Things seemed to go well for Spike and Buffy over the course of the next few weeks. Much to her coach Lorne's dismay Buffy settled into spending more time off the ice than on. She worked on events and fundraising for the rink and taught a few private lessons to some of the younger skaters. She still took time to practice, but not nearly what she used to. While they were slowly making their way through September she still hadn't made a choice yet whether or not she would continue competing. The first major competition would be in October and while she hadn't made a decision she felt she was well on her way to figuring out what she wanted. She suddenly felt as if she had a purpose again and that made all the difference to her.
She and Spike had fallen into a routine and she had no complaints about their relationship. Later, looking back, she might question how well it was going; how easily they fell into living with each other and acting out the part of a happily married couple. But now she only enjoyed the happiness it brought her. There had been no signs of her stalker, no new notes or gifts sent to her. It was almost as if her stalker had disappeared as quickly as he had appeared in the first place. Had she not known better she almost would have thought that it all really had just been a ploy to get her and Spike together.
Buffy was on the verge of declaring life to be pretty near perfect when on a particularly dreary day in September things began to crumble around her.
"Hey, Buffy." Tara said greeting the other blonde as she walked behind the front counter. Buffy had just arrived at the rink for an afternoon of work detailing how a fundraising event the previous evening had gone. She knew it had been a success, but she needed to create a few reports for Giles and the rinks board.
"Morning, Tara." She replied flashing her friend a bright smile.
"I heard your event went quite well last night. Congratulations."
"Thanks, but you must not have heard about my total spaz out right after you left." Buffy admitted, her cheeks turning a bit pink as she remembered freaking out the night before.
"What happened?" The concern in Tara's voice was obvious. She hadn't heard anything but praise for Buffy regarding the event and she wondered what would have made the other woman freak out.
"Stupid caterers," Buffy mumbled, "that's what happened. They were supposed to be here by 4pm to set up. They didn't show 'til almost 5:30. I was totally wigging out. Everyone was supposed to start arriving between 6 and 6:30 which really rushed things. I'm surprised the guests didn't see my freak out, or how nervous I was."
"Well, no one seemed to notice anything amiss at the event. I've only heard wonderful comments so far. You worked really hard on it, you should be proud."
Buffy blushed, "Well, Spike helped." She blushed even deeper as she remembered how in the middle of one of her frustrated rants, after a phone call to the caterer promising they would be there soon, he had promptly pulled her into a nearby locker room, locked the door and proceeded to distract her for the next half hour. She had been decidedly more relaxed after that.
Tara noticed the blush but refrained from teasing her friend. The sound of the outer rink doors distracted the two women and they turned to see a young man walking in with a vase of brightly colored flowers.
"I have a delivery for a Ms. Buffy Pratt." The delivery man said carefully placing the vase on the counter.
"That'd be me," Buffy said with a big grin. She quickly signed for the flowers. With a curt goodbye the delivery man left, leaving both girls to fawn over the flowers.
"I wonder who they're from." Buffy mused looking for a card or acknowledgement of who sent them.
"I would guess Spike," Tara said softly, unsure of Buffy's reaction. While she knew the true nature of the couple's 'relationship' she had noticed how happy and close they had seemed to be the past few weeks. She understood they had an act to put on to convince the others, but after observing the them a few times when she was sure the two blondes thought they were alone she was pretty convinced that it was no longer just an act. She knew it wasn't the ideal situation, but she had been hoping that perhaps this would be just what the two blondes needed to finally get together.
Buffy grinned, "Ya think?" The thought of receiving flowers from Spike excited her. Spike wasn't usually one for overly romantic gestures like flowers and she had no idea why he would have sent them. They were definitely a pleasant surprise.
"Ah-hah!" Buffy cried once she located the tiny envelope hidden among the flowers. "Guess we'll find out for sure now." She was excited to see what Spike may have written, if anything. She had recently found he occasionally had a bit of poetic tendencies when it came to writing, and she loved it. Not that he shared that with anyone; she had only stumbled upon it when rummaging through a drawer at home and found a small journal with handwritten poetry. Tearing open the small envelope her grin quickly faded and tears formed in her eyes. Taking a deep breath she turned to walk away.
"Throw them away, Tara." she requested quietly, not even looking at the flowers or the other woman.
"What!?" Tara exclaimed, unsure of the sudden change in Buffy. "Why?"
"I said throw them away!" Buffy said more forcefully. "I don't want them."
"Buffy..." Tara began hesitantly. She stopped when Buffy held out the card for her. Tentatively, not really wanting to read something private of Buffy's Tara took the card.
"Oh, Buffy," Tara said softly once she had read the short note. She looked back at it, part of her wishing the words had changed. They hadn't.
Dearest Buffy, it had read. Sorry I couldn't celebrate your sweet success with you last night. I heard it went beautifully. It ended with an ominous Someday Soon. No name of course, just that promise- Someday Soon.
"They aren't from Spike, Tara. He was with me all night last night." Had Spike been away the note probably wouldn't have sounded so ominous, and Buffy wanted to make sure that Tara understood.
"I know, sweetie. I'm so sorry."
"Just- just throw them away for me. I don't want to see them," Buffy pleaded taking the card back from Tara. "I'm going to take this back to Giles."
"I will, but don't let this bother you, Buffy. They'll find him soon. Just enjoy the success of last night. Don't let him ruin that."
"Thanks, Tara." Buffy sighed and with a forced smile she turned in the direction of Spike's office. She figured she may as well get him first and show him and Giles at the same time.
Tara watched Buffy walk down the hallway, her earlier perkiness gone. With a sigh she turned and picked up the flowers. She hated throwing away such a beautiful arrangement, but she understood that Buffy wouldn't be able to enjoy them. Carefully pulling them from the vase she tossed the colorful flowers into the trash and turned towards the backroom and the rinks small kitchen area to clean to the vase. She never noticed the young man who had just walked in, his face a mixture of surprise and anger at her actions.
Buffy walked morosely down the hallway towards Spikes office, her excitement over the success of the previous evening's event squashed by the abrupt reappearance of her stalker. She heard voices coming from Giles' office as she walked past, but thought nothing of it. Poking her head into Spike's office she found it empty. Thinking perhaps he was one of the voices she had heard as she walked past Giles' office she headed back that direction. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but paused when she heard Spike's earnest voice.
"I'm telling you there has to be somethin' else we can do," Spike said earnestly. "No fucking way this git is that smart."
"Mr. Pratt, our best men have gone over the notes and gifts multiple times. While they have been able to create a preliminary profile, there have been no solid clues as to a solid identity. No fingerprints have been found." The voice speaking was unfamiliar to Buffy. "The men from your team even agree with that assessment."
Team? What team? Buffy thought. Why would any of the boys from Spikes team be involved? Deciding to continue listening and find out what was going on; Buffy lowered her hand from its position to knock. Still clutching the note in her other hand she continued to listen.
"I want Jackson to look at it all, Giles." Spike responded. "He's the best I know and he hasn't been pulled into this yet."
Jackson? Buffy couldn't remember Spike ever mentioning someone named Jack? And why would he need to look at the stuff from her stalker?
"Mr. Pratt, experts have looked at them; yours and ours. I don't see what Jackson can do that we can't." the strange voice spoke again.
"Jack will find something." Spike insisted. Buffy was surprised by his insistence, and smiled, knowing that he would get his way. Spike was persistent like that. She heard a deep sigh and then the strange voice spoke again.
"Fine, I will have everything sent out in the morning." There was a slight pause. "I will need to know where to send it."
"Thank you," Spike said quietly. "I'll have John call you with the details."
"Agent Davis, what is your assessment of the current situation?" Buffy jumped slightly when she heard Giles' voice for the first time.
"Everything seems to be going as planned. The stalker seems to have disappeared for the time being." So, the strange voice apparently belonged to some sort of agent Buffy deduced.
"How long do you feel we should continue this before saying it may be over?" Giles asked quietly.
"There really is no telling. If you quit too soon he may come back and this charade won't work again. Hopefully we can draw him out somehow."
"There's no rush," Spike said quickly. "We want the bastard caught so he won't bother Buffy again."
"Certainly, Mr. Pratt." Buffy laughed to herself as she heard Spike called Mr. Pratt for the third time. She knew he hated his last name and was surprised he hadn't insisted the man stop calling him that yet. The agent continued speaking. "We've done all that we can do at this time. Now it's up to you and your agency to keep an eye on things and keep Ms. Summers safe."
"You know my agencies reputation, Agent Davis." Spike responded, his voice low and clipped. "I will protect Buffy with my life." There was that reference to Spike's agency again. Buffy couldn't help but wonder about that. How exactly was it his agency?
"I do," Agent Davis agreed. "If you need anything you know where to contact me."
Lost in her thoughts Buffy almost missed the sounds of the men moving around in the office, their meeting apparently over. Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, Buffy backed away from the door and walked quickly down the hall her mind racing, still clutching the card from the flowers to her chest.
Knowing that no one would be in the second arena Buffy pushed through the arena doors and ran up the bleacher stairs. Near the top she sat down and stared blankly out at the ice.
What had she just overheard? She recalled that both Giles and Spike had spoken of an agency involved in her security, but from what she had just overheard it seemed that Spike was a part of it. Why couldn't he have told her? And when did he start working for an agency like that? It just didn't make any sense to her. She just knew she suddenly felt betrayed by both men. Then a thought came to her. Could this be what Spike was so hesitant to tell her? Buffy shook her head and stood. She wasn't ready for a confrontation with Spike, but she knew she needed some answers. She couldn't stop all the thoughts running through her head about why Spike would have kept this from her. The one that scared her the most was the thought that perhaps he was just using her. He had wanted her before and now because of this he had got her. Did he really care as much as he claimed to, or was it just him acting the part of loving husband? Was it just a job to him? If it was just his job, would he just leave her when it was over? Sighing she headed towards Spikes office, hoping that she wasn't walking towards the end of the happiness she had felt in their blossoming relationship.