This is what living feels like, she thought as she delivered a stake to the chest of a highly-energized fledgling. Looking around her, Buffy realized that the last of the vampires in the group was battling Spike, who appeared to be delaying the finish for the thrill of the fight. He was in his element, game face on, wide smirk, limbs thrashing with grace. Watching him, her heart rate elevated and an excited pitter-patter thumped in her stomach. With a dramatic flourish, Spike maneuvered himself off of a gravestone and staked the vampire in the heart.
As the dust settled, Buffy saw Spike revert back to his human face and look around him. She giggled at the pout now fixed as he realized that the fight was over. She fought the urge to run and kiss him and settled for an insult instead.
"I'm glad to see working with me has improved your skills."
He smirked at her. "This is different, Luv. Here we're fighting to the death. When we spar, I'm usually trying to impress you or going easy on you."
Buffy made a guttural sound in her throat that could have been a cross between a scoff and a laugh. "It's a good thing vampires don't sweat. It gives you an easy excuse. Want to do another round or are you good? It's getting chilly."
"Think we've scrounged up all that we could for the night."
"Great! I'm starving! Should we stop on the way or hope there's leftovers?"
"I don't think there's hope when leftovers and your little crew are involved. None of you took the time to actually learn to cook."
"All you had to say was that you wanted to stop."
"No fun in that. Car should be around the corner somewhere."
"That's alright, we'll find it later. Let's walk around for a bit."
"Thought you were cold, L-"
Spike stopped short when Buffy took his hand and gestured for them to move. He looked down between their enjoined hands, but she just smiled and tugged gently.
"No better way to see the city!"
They walked in silence, drifting into a comfortable pace. Once inside the main area of the city, more people surrounded them, students heading into pubs, coffee shops, or restaurants and lovers strolling hand-in-hand on the street. Seeing them, Buffy brushed closer to Spike to take his arm. Cautiously, she looked up at him and was surprised to see a slight frown of concentration.
Since Giles had gotten the car, they'd driven into London every night and Buffy had hoped it might enliven him. There were moments when he seemed back to his usual self, though with a softer, kinder edge she found irresistible and other times when he turned sullen and independent, locking himself away in his room.
She had been patient, waiting for him to pick up on her signals, and she wanted to give him space. When there appeared to be little to no movement, she decided to elevate them tonight, but now she could tell that it wasn't that he hadn't noticed, he was fighting her. It was obvious that they both wanted closeness on some level, but she couldn't understand the delay. The hesitancy, yes, maybe, but she thought they had cleared all of their past issues during those days when he had first come back.
The pair of them had a dark history between each other and on their own. Buffy supposed that, no matter how much conversation and resolution, the past didn't just disappear. It was a part of them, but she intended for it to make them stronger, better. They had pushed through it together and apart and become stronger people. She couldn't see why they couldn't make a stronger coupling.
His silence seemed pointed and consumed by thoughts far away from her. To draw him back, she pulled him into the first restaurant that didn't look crowded. Though he usually enjoyed human food with vigor, Spike hardly touched anything she had ordered and Buffy had the leftovers packed to take home to whoever wanted them. The walk back to the cemetery where they had parked remained quiet and Buffy didn't bother taking his hand. She was too conflicted as to whether or not she should confront him.
No words would come- she couldn't figure out the best way to tell him how she felt, what she wanted from him, and to have him understand. He had this predisposed notion to fear her and while she wanted to respect his reluctance, she also wanted to shake sense into him. Instead, she settled on listening to him hum under his breath as the radio played one of the old songs he loved so much.
It was a surprise to wake up to a house smelling like a warm, home-cooked breakfast. Giles knew how to cook, but he never bothered to devote much time to it. Oddly, it was always Anya, Tara, and Spike who could make something edible, while Xander, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn reaped the benefits of it. Spike would still be sleeping and Giles had mentioned heading out to the construction site early that morning, so Buffy and her curious nose headed down to the kitchen to investigate.
When she found him, a bright apron on that had, "kiss the cook!" scrolled across it, happily scrambling eggs in a bowl, flipping pancakes, and tending to the sizzling bacon, she groaned. To his squeal of delight at seeing her, she maintained a calm demeanor.
"I thought you were in Cleveland with Faith and Robin?"
"Look at this! The Original Slayer, in her natural habitat, which so few get to see."
He hurried over, throwing his arms around her, which she returned with a slight pat on the back.
"Good to see you too, Andrew. I think. Why are you here?"
As he opened his mouth, likely to engage in a long, drawn-out story, Buffy held out a hand. "Feed me first, then keep it brief."
Andrew worked his way around the kitchen as Buffy poured herself a cup of coffee and settled down at the counter. She watched as he loaded a plate with the eggs, pancakes, and bacon and set it down in front of her.
"What's that on the stove top? Are you warming syrup?"
"Nuh, uh, that's blood for Spike."
Skeptical, she said, "You're warming Spike's blood on the stove?"
"He deserves a special meal once in awhile too, no matter what it consists of."
"I wasn't- I didn't mean- Just tell me why you're here."
"We-ell, Faith and Robin are destroying the Hellmouth in Cleveland and they've got their team assembled, though between you and me, things between them aren't going as smoothly because-"
"Focus, Andrew."
"Right. So they've got their team pretty much set and we've got all these baby slayers in training, who are in need of mucho guidance, so Giles had Faith send them here. I'm the new Slayer Recruitment Operations Manager. I've got a business card somewhere-"
As he reached into his apron pocket, Buffy dropped her fork and stared at him.
"Are you telling me that my house is going to be filled with Potentials? Again?"
"One, not Potentials anymore, remember? They're the real deal badasses now in need of your guidance. Two, not technically you're house. You just have a room here. Three, more are coming! I'm in charge of tracking them down. And four, here's my business card."
She didn't take the card, but offered him another groan.
"Where does Giles mean to fit everyone until the new place is built?"
"Bunk buddies! Are you still sharing with Spike or-?"
Buffy meant to tell him that it was none of his business, no matter how much the idea appealed to her, when the vampire in question entered the kitchen, sniffing suspiciously and looking sleepy, but on alert.
"Thought I smelled something."
"Breakfast!"
Andrew rushed over to the stove to pour Spike's blood into a mug, which he thrust at the vampire who shared a look of amusement with Buffy. He nodded his head in thanks to a beaming Andrew and took the seat next to Buffy, stealing one of her pancakes.
"More'n that. How many of 'em did you bring with you?"
Buffy answered, "A whole team, apparently."
"And staying here is a temporary thing, I reckon?"
"Not so much."
"Want one of my business cards, Spike?"
Spike, his attention still on Buffy, took the card Andrew was holding out to him and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans.
"Great. Got my last night of peaceful sleep and didn't even know it. Figure we've got, what? Three more minutes of peace before they descend?"
Xander walked in with a loud yawn. "Who's descending where?"
"We've got company, Whelp."
"Of the human or demon variety? Andrew! More importantly, food!"
Andrew had a plate in front of him before Xander could sit down.
Spike took a sip of his blood before speaking. "He brought slayers with him."
"How many?"
"It's all very vague."
"Giles didn't even mention it and I'm supposed to be Slayer Numero Uno."
"You should get that on a business card!"
"From the smell of it, there aren't many yet, but there's more coming."
"I'm the Slayer Recruitment Operations Manager, Xander, here's my-"
"Anyone want to tell me why I woke up to a bunch of random girls sleeping on my floor?" Willow walked into the kitchen looking bemused.
"Buffy!" Dawn burst into the kitchen. "You promised me my own space. It was one of those no compromising-y things we discussed. I am not sharing my room."
"Good morning to you too, Dawnie. Here-" Buffy rose from her seat and ushered Dawn into it. "Andrew's back, he brought slayers. He's going to leave and come back again with more. Giles decided it, then promptly left before they could arrive and now this huge house is looking a whole lot smaller. Eat breakfast and go to school. I'm going to have a chat with Giles and get us an apartment somewhere in the city. I'm all about keeping promises, now, okay?"
As the new arrivals started crowding into the kitchen, Buffy sent Dawn off to school and called Xander, Willow, and Spike into the downstairs training room.
"Giles inherited all that money from the Watcher's Council, right? I figure, an apartment or two isn't nearly enough compensation for all the apocalypses we prevented and the bad-ness they put us through."
By the time Buffy had left for the construction site to speak with Giles, and Dawn had returned from school, the group had once again packed up their belongings into the minivan and drove into the city to furnish their new apartments.
"I knew Giles had money now, but I think he's been holding out on us!"
Xander was lounging on the couch in the living room of the apartment Buffy now shared with Dawn and Willow. There was more space than she was expecting, enough for the three of them to have their own rooms, a decent kitchen and bathroom, and a large living area where the group now congregated.
"Feet off the couch, Buster," Willow demanded as she sat down next to him. "This is our place. Slob as you must at your own."
"Who'd thought I'd be back rooming with the Living Dead?"
"And liking it," Dawn smirked.
"We're tolerant of each other, that's all. 'Sides, it's nice to have another guy to help with the ladies."
"Hi, I like girls too," Will offered.
"Sure, but you're still with the love-letter writing to Kennedy in Cleveland. I need a true single friend. Plus, the ladies love Spike. I don't get it, but they're all over him. Like the other night-"
As Buffy scowled and Spike glared at him, Xander stopped talking.
"Oh! Interesting! What kind of girls does Spike go for? Y'know, now that he has the soul. Like, you can't really go demon because hello, evil, but you can't go human because hi, vampire. Or can you? I mean-" Dawn blushed. "That is totally none of my business."
Buffy sat rigid on a comfy chair next to the couch that Dawn was squeezed on between Willow and Xander. Spike was sitting on the floor opposite Buffy. Her limbs were wrapped tight around herself as she refused to look at anyone, though she felt their eyes on her. When Xander cleared his throat, Spike spoke.
"Bit of an experiment, I guess, Niblet. Not really looking for anything right now. Helps the Whelp to have someone he can observe having real conversation though, so I play my part."
"Very funny. I say, next time we go out, we hold a little competition. Which one of us can get the most numbers, then we can see who's the charmer. And we have to choose one of them to call the next day. In fact, neither of us are doing much of anything right now, so-"
Xander went to stand, but Buffy shot herself up from the chair, frenzied, and pushed him down.
"Patrol!"
"Hey!"
"I need Spike for patrol." She turned towards Spike. "That is, if you want. I mean, if you want to go with Xander, that's totally cool, but-"
Spike frowned, but stood up from the floor and brushed himself off.
"Could do with a rough-and-tumble. Would be good to give Harris a little practice time on his own anyways. Let me go find my stake."
As he walked out of the apartment, Buffy turned on Xander.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to help the guy out."
"Uh huh, yeah, sure. And this girl?"
Xander opened his mouth to retort, but Buffy turned away from him and onto Dawn. "And you! Asking him about what kind of- hello! We know what kind. The only one who doesn't is him."
"And why's that?"
"Huh?"
As she turned back around on him, Xander looked like he didn't want to continue this conversation, but swallowed and continued.
"Why doesn't he know yet?"
"We're taking our time."
"Are you sure this is even what you want? You're gonna finally tell him one day and God knows he'll take you back in a heartbe- well, real fast-like, and then what?"
"Nobody knows. You all know that, it's just-"
She looked at Dawn and Willow for support. Dawn's eyes were wide and Willow gave her a sympathetic nod.
"What about 'what-if' and 'maybe someday'?"
"Wh-" Buffy's eyes widened as she turned back to Xander, but before she could process his comment, the apartment door opened. "Spike! Ready?"
"Sure thing, Luv." He paused, sensing the tension. "Everything okay here?"
"Yup, it's-"
"Hey, Spike-"
Spike looked at Xander, confused. Buffy shot him another glare. "Whelp?"
"How about we go out tomorrow?" He looked at Buffy. "Unless you get a better offer, of course."
With a confused nod of agreement from Spike and another glare from Buffy, they left Xander, Willow, and Dawn still on the couch for another night of patrol.
"What do you and Xander do when you go out?"
They had started the walk in silence, but Buffy found she could no longer stand it. They didn't have to go far, part of the agreement with Giles getting them apartments was that they would be in close proximity to a graveyard or two, though the area wasn't terrible. Buffy was still buzzing with energy from her argument with Xander and the jealousy that zapped her with the idea of Spike talking to other women. It hadn't occurred to her that it would be something he wanted.
"Harris is doing a bit of exaggerating. There are birds there and we talk to 'em, occasionally buy 'em a drink, but it's more of a bonding thing. Much as he opens his fat gob, he's not ready for anything yet. Too busy talking about Anya to hold anyone's interest for very long."
Buffy stopped, but Spike didn't notice until he was a few strides ahead.
"He talks to you about Anya?"
"A bit, yeah."
"He won't- I mean, it's rare."
"I figure we both know that loss, yeah? I guess we all do, 'cept Xander and I both happened to screw things up royally all on our own and I guess we have more in common than we thought."
Buffy closed the distance between them, her hand reaching out to touch Spike's cheek. Before he could flinch away, she whispered his name and entranced him. It hit her then, that words wouldn't be enough right now. Instead, her lips parted and she reached up to kiss him. Before they met, something solid came barreling into them and knocked them over. Both jumped back up on alert, stakes in hand, as a group of vampires surrounded them.
After a few minutes of fighting, Buffy started to notice a few things. For one, the group were no new, young vampires, but had skills of ones who had been living and fighting for quite some time. Two, none of them appeared very interested in her. Though they fought back when she lunged after them, Spike seemed to be the main target. An odd sort of ache nudged her conscience, but for the moment, their disinterest in her made it easy to stake them while they attacked Spike.
Whether or not he noticed the purpose of the attack, she couldn't tell, but Spike was laughing and taunting in game face, though none of them seemed surprised that he would be fighting his own kind. It was during one of his more gleeful bouts of laughter that one got hold of him and knocked him down. Buffy staked the vampire trying to hold her off and descended on the three who now held Spike down and were attempting to restrain him. She turned one of them to dust, but the two others stopped and backed away from an unconscious Spike.
One spoke to her. "More will come, Slayer, and they will see to it that they succeed. Vampires with souls hold no place in this world."
They ran off, leaving Buffy conflicted between chasing after them to figure out what they meant and then stake them silly and making sure Spike was alright. The latter won out and with shaking hands, she reached down to check on him.
"Spike?"
For a moment, he lay still, but when she yelled his name louder, he sat up quickly, nearly knocking her over.
"Bleeding, buggering, hell, those sons of-"
Kneeling beside him, Buffy cut him off with a kiss.
