Chapter Notes:
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! I hope y'all love this chapter as much as I do.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
XIV
If there was anything that William missed about being a vampire, it was the thrill of the fight. When the vengeance demon disappeared, he looked at the Slayer. He recognized that look in her eyes, the tightness in her shoulders and arms. She wanted to hit something. She craved the fight as much as he did.
Everyone could sense the tension in the room. Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia left the library making half-hearted excuses. Giles and Wesley decided to escort the witch from the Watchers' Council back to her hotel. Catherine was making her confession at the local church.
Which meant that it was just the two of them.
"If you want to fight, pet, I'm more than willing," William said.
The Slayer responded with a punch to his nose. It hurt, but thankfully, she didn't break anything.
"I'm so glad you're willing and able, Spike," the Slayer said. "I'm just so...I'm just so…" She found herself at a loss for words and just threw a couple punches instead. Spike blocked them easily.
"Keep going, luv," he said. "Let it all out."
Buffy did so, kicking and punching as hard as she could, in spite of her lack of strength. Slowly, her body wore out and tears started welling up in her eyes. Her breaths turned ragged. Next thing he knew, the Slayer crumpled on the floor like his failed attempts at poetry.
"No matter what I do, I lose him," she said. "What is wrong with me?"
"Ever think that what happened with the Poofter is not your fault?"
"Poofter?" she looked up at him with confusion
William tentatively sat down across from the Slayer and held her hands, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Buffy?" She nodded, giving him permission to use her name. He continued. "I have known Angelus for centuries. When he was at the factory, Angelus told us how he hated how you made him feel. He said that he always saw you as weak. You're not the problem here, luv. He is."
Buffy sighed. "When you put it that way…" She looked at him with a smile, but Spike noticed that her eyes were fixated on his lips. He noticed the way she leaned close to him.
William stood up nervously. "Um, so, you wanna go another round?" He held out his hand as an offering. What kind, he wasn't sure.
She grabbed his hand and jumped as he pulled her up. "Sure."
"Remember what I said the night you dropped an organ on me?"
Buffy laughed in spite of the heaviness still on her shoulders. "Yeah," she said. "Rather be fighting you anyway."
"Still hold true now." William felt his inner Spike coming forward as he positioned himself at the ready. "You're still the one I'd fight with to the end, Slayer or not."
"Mutual," Buffy said, ready to fight again.
XV
Faith rarely patrolled by the high school, but she knew sometimes vampires would sneak around there as well as on college campuses looking for stragglers. The brunette slayer was instead surprised to find the blonde Slayer and the hottie in the David Bowie shirt heading out of the school, both of them covered in sweat. The bleach blonde's arms were draped over the blonde Slayer's shoulders and B was laughing at something he said.
"Hey, you two," Faith said. "Clocking in a bit of after hours activities?" She gave the couple a saucy wink.
Suddenly, the two blondes broke apart, as if someone burst the bubble of their little world. "Um...I was training," the blonde Slayer said. "Spike volunteered to be my sparring partner."
"Good to know you're still keeping in shape," Faith said. "You wanna back me up while I head over to Restfield?"
"Um, sure," Buffy said. "Is that ok with you, Spike?"
"I don't see why not," Spike said.
"Five by five!"
That particular night was pretty standard as far as patrols went. Faith took care of the majority of vamps that came their way, with Buffy and Spike getting a couple fledges here and there. However, none of them were ready for an ambush from some vampires who recognized Spike and called him traitor. The five of them sped past Faith, intent on taking down Buffy and Spike. Faith staked two of them quickly and then pummeled the other three to a pulp before throwing an arrow into the heart of one, staking the second, and breaking the head off of the third one.
When the dust settled, Faith turned to check if her new friends were okay. There was a sigh of relief from both of them, but Buffy's eyes were more green than brown. There was a hard glare in her eyes, too.
"Um...I'm gonna go," Faith said. "You still need to pick up your girlfriend from church, right?"
"Yeah," Spike said, looking away from both of them.
"I'm Audi, then!" The brunette Slayer gave the two of them a wave goodbye and ran off. The Bronze was calling her name.
Chapter End Notes:
So did they or didn't they? I'll never tell!
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