodded.

“I’ve been authorized to offer you a job, the details, and for whom you will be working with will be forthcoming, but which are suited to your particular skills. If you accept, after successful completion, we will supply you with false identity papers and you can go anywhere you’d like.”

“And if I refuse?” Ethan Rayne asked.

“If you refuse, our orders are that you are to be terminated. Now, what say you?”

Ethan smiled under his mask, “I’d say the first offer is more than generous in it’s terms. I accept.”

“Good, let’s go then,” the man said, handcuffing Ethan to himself and heading towards the guard’s door. Again, Win opened the door and let them through. Ethan looked around and saw that here and there, guards lay with their heads on their desks, obviously passed out.

“Did you disable the security cameras and get the video feed?” The man who had talked to Ethan asked a subordinate.

The man nodded, and pulled two tapes out of his pocket to show the guard.

“Good.”

Win led them out into the courtyard, where prisoners not in isolation were allowed to mingle. It was only slightly larger than his courtyard, but at least it had a basketball hoop and some grass. He ducked his head, as he heard a sound from above.

“It’s our helicopter. Relax, man. You ought to be glad this is our stealth helicopter.”

Ethan took a couple of deep breaths to calm his sensory deprived nerves. Sure enough, when he looked up, he could barely see the black monstrosity landing.

The helicopter landed and Ethan, the four guards, presumable from Wolfram & Hart, and Win Bigg got onboard.

About 10 minutes later, they landed at a small airfield outside of Amarillo, and boarded a private, corporate jet.

“How about undoing these handcuffs now?” Ethan asked, once they’d taken off.

“Sorry, nothing doing. I was told that you’re to be under constant supervision, including this.

“What am I going to do? Disarm all 5 of you, then fly the plane myself?” Ethan laughed.

“Doesn’t matter,” the guard said, “we also have orders to gag you.”

“Oh, I do say, that’s terribly...” a gag was place in his mouth, and his other hand, then cuffed to guard number two, as guard number one got up to use the plane’s bathroom.

Ethan struggled until finally, the second guard tore off the gag.

“What?”

“What if I have to go to the bathroom?” Ethan asked.

“Then you either go in your pants or we hold it for you. So, do you have to go right now?”

Ethan scowled and shook his head.

“Good,” the guard said, and replaced the gag.

END CHAPTER 133

CHAPTER 134 - BIRTHDAY PLANS

AUGUST 1, 2009
FRIDAY
7:00PM

Buffy was in the kitchen, preparing a salad for dinner. She'd already taken the fish out, and following a recipe she'd seen, she'd seasoned it and wrapped it in foil. All that needed to be done with it was to put it on the grill once William was home. She looked down at her watch, noting the time. Since he'd only had to work a half day today at the university, William had decided that instead of working tomorrow at Montessori, he was going to try to get everything done there this afternoon and evening, so they'd have the whole weekend to themselves.

The stereo was on and she was humming along to some song about a couple riding a bus through Ohio, which made her think of Michigan. One thought led to another, and before she knew it, she was thinking about the cottage at Fuller's Resort and the time they'd spent there last summer, of Leroy, of how they'd gotten to know each other again while there with Dawn and Willow. All of it.

"Whoa...idea!" Buffy said aloud. She checked the time again, then put down the knife and went to the bedroom. She went to the closet and dragged down a small, blue and red shoebox from the shelf. Inside were some of the things she'd put in there from their time at Fuller's. There were some of the shells from the beach, a Fuller's brochure, the container with the sand that William had collected the last day, a receipt from the local Wal-Mart, a card from the barber shop, and other mementos. There was also a piece of paper with Leroy's phone number and address.

She took her cell phone and the number outside.

"First things first," she mumbled, pressing #3 on her cell, "pick up, pick up!"

"Hi Buffy!" Dawn said.

"How'd you...oh, yeah. I forget about caller ID, even when I have it."

"What's up?"

"I just had a huge, enormous, gigantic brain storm and I was hoping you could tell me if you think it's a good idea or just plain crazy."

"Wow, what is it?" Dawn asked, hearing the excitement in Buffy's voice.

"Well, I was thinking about what to do for William's birthday, which is two weeks from now, and I had this crazy idea. William is finished with his T.A. position and his watercolor class on the 8th, and so am I, except I have to go back on the following Monday for parent/teacher conferences; otherwise we'd have that weekend too..."

"So, what's your idea?"

"Well...I was thinking about calling Leroy and if it was at all possible, to rent the cabin in Michigan from him for maybe about a week or a little longer. William really loved it there, and I think he'd be excited to go back again. Then I was thinking that it would be even better if you and John came, too. And I could call Willow and ask her if she and Kennedy could come, maybe even Xander and his family..."

"Wow! That's is some idea you got there!" Dawn said.

"I know, it's probably just crazy..."

"No, it's not crazy, just ambitious. But I like it, it would be very cool, if it works out."

“Really? You think so?”

“I do.”

"What about you guys?"

"I'll have to check with John, I think he might be able to get some time. He’s got a bunch of it that he has to use up, and I'm free. As long as I get back in time for registration, I'm cool."

"Really?" Buffy asked, smiling.

"Yeah, sounds like fun. Oh, one question, how are you planning on getting there?"

"Uh...I didn't even think that far. Well, flying would be a lot quicker, if I could talk William into it. If not, we can always drive across country. At least he could share the driving now, and it wouldn't take as long as it did last year, if we didn't stop."

"And, if we're not in a big Winnebago."

Buffy and Dawn shared a laugh over that.

"It was fun though, wasn't it?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, it really was. Except for the Grand Canyon."

"Yeah, excepting that," Dawn agreed.

"Well, if John can come, we could take his car, it’s the nicest one of all of ours, but I think it might still take at least 4 days each way, that’s 8 of days driving.”

Buffy did the math, “That’s another bad thing about driving. William’s birthday is on the 15th. If we left the morning of the 12th, we might still be on the road. I wonder how many miles it is?”

“I think I remember Xander saying it was over 2000, even if we did 600 miles a day, that’s still over 3 days.”

“Damn! I wish we could just leave that weekend, that way we’d be there by Wednesday at the latest.”

“Well, that wouldn’t work out for John anyway. I know that’s his weekend to work, because he’s off this weekend. Besides, aren’t you counting your chickens before they hatch? You don’t even know if Leroy is going to be willing to rent you the cabin.”

Buffy sighed, “Yeah, guess I’d better find that out first of all, then I should check with William. Though, I think he’ll be happy about the idea of going to Fullers, if not keen on the flying idea.”

“You never know, Buffy. He seems to be really out of his shell these days. Besides, lots of people have never flown before, even if they weren’t born in the
1800’s.”

“True, I only flew once before last summer when Willow and I flew to New York to see Xander, and I don’t even remember that. Mom said her, dad, and I went to visit some relatives in Illinois, when I was about three.”

“See, there you go.”

“Guess I’d better call Leroy, then and see if it’s even possible first of all.”

“Do that, then talk to William and let me know, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime. Oh, what are you going to do if the Fuller’s idea doesn’t pan out?”

“Who knows? Maybe just take a trip up the coast or something like that. Something within driving distance, more than likely.”

They hung up and Buffy called up Leroy.

“This is Leroy Roberts,” the voice said.

“Leroy, this is Elizabeth Worthington, I don’t know if you remember...”

“...I can’t come to the phone right now, so leave a message and I’ll get...”

“Oh, damn!” Buffy said, just about to hang up, when she heard the phone being picked up.

“Elizabeth? That you? As in Elizabeth and William?”

“It’s me,” Buffy said.

“Damn girl! I was just thinking about you and William the other day.”

“Wow, you were? How come?”

“I don’t know, can’t remember now. Think it might have been some movie I saw. Anyway, how you been?”

“I’m good, real good in fact. We both are. And you?”

“I’m good, too.”

They talked for a while, Leroy told her of what he’d been up to, including thinking about taking a cut in salary in order to work closer to home.

“Do you ever see Dr. Turner?” she asked.

“Once in a while. He’s up for head of the psych unit now, but I’m not sure he’s going to take it. I talked to him in passing one day right after the job opened up, and he told me he was one of the candidates. I understand why he wouldn’t want it, though.”

“Why?”

“Because you have to play politics with the man then. Then you become the man, whether you like it or not. He’s a decent sort, but I don’t think the rest of ‘em are, so he’s probably got to be considering that.”

Buffy nodded. She knew all too well what kind of people could slip by the heads of the hospital, but she still thought that maybe it would be better if more people like Dr. Turner were in charge.

Buffy talked about all the things that William had been up to since last summer.

“Still without his memories? That’s pretty impressive having to learn all that stuff again, and actually making it work for him; getting back in the saddle ‘o life,” Leroy chuckled.

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed.

“Leroy, the reason I’m calling is that William’s birthday is two weeks from today. I got to thinking about how special it would be for him, and for me, too, if we could spend a week or so at the cabin at Fullers again. And I’d certainly be more than willing to pay you to rent it. That is, if you’re willing to rent it to me.”

“When did you say you’d be wanting it?”

“Um...well, maybe from the 12th, for about a week to 10 days.”

“I don’t see any problem with that. I’m going to be down south in Georgia for about a week, starting next week, but I’ll be back around the 14th I’ll just let the owners of Fuller’s know that you’re going to be there, and you can get the spare keys from them. How’s that?”

“Really?” Buffy asked, excited.

“Sure, you took care of it fine when you were there, and I’m not going to be needing it, so I’d be happy to have you stay as my guest again. Oh, and I don’t want no rent money, either.”

“No, I can’t...”

“I said I didn’t want your money, didn’t I? One day, I’m going to travel out west, and you and William are going to put me up. That’ll make us even, okay?”

“Okay, that’s a promise! Oh, you said you’ll be back around the 14th, right? Will you at least come up and see us?”

“Damn straight I will, just leave me a message that you’re there on my machine, okay.”

“Great! I’m so happy! Now, I just have to let William know.”

“Surprise, huh?”

“Yeah, but I can’t really keep it a surprise, since I have to make airplane reservations, and that’s the thing, I don’t know if he’s ever flown, so...that might freak him out.”

“Well, he probably just don’t recall it, after all, he didn’t get here from England on a boat, did he?” Leroy asked.

Buffy laughed, “Guess not,” she said, but she was pretty sure he actually had. As in, before they ever had planes!

“You let me know, and I’ll set it up, Elizabeth.”

“I will. Thank you so much, Leroy.”

“Anytime. Be talkin’ to ya.”

“Bye,” Buffy said hanging up the phone.

She called Dawn back and told her the good news. She was still talking to her, when she heard the DeSoto.

“I gotta go, William’s home,” she told Dawn.

“Hey,” Buffy said, as he came around the house to the back, “you get all finished?”

“Yeah, finally,” he said, nodding.

He plopped down on the nearest chair and took off his grass stained shoes, followed by his socks.

“You hungry?”

“Very, but I thought I’d take a shower first. Do I have time?”

“Yeah, I was waiting for you to get home. I was just going to make some fish on the grill.”

“Good. Want me to start it for you?”

She nodded, and William got up and went over to the grill. She went inside the porch and came back with the box of long matches. She heard the ‘whoosh’ of the gas igniting as he lit the pilot light.

“Want me to do anything else?”

“Nope, just go and get all unsmelly,” Buffy said, smiling.

“Do I smell?” he asked, lifting his arm up.

She grinned at him, “Just in a working man sort of way,” she said, coming over to him and putting her arm around him, “not that I mind. Much. Kinda sexy.”

He kissed her, hugging her gently, careful not to get her clothes dirty with his, “Hold that thought, luv. Be back in a few,” he said, giving her a pat on the behind, before walking into the house.

She put the fish on, brought out the salad, and set the table, even bringing out some non-citronella candles. Lastly, she opened a bottle of the wine they’d brought back from their trip up the coast last month and poured two glasses. She was just turning off the grill, when he came back out.

Buffy looked over at him, noticing that he hadn’t yet combed his hair. She didn’t know why, but there was something totally endearing to her about the way his hair looked after a shower, all curly and unruly, untamed.

He noticed her watching him, then felt his head, “Oh, better go comb it...”

“Don’t. Please? I like it.”

He shook his head, laughing, but didn’t go back into the house.

They ate dinner and were having their second glass of wine, when he looked at her, noting that she was trying to suppress a grin, not for the first time that evening.

“What are you up to?”

“Huh? Me?’

“Yeah, you look like you’ve been wanting to say something all evening since I got home.”

“You’re right,” she said, getting up from the table and coming over to him. “Scoot your chair back,” she ordered.

He did and she took up her place on his lap.

“I had this idea and I think you’re going to like it a lot,” she said and kissed him, tasting the wine on his tongue. Her hands drawn like magnets, to his unruly hair.

“I think I like it already,” he said, as the warmth of the wine and her behind on his lap made him feel all languid and excited at the same time.

“No, not that kind of idea,” she said, giggling, as his hands had snaked up the back of her blouse and had somehow undone her bra. “Stop that,” she scolded.

He put out his bottom lip, “Shouldn’t have sat on my lap, if you didn’t want me to...” he stopped, noticing her scowling, “okay, what’s your idea, luv?”

She told him about having talked to Leroy about staying at the cabin again, and about her idea of Dawn and John coming, and maybe even the others, too. And lastly, about them flying, rather than driving.

“We’d be there for your birthday,” she added, almost shyly, “I wanted to do something special for your....”

He silenced her with a kiss, “Elizabeth,” he said, his voice full of emotion, “what did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Does that mean you like my idea?”

He nodded, “It’s a marvelous idea.”

“And the flying?”

William swallowed, “Well...I wish we could drive, but I think...think I might be willing to fly, so that we’ll have more time there, and less on the road. I just hope as we’re getting on the plane, I don’t get a case of frozen feet.”

“Cold feet.”

“Cold feet?”

“Yeah, it’s called cold feet, when you freeze up. Usually it’s a term used for when guys decide they didn’t want to get married after all and ...”

“You know that’ll never happen!” he said, grabbing her hand with the ring on it.

“I know,” she said, and she did. There was no doubt in her mind what-so-ever that William would ever change his about wanting to marry her, about wanting her. It was a lovely, secure feeling that she’d grown to accept.

“So, I can tell Leroy yes? And Dawn? Make reservations to fly there?”

He nodded.

Buffy kissed him hard, “This is going to be the best birthday, you wait and see!”

“Well, I can’t think of any place I’d rather to celebrate the last year of my 20’s. No, I take that back.”

She sat up, a worried look on her face.

He rubbed his hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and up to her face. “Anyplace that has you in it, is the best place; no matter where that is.”

“Even in a garbage dumpster?”

“Even in a rat infested sewer,” he said.

“Even if they were crawling with mag...”

He brought her head to his, and kissed her again. She giggled as she felt him shudder. Sometimes it was just fun to make him squirm, but a lot more fun to make him do it in a good way. Umm...case in point, she thought as she pushed her bottom down on his lap with a bit more firmness and felt him squirm.

In a very good way.

END CHAPTER 134

CHAPTER 135 - POSITIONING

LOS ANGELES
SOMEWHERE IN THE BOWELS OF WOLFRAM & HART
AUGUST 6, 2009
WEDNESDAY
EARLY EVENING

Well, one thing Ethan could say about his spartan accommodations, is that the food was better, that is, when they deemed to feed him.

He'd been in this small room, only slightly better than his cell had been, for the last week or so, as far as he could tell. The lights stayed on all day and night, making it hard to tell one time of day from another. Nobody had yet spoken to him or told him what they wanted from him. Between once and three times a day, or what he supposed was a day, a slot about a foot square in the heavy steel door was opened, and a bag of food was dropped onto the floor. No utensils; not even a spork. Oh well, the food was ample, tasty, and filling, if not consistenly delivered and a bit messy to eat.

In one corner of the ceiling there was a small camera, which followed any movement he made. Otherwise, there was nothing other than a small sink, toilet, and the four walls for company.

On the seventh day, Ethan was suddenly jarred out of the silence by an intercom, which must have been attached to the camera, which he hadn't noticed before.

"Hello, Rayne," the voice said, "I trust your stay has been a pleasant one."

"I can't complain," Ethan answered, "except for maybe the lights being on all the time. Makes it hard for a bloke to get a good night's sleep."

"Ah, well, some things can't be helped."

"Are you ready to find out about the job we've taken the trouble to break you out of prison for, is about?"

"Why not? Can I ask you how it is that you know of my work?"

He heard laughter coming from the monitor; "Let's just say I was around when some others were affected by your plying your interesting trade."

"Sunnydale?"

"That's enough questions!"

Ethan tried to make out source of the voice, only it seemed that it was being purposely distorted, so he couldn't get a handle on it.

"So, what do you need me to do?" asked Ethan.

"I need a strong protection spell, cast by a coven of witches, disrupted for a while."

"How long?"

"Just for a night, a few hours should do the trick. Can you do that?"

"Not exactly. I mean, not me personally. I don't have that sort of power-breaking ability, but I can cause enough chaos to render it broken."

"How?"

"I can summon enough demons to get the job done," Ethan replied.

"My next question then, is can you summon then remotely?"

"Remotely?"

"Yes. The coven is in England. Outside of London."

Ethan thought for a moment, "As long as you have a specific spot on the map for me to focus on, then I'll be able to do it, but I'll have to at least go there in spirit form in order for the summoning to work. But don't worry, you'll have something of mine that will still tether me to this place."

"And what would that be?"

"My body, of course."

The voice over the intercom grunted.

"Tell me what ingredients you're going to need," the voice said.

After Ethan had listed them, he asked, "When will I be doing this, exactly?"

"Why, do you need to do something otherwise to get ready?"

"Uh, no. Just curious."

"Within a few days."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She slender, dark-haired woman sat on the edge of the bed, riveted to the screen, which played the images on a loop.

No shutting off!

No reprieve!

No relief!

Over and over and over again!

At first she'd screamed, cursed, and thrown things at it, but there wasn't anything hard enough in the room to break it. Neither was there any way to pull it out of the wall, since it had been placed near the ceiling of the tall room. She wished she'd learned to scale walls, like some of the more powerful vampires she'd known could. Wish she'd taken a lesson or two from Drac on that; though he had shown her the thrall thing, which had come easily to her.

And so she sat, her eyes narrowed, dark and angry, as she watched Spike. Her Spike! Her William! Now, an abomination; human again, and with that slayer bitch!

She heard a key being turned in the lock, then pushed open. Slowly, she turned toward the sound. Not since she'd been here, had anyone passed through it. Bags of blood had been delivered through a slot in the door, which opened on one side, then a tray would slide forward, causing a door to pop open on her side, and the bags would drop onto the floor.

Angel looked down at the bags that had collected there, "Hello, Dru," he said.

"Angel! I should have known," she hissed, "you always did enjoy games of torture."

"Oh, Dru! Is that any way to greet your sire?"

He came over to her and pulled her up, feeling her thin wrists, as he did, "You've been a bad girl, not eating since you've been here, and I've brought you the finest blood we have."

"I don't drink cold blood from bags!" she said. "Or warmed by things called microwaves," she said, motioning her head to the only thing she hadn't thrown at the screen, because that was inside the wall, too.

"I could force you, you know."

She just looked at him defiantly, her eyes yellow.

He laughed, "But I won't. He took out his walkie-talkie, "Bring in the kid."

The door was opened and a young man in his 20's was shoved in, the door slamming behind him.

"Mr. Angel? I think there's been some mistake...I didn't steal those pens, really..."

The boy babbled on as Angel turned to Dru, gesturing to the boy.

She walked up to him, morphing into game face, as the young man's fear and blood assaulted her senses.

"Please! Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! Mr. Angel!" The boy screamed as Dru, struck his neck with her nails, a long stream of blood spurting out as his carotid artery was cut. Within seconds Dru had him by the throat and was draining him, her body starved for blood over the past week.

"Dru?" Angel said, walking up to her, now in game face, as well. "Save some for me," he said, pulling the boy towards him. Dru pulled back, but he backhanded her, sending her sprawling across the room. He grabbed the boy and latched onto the other side of his neck, drinking for a few minutes. It was satisfying, yet controlling his urge, more so; that was pure artistry. That control was what allowed him to head Wolfram & Hart, allowed him to plan out the sweetest vengeance of all. And unlike Dru, he didn’t mind blood warmed in the microwave, straight from the Red Cross, if that’s what it took. Besides, he’d rather developed a yen for the rich taste of otter blood. Yes, it had been a long time since he had tasted blood, straight from a human.

Dru watched him, a knowing glint in her eyes. She sat up. With one arm, Angel tossed the boy towards her. She caught him easily and sunk her fangs into him once more, drinking until she could feel his heart come to a stop.

Angel stood over her and extended his hand, pulling her up.

"Now that we've been social, Dru, tell me, how do you like the show?" Angel said, pointing to the screen on the wall, now featuring William and Buffy at the Starbuck's on Dana Point.

She stared at the screen for a moment, her voice low; “I knew it, Angel, I knew my William was gone and then, he was back. The stars, they told me," she said, looking at him.

"Yes. Yes he is,” he said, his face going dark a moment, as he glanced up at the screen and saw them in the jewelry store.

“And with her, the slayer!” Dru spat the name out. “I knew...knew it before he did, that he wanted her. Did you know that our Spike once threatened to kill me for the slayer?

Angel shook his head, “That wasn’t very nice of him, was it, Dru?”

“Right after you tried to set Darla and me on fire,” she said, accusingly.

“I’m sorry about that, Dru.”

She looked at him suspiciously, without replying.

“You loved the slayer, too. Why do you all want her?” Dru asked, a puzzled look on her face.

“I’m over it,” he said, curtly, “way over it!”

Angel walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, motioning for Dru to do the same.

“I’ve done a lot of things that I’m sorry for, Dru, trying to...”

“Trying to be a good dog.”

“Yes, but I know what I am now.”

“A bad dog?”

“A top dog, one with power. One who does what he wants and makes things happen; one who wants you to help me correct a certain situation," he said, motioning to the video playing once more.

“You want me to kill the slayer for you?” Dru asked, gleefully, feeling a sense of excitement surge through her, which she hadn’t felt in years.

“No, not the slayer." Angel said.

Dru hissed her frustration, "Why? Why can't I kill her?"

"I'll deal with her myself, “Angel said, “later. What I want you to do is to kill William.”

Dru tilted her head to the side, then began to giggle, “You want me to kill him, then turn him back into Spike, so we can be a little family again?”

Angel shook his head, standing up in front of her, and stroking her hair, “No, Dru darling. You’re not understandin’...William...Spike; he's been irreparably tainted beyond anything that we can ever fix again.”

Dru nodded her head, “He tastes like ashes.”

“It’s sad, I know,” Angel said, as his hand slid down the front of her dress to fondle her breast. He bent over until his mouth was next to her ear, “Think! It’ll be just like it was in the beginning - you, me...”

“Darla?”

“Darla’s dead.”

“I know, Angel. Then it won’t be just like it was...”

“No, it’ll be just you and me, sweet thing,” he said, pushing her back, so that she lay on the bed, her legs over the side. He pulled up her dress, and quickly undid his pants and without fanfare, pulled her legs around his waist and roughly pushed inside her. Iciness to ice.

“Just daddy and me?” Dru asked, grinning. "And Miss Edith?"

“Yes, darling, just you and me; and Miss Edith. Together again, forever.”

END CHAPTER 135

CHAPTER 136 - DEJA VU

AUGUST 5, 2009
TUESDAY
4:30PM

"Elizabeth!" William called as he walked through the house. Not hearing a response, and after checking to see that she wasn't laying down napping, he walked out the back door, thinking she might be sitting on what they now dubbed 'their patio,' but she wasn't there either.

He was going to call her cell to see where she was, but decided to check the barn first. He smiled when he walked in, hearing her up in the loft. Quietly, he went up the stairs, stopping when the landing came into view.

She had a sword in her hand, and he watched, transfixed, as she battled an invisible opponent. Not like anything shed' learned in fencing class, or like he'd tried to teach her. Not even when she talked him into being less cautious. No, this was her unleashed, guided by an invisible hand, deadly, precise.

He watched in fascination as she took off the heads of imaginary beasts and dragons, slew invisible knights and...

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly he was brought out of his reverie, as he heard the sound of the blade cutting through the air, within inches of his face. He looked at her, his head level with the floor of the loft from his vantage point.

"Got ya!" Buffy said to him, grinning.

William gulped, "Uh...yes, I see that."

"How long have you been there?" she asked, as she put the hand holding the blade down.

"A few minutes, "he answered, righting himself and continuing up the stairs.

"What brought you out here?" he asked.

"I don't know, just felt tense after school; thought I'd work off some steam before you got home."

"Did you?"

"Pretty much, but I could still; work some tension out, that is," she said with a coy grin, "care to help with that?"

She walked over to where the matching sword was standing and started to pick it up.

"Do we really need weapons for this?" he asked, then paused a second for the deja vu feeling.

"Not unless you want to feel all...oh, nevermind," she said, looking a bit funny herself, then shrugged it off. "Nope, we're good to go like this," she said, turning around to face him.

William bowed to her slightly, then advanced slowly, stopping about 4 feet away from her.

He started to feint to her right, and got her when she didn't cover her left.

They sparred for a while, taking shots whenever one had an advantage, and knocking each other off of their feet, and onto the heavy mats they'd covered part of the floor with.

William had her on the retreat, when she dodged around him. As he spun, his foot caught on the edge of the mat, and twisted. Seeing her advantage, she threw herself onto him. As they landed, she drew back her hand, then brought it down to his chest, a pretend stake to his heart.

Dual looks of surprise, fear, shock, and lust; all within seconds of each other, mirrored on each other's faces.

Buffy had quickly taken her hand out of the 'staking the vamp,' position, as soon as she realized what she had done.

She looked down at him, breathing heavily. Suddenly his legs lifted up, causing her to fall forward onto him. He twisted and flipped them over, him now on top of her, as he pinned her arms above her head and kissed her hard.

She moaned, as he explored her mouth with her tongue, tasting her. He released his hold on her arms, and her hands went around her back, as his pulled at her waistband. Her hands were busy doing the same, and soon clothes were thrown off to the side, as they came together on the mat’s rough surface; another after- sparring sexcapade, which neither of them quite understood, but both of them inexplicably drawn to.

Later on that night, when she was busy and he knew he would be undisturbed, he got out his journal. He looked back to early April, when Giles had come to visit. Next to the word that he’d called Giles - Watcher, he wrote the day’s date, and another word - Slayer.

END CHAPTER 136

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