This is my second BTVS Fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS.

A/N: Takes place mid-season four.

Summary: One tiny piece of information that the Watcher's council missed when they were profiling "William the Bloody" will change everything…


"Faster." I commanded. The speed that Hadley was deflecting the vampire's blows was horribly slow; slow was going to get her dead.

"I'm trying." She said through her teeth as she managed to flip the vampire over and pin him. As she was distracted by reaching for her stake, the vampire took the upper hand, securing her by her hair and exposing her throat.

I took that as my cue to step in. I raised my own stake, positioned directly over the vampire's heart. Sighing, the vampire released her, looking up to me with an exasperated expression plastered on his abnormally pale face, "Oh come on; do you really have to—" I rammed the stake into his heart.

The vampire exploded into dust. "Yes." Glaring down at Hadley, I offered a hand to help her to her feet. she accepted it, visibly wincing, as she knew she was in for a lecture from yours truly. "Have I taught you nothing?" It had been six months since I'd taken nineteen year old orphan Hadley Roche on as my apprentice. Vampires had killed her family when she was sixteen and Hadley was immediately shoved into the lovely foster care system of Massachusetts. I'd caught her trying to seduce a vampire so that she could kill him, but Hadley had ended getting her own stake rammed into her shoulder. To get information out of her, I'd lied to the police and doctors, saying that I was her estranged aunt. After Hadley was all healed up, she just kind of stuck around; like a parasite. Not that I don't love the kid to death, but motherhood had never been one of my goals in life.

Her deep blue eyes were brimming with tears of frustration. "I'm sorry."

I sighed, "Don't apologize to me. You're the one that's going to end up dead." Hadley sniffed miserably and I patted her on the shoulder, "Look, hunting isn't something that comes naturally. But you'll get it eventually. But you have to remember, love; someday, I won't be there to step in." She nodded, taking a deep, shaky breath. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Pleadingly, she looked up to me, "Can't I try again, Ros?"

"You do realize that eventually, you have to go to sleep, right?" I asked, eyebrows raised. It was already two o'clock in the morning.

"Well, yeah, but…I want to get this right." If I'd learned anything during our six months together, it was that when Hadley put her mind to something, there was no stopping her.

"Fine." She smiled a bit, "But be quick about it." I hopped up onto one of the shorter headstones as Hadley walked slowly through the mess of graves, searching for the potential vampiric ones, "You're starting classes tomorrow. And stay where I can see you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Hadley waved me off as she walked further away.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a brief moment. Christ, this girl was a handful. If she wasn't being reckless, she was being a typical teenager. I swear, sometimes, she speaks a completely different language than the rest of the human population… When I opened my eyes again, a young blond woman with a stake was standing over me. "Hello." She smiled. Hm. A young blond woman was standing over me with a stake. I yelped, rolling off of the headstone and landing in a crouch.

Scrambling to my feet, I called over to Hadley, "Hadley! We have a problem!"

"So, I'm just wondering," She made casual conversation as she came closer and closer… "What kind of vampire takes a nap on a headstone out in the open like that?"

"The non-vampy kind." I took a few steps back; this had to be the Slayer. "I have a pulse, love." Stake raised, Hadley was sprinting over, ready to spear the Slayer. "No!" I seized her around the waist, "Hadley, she's not a vampire!"

The young Slayer wore a confused expression on her face, "Wait; you know about vampires?"

I snorted, rolling my eyes as I released Hadley, "Who doesn't Barbie?"

"It's Buffy." She corrected, visibly relaxing as she lowered her stake.

"Right." I looked past the Slayer, distracted by the dark figure jogging to catch up with her. It was clearly male, with bleached blond hair and a long leather duster. As he came closer, I froze. Irony at its best; he looked better dead. Wild brown hair had been replaced by carefully gelled, bleached hair; no more glasses or odd little ascot. This man was radiating confidence.

"Lost you for a bit Slayer, though maybe you'd caught wind of Adam, seeing as how bloody fast you—" The man's eyes locked with mine. Beautiful, eerie blue eyes. His lips parted unconsciously in surprise. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he said, "Rosalyn."

Summoning up all of my inner strength, I acknowledged him simply, "William."

Awkwardly, the Slayer asked, "You two know each other?"

Then:

"Father, must I do this?" I was not thrilled with the idea of marrying someone I'd never even met.

Seizing my shoulders roughly, he said, "You will do as I command. I am your father and it is my wish that you marry Mr. Pratt! I give you no choice; your acceptance of his proposal has already been sent. Else we wouldn't be on our way to have tea."

Jerking out of his grasp, I glared, "Do you care nothing for my feelings?"

Softer, he continued, "Rosalyn, you're my daughter—"

"I've never even met the man!"

Jaw set, Father drew back his hand and slapped me. Gasping from the sting, not of the blow, but of the shock that Father had stricken me, I clenched my teeth together. "You will have plenty of time to get to know each other after the wedding… If your mother could see you right now, she would be ashamed."

With my hand to my cheek, I returned, "Mother never would have accepted the proposal in the first place!"

"Hopefully Mr. Pratt has more of a tolerance for women who don't know their place. God forbid you should learn to hold your tongue!"

The carriage was slowing to a stop. My heart was racing like a rabbit; in less than two minutes, I would meet my husband to be for the first time. I prayed that Mr. Pratt would be a kind man, at least in comparison with my father. Mayhaps Mr. Pratt would be patient and intelligent and just as nervous as I was. The only thing that I knew about him was that he wrote poetry. A man had to be learned in some degree to write poetry. I wanted a husband that held my opinion in esteem; a man that was the complete opposite of my dear father.

I took a deep breath, looking out the carriage window to see a beautiful house on sprawling grounds. A white-railed porch wrapped all the way around the two story, red paneled house. A man with mousy brown hair and a pair of spectacles perched on his nose was exiting the house in a flurry. He practically raced down the steps only to stop beside a beautiful older woman in a wheelchair.

The footman hopped off of the back of the carriage and opened the door for my father, who in turn, held his hand out for me. Albeit reluctantly, I stepped out of the carriage, hem on my dress in hand. Shyly, I glanced over at the house once more before my father led me to meet the man and woman.

The woman spoke first, smiling as she looked me up and down, "Good afternoon, Ms. Martin. I am Mrs. Pratt, your future mother-in-law—" The man blanched a bit at her choice of words. "And this is my son, William. Your fiancé." She gestured toward the brown haired man.

William took my hand, kissing my knuckles, "It's lovely to meet you, Ms. Martin."

Managing a smile, I replied, "And you as well, Mr. Pratt."

Now:

"You could say that, yeah." William answered with a slight smirk on his face. "Who's the lil' bit?"

Hadley spoke before I could, using the usual guise when we encountered strangers, "I'm Hadley, her daughter."

William's eyebrows shot up, "Daughter, eh?" Hadley nodded. "I'm Spike."

I was too confused to react. Hadley snorted, "Seriously? 'Spike?' What were you, an angry bull dog in a past life?"

My former husband laughed, "Oh I like you." Pursing his lips, 'Spike' turned to me, saying seriously, "We need to talk."

"Yeah." That was all I could manage before I was silenced by the tiny red dot of a gun laser landing on my chest. At the edge of the trees, I could see a group of men, all dressed in black holding guns, emerging from beyond the cemetery. Looking from 'Spike' to the Slayer, I sighed, "I take it they're not with you."

"Nope." Buffy squeaked, "Run!"

"Go!" I shouted, making sure that Hadley was in front of me, I took off without another look back. After a few minutes, I realized that I had no idea where we were going, but there was an abandoned pawn shop up ahead that was bound to have a few stray weapons in it.

I was about to try for the door when William grabbed ahold of my hand, yelling to Buffy, "We need to split up! Take the lil' bit!"

I nodded to Hadley to reassure her; Buffy would keep her safe. The Slayer seemed almost surprised at his suggestion, "Good idea; we'll meet back at the magic shop." Buffy ran east with Hadley and we went west.

I had no idea who was chasing us or why. The only thing I did know for certain was that I definitely hadn't expected to spend the night running for my life hand-in-hand with my formerly (presently?) dead husband.


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