Chapter Three -- Something More



"That was a joke," Spike ranted as they took their usual rounds in the woods surrounding the cemetary. "I have never felt like such a redhanded idiot before."
"That makes two of us," Buffy said, moving slowly and deliberately, stake in hand. Willow had caught her and Spike holding hands but had smart enough to keep her mouth shut. But she was suspicious. She had the right to be. Spike may have been his usual emotionless self, but Buffy's face revealed her fear. Willow could sense her fear.
"When are we going to tell your mates about us?"
Buffy froze and slowly turned to him. Her face was an expression of rage and something else. Something he couldn't quite identify. "There is no us," she snapped, brushing past him into the cold cemetary.
Spike took her elbow as she paused. "I'm sorry, love. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."
She took a long deep breath. "I'm the one that's sorry," she whispered, turning to face him. "There is something here. I just can't name it yet."
"I know there is," Spike said, gently touching her face. "But I won't push you. Not now."
Buffy nodded her gratefulness. "Thanks."
"Anytime," Spike replied, letting go of her elbow and walking further into the darkness. "Think we'll find anyone tonight?"
Buffy smiled at her stake and followed him. "We just might."

****

"Buffy and Spike? No way!" Dawn gasped as she sat next to Tara, a bowl of vanilla ice cream in hand.
"Way," Willow replied in a low voice. "And I wouldn't say anything except I'm really worried about her."
Dawn fell silent for a minute as she stirred her ice cream. "What do you think, Tara?" she finally asked.
Tara thought a moment before replying. "I think that if Buffy is happy with him, who are we to criticize?"
"Exactly," Dawn choked out, swallowing hard. "Spike helped her through the difficult time after her... resurrection."
Willow dropped her chin onto her fist. "That's the problem with this. It's too perfect. What happened the last time Buffy fell for a vampire?"
"He betrayed her," Tara replied quietly, turning to her own ice cream with a sigh. "I get what you are trying to say."
Dawn glared at both of them, her jaw dropping. "What is wrong with you two? She finally finds a bit of happiness and you diss her."
"We're not trying to hurt her, Dawn," Willow explained patiently. "We're trying to protect her."
Dawn looked down at her bowl, hard. "I just find it so hard to imagine why two people so obviously in love just can't seem to be happy for someone else who's trying."
Tara looked ashamed and Willow flushed, both looking away from Dawn, who rose and put her bowl in the sink, quietly leaving the room.

****

The room was brightly lit. Around a large star in the centre of the concrete floor were a hundred lit candles. Behind the candles, each with a candle of their own, were the chosen twelve.
A single male stepped out, his face weathered beyond the two hundred years of being the undead. He lifted the book in his hands. "Two years ago the slayer humiliated me. Now it's payback time."
One by one, the vampires blew out their candles until the last died. A tall feminine vampire moved to the centre of the star and set down a large unlit candle. The male stepped inside and lit it, using his own candle. "The blood."
The female vampire set down a crystal vase of blood and poured it around the candle.
The male closed his eyes and began to chant with the latin he knew in his heart.
The female stood by his side, her chin up, eyes full of darkness as she awaited her instructions.
The male grew silent. "The bird."
The female, along with assistance from two males on the outside, removed a large black bird from a cage. "Over the fire," he replied, using short phrases from the book. The female took the bird and poised it over the fire. The bird lifted its wings and tried to fly, its sharp dark beak pecking at her pale flesh. "And now," he breathed, closing his eyes. "The knife."
An outsider brought forth a large dagger and handed it to the male. The male gripped it in his hands and met the gaze of the female, who stood behind the flame, the bird poised over it. He lifted the dagger, stabbing the bird first and letting its blood fall over the fire. As the bird breathed its last, the male lunged forward and stabbed the bird a second time, into the heart of the female vampire, who exploded into dust.
The dead bird fell to the cold floor.
"Bullseye," the male whispered.

****

Buffy and Spike walked hand-in-hand in the darkness. "That was pleasant," Spike joked, as they paused in her driveway.
"That's two no-shows in two nights," Buffy sighed, turning to face him. "Something's up."
Spike frowned. "Be it as it may, your watcher is no longer here to guide you to what is up."
Buffy's face fell slightly. "I know," she whispered, turning away slightly from him.
Spike gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him as her head fell against his chest.
"I don't know what I am anymore," she whispered, feeling her eyes smart.
Spike shook her. "Of course you do... you're the slayer."
"Am I?" she managed to choke out. "Or am I just a performing puppet in a miniskirt?" He gently turned her to face him, his thumbs brushing away the tears. "I am alone."
"No," Spike said, shaking her shoulders. "You are not alone. There's me, and Dawn and the rest of your gang. There is no reason to feel alone."
"Then why don't I feel like fighting?" she asked him. "Why?"
He pulled her close again, dropping his head onto hers. "It gets better you know. The lonliness. The agony. It'll pass."
"I hope so," Buffy moaned. "Because all of this grown-up crap is way overrated."
Spike chuckled. "Of course, you could always pick a fight with me..."
Buffy took the hint and smacked his chest, pushing him away. "Are you tempting me?"
He swatted at her, jumping back. She glanced at him, a familiar old sparkle in her eyes as she lunged at him, knocking him over. "Like that?" she asked, towering above him.
He grinned. "You forgot one thing, love."
"I did?" she questioned innocently.
He kicked out, hitting her shins as she fell next to him, breathing hard. "Is that supposed to be some kind of challenge?"
"Well," he debated out loud. "We could sit here and kick each other's asses until dawn... or we could..."
Buffy leaned up on her elbow turning to him. "We can do what?" she asked, her voice low.
"I think you know what I'm thinking," he said, leaning out and tapping her arm. "And you know I like it rough."
The sparkle in her eyes was back as he jumped to his feet, Buffy not far behind. She lashed out first, her foot coming up over his shoulder. His hand caught her foot, flipping her down in front of him. "That wasn't so hard now was it?" he asked, dropping down on top of her.
The look in her eyes was maddening as his lips crushed hers, his body covering hers.
Her mind left her completely then as her body rolled with his, protected by the long grasses as they tumbled into the brush.