"I'll pick you guys up at three." Xander said as they got out of the van.
"Thanks, Xander." Jake replied, as she closed the door behind her.
Xander drove away. Ryder walked away so he wouldn't be seen with the other two.
"Well?" Scout asked.
"What?" Hamilton asked.
"What were you doing with Ryder?" Will asked.
"It's more like what was Ryder doing with you?" Scout asked.
"He, well, Xander knows him and they were hanging out, and we were taking a walk and Xander picked us up." Hamilton explained.
"Yup." Jake agreed.
"Oh." Scout said.
Jake and Hamilton left them for the dorms.
"Do you buy it?" Scout asked.
"Not in the least bit." Will replied. "Something's up with them."
"Yeah, Jake's been acting weird and now Ham."
"Yeah, and what's with the whole Ryder thing?"
The next day, Xander picked them up at three. At the house, Angel and Giles had discovered that the other half of the basement was set up as a training area. The refined it to their liking and finished just as the Rawley kids arrived. Buffy was already down there working out, when they came down the stairs. Ham, Jake, and Ryder watched as Buffy did a double forward flip, cartwheel, another flip, and soared over Angel as he ducked. And landed in front of them.
"Hi, I (gasped) didn't see you guys come in." She smiled.
"Obviously not." Ryder said under his breath as Jake replied.
"I can't do that."
"We don't expect you to." They turned to see Wesley coming down the stairs behind them. "You just started, Buffy has been doing this for five years now. So why don't we begin."
Ham and Ryder sat on one of the benches along the wall. Jake pulled her "Rawley" sweatshirt off, threw it to Ham, and joined Wesley in the middle of the room. Angel stood in front of her.
"Wait, I'm going to fight him?"
"Yes, Angel will be more of a challenge than I would."
Jake sighed. Wesley walked off the mat and stood next to Giles. "You may start."
Jake kicked Angel, but he grabbed her foot, so she picked up her other foot and kicked him. She fell to the mat. Angel grabbed her off the mat; she punched him in the stomach. He dropped her and backed up. She got up and jump kicked him. They kept fighting until after about ten minutes Jake started getting better. She kicked Angel in the nose. She used the distraction to jump on top of him and pin him.
"Good," Wesley said.
"Are we done, can we go home?" Jake asked, lying on the mat.
"Not yet. Again." Wesley instructed.
"Ah, Wes, can she fight someone else?" Angel asked.
"How about Gunn?" Wesley asked as he smiled at Gunn.
"I don't think so, Wes." Gunn backed up. "How about Spike?"
"I'll get him." Buffy volunteered, as she took off up the stairs. Not giving anyone a chance to reply or agree.
Spike was upstairs sleeping. He was dreaming about Buffy. He and Buffy were kissing. Suddenly they were lying down and Buffy was sitting on top of him. She was kissing him.
"Spike, Spike." He heard her call.
"Mmm, Buffy." He murmured.
Still asleep, he reached up and kissed (the real) Buffy, she was sitting on him like in his dream. She pulled away and hit him. "Ewww!"
He smiled, as he slowly opened his eyes. However, when he saw Buffy glaring at him, his eyes pooped open. "Oh, bloody."
"You're drooling." She said plainly.
He wiped his mouth.
"You're wanted downstairs."
"Why?"
"Jake."
"Oh."
"So come on."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Cause you're sitting on me."
She started to get up, but stopped, she looked at him.
"What?"
"Where you dreaming about me?"
"Why?"
"What was it about?"
"Closer," he wagged his finger at her. "Closer." Their faces were inches away. He reached up, grabbed the back of her head, and kissed her.
Buffy didn't know what to do. His kiss was different from Angel's, strong, but…nice. She kissed him back.
While they waited, Jake fought the dummy Xander made. Wesley suggested that Ham and Ryder learn how to defend themselves. So, Gunn, Xander, and Giles took Ham and Ryder into the other room. After ten minutes, Buffy and Spike stumbled down the stairs.
"Where were you?" Angel asked.
"Spike is a hard person to wake up."
"A stake through the heart would wake him up." Angel whispered.
Jake was ignoring them. But when Angel said that Jake kicked the dummy's head so hard that the head flew off.
It hit the door to the other room, so hard that it left a dent. Xander opened the door to see the head on the ground. He raised his eyebrows, put the head on a bench, and closed the door.
Before Angel and Spike could start fighting Jake asked to go to the bathroom. Buffy told her where, inside Jake took the brace off. She was starting to sweat which made her very itchy. She folded it in half twice and walked back to the basement. Everyone watched as she put the brace in her bag.
"What is that?" Buffy asked.
"Nothing." Jake said firmly.
"It's not nothing, what is it?" Angel asked taking a step toward her.
Spike stepped between Angel and Jake. "She said nothing. She obviously doesn't want to share. So leave it alone!"
"What's up with you, Spike? Suddenly you care about people?"
"Back off." Spike growled.
"No, what made you change? You don't have a soul, just a stupid computer chip."
"Stop!"
"Why are you going to hurt me? Can you hurt me?"
Spike stood his ground, but a low growl was emanating from his throat.
"I bet can't even hurt me these days."
"STOP!" The two turned and saw a very pissed off Jake. "One more threat Angel and I'm leaving, and you can forget about me being slayer. I'll walk and never come back. So are you done?"
"Yeah." Angel muttered.
"Good." Jake and Spike took their places.
"Ready?" Wesley asked. They both nodded their heads. "Alright, start."
Jake punched Spike in the nose. He backed away, she tried again, but this time he blocked her. He then swooped his leg around and knocked her onto the mat. He tried to jump on top of her, but she rolled away. They both jumped up. She tried to jump kick him, but he backed up. As she tried to punch him repeatedly, he blocked. She winked at him and he nodded slightly. No one noticed a thing.
"Why…won't…you…hit...me…back?"
"Cause…it…hurts…too…much!"
"You? Or…me?"
"Me!"
"How?"
"He has a chip in his head that prevents him from hurting humans." Buffy explained.
"Oh." Jake said, as she grabbed Spike's left arm, flipped him on to his back, sat on his waist, and pretended to stake him.
"Good." Wesley said.
Meanwhile, Will and Scout are working at the diner.
"So what are Jake and Ham doing tonight?" Will asks.
"Don't know, I saw them leaving after class with Ryder and Xander."
"That's weird."
"Yeah, you're telling me."
"I wonder what they're doing?"
"What are who doing?"
Scout looks up, "Hey, Bella."
"So who are you talking about?" Bella asks as Scout takes two platters to a couple in a booth.
"Hey, Bella." Will says as he walks by with a tub of dirty dishes.
"We're talking about Ham, Jake, Ryder, and Xander." Scout tells as he walks back over to refill two glasses.
"Speak of the devil." Will adds, coming back from the kitchen with clean silverware.
"Hey, Xander." Bella greets him.
"Hey, Bella." Xander replies as he puts his apron on.
"Well, since you're here, why don't you take my order." Bella tells him.
That night Wesley and Giles teach Ham and Ryder self-defense. Gunn, Buffy, Willow and Oz patrolled, while Angel and Spike teach Jake how to fence. Angel picked up two swords and tossed one to Jake. She caught it by the hilt. Angel held the sword up, and Jake imitated him. He put the sword down, so did she. Then he lunged at her. Spike coached from the sidelines. "Put your weight on your back foot. Don't just attack also defend."
Later Cordelia drove them back. As Ryder got out, he turned and spoke to her. "You don't have to pick us up tomorrow, I have my car."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Ham and Jake are sitting on Ham's bed talking. "I see now why you wanted to keep this from me."
"So?"
"What?"
"How does it make you feel?"
"Scary."
"Too scary?"
"Not sure yet, can I get back to you?" Jake hit him with a pillow. "But I'm glad I know."
They kissed.
The next day at lunch, Ham, Jake, and Ryder went to one of the smaller gyms that is not used very often. Ham found a pair of foils stored away. Apparently, the school used to have a team, but he didn't know why it was stopped. Giles had started a little fencing with Ham and Ryder, so they were going to try against Jake. Ryder was up first. Ham thought it would be challenging to time them, so he brought a stopwatch.
"Now I know you hate me, but go easy. I don't want to end up like Xander's dummy." Ryder pleaded.
"Don't worry I don't have the heart to kill you."
"Ready?" Ham asked, setting the watch.
"Ready!" Ryder and Jake replied.
"I think." Ryder added under his breath.
"Go!" Ham said.
Ryder and Jake attacked each other. The whole time, Ryder kept thinking, "please, don't kill me," over and over.
After five minutes, Jake pinned Ryder against the wall. "Your turn, Ham." Jake said.
Ryder exchanged the sword for the stopwatch. Ryder reset the time and Ham and Jake started.
As they fought, they didn't notice when a figure slipped in and watched. When Jake finally knocked the foil out of Ham's hand, the figure applauded.
The three turned to see Finn applauding. They were speechless.