The only safe place he knew was his own, and he managed to keep her precariously perched form from falling off his motorcycle as he drove slowly down the back streets to his apartment. He marveled at how light she was as he carried her up the stairs to his door. 'Almost nothing to her. Wonder how she's able to handle herself so well.' He gently laid her over his shoulder as he unlocked and opened his door to his tiny, one room apartment. Needing no light, he quickly placed her on his bed.

He set to work treating her wound. He didn't dare remove her shirt, instead he tore wider the hole the Balcam demon had made. He cleaned the area as best he could, thankful that her Slayer healing prevented it from bleeding further. He covered both her wounds with washcloths, all the while certain it was unnecessary. As he was finishing up, she came to. Violently. She started thrashing in his bed. He held her down and shushed her.

"Buffy? Buffy, calm down. You're ok."

"Wha.....unh.....Where am I? William? Is that you?"

William chuckled as he released her and flipped on his nightstand lamp. "Sorry, luv. Forgot you humans need light."

"Where am I? What happened?"

William slid a little further up the bed. "You don't remember? Balcam demon gave you a pretty good hole in the shoulder there. But it should heal up quick enough." William looked down shyly as he started to adjust the washcloth on her wound. "Don't really have any proper supplies. Sorry."

Buffy looked down at her injury. "Don't worry about it. It should start healing on its own anyway. You shouldn't have ruined perfectly good washcloths." Buffy smiled a bit.

William shook his head. "No, not just that. Sorry that I.....I should have been faster. Could have helped you. Should have killed mine sooner. Didn't know.....'m sorry, Buffy."

Buffy sat up gingerly, trying not to rest too much weight on her injured arm. "Are you serious? I'm the Slayer. The Slayer doesn't need anyone's help." At William's questioning glance toward her shoulder, she amended, "Well, mostly. And, hey, if you hadn't been there, I'd be dead. I mean, maybe I'm supposed to be dead right now, and you've just upset the balance, but I guess we'll deal with that later." Buffy tried to get a smile out of him. He only frowned. "Hey, just kidding. I've died before. World seems to be trucking along like always."

William's eyes went wide. "You've died before? How's that?"

Buffy nodded her head. "Yeah, twice, actually. But the first time I was just gone for a few minutes and my friend revived me. Second time, that was a doozy. I was dead and buried."

William shook his head. "You're not a vampire. I'd have noticed."

Buffy chuckled. "Good deduction, Sherlock. No, I'm not a vampire. I, uh, well, it's complicated and to be honest I don't understand it all myself. But I died a 'mystical death', whatever that means. Dead is dead. But anyway, my friends, a couple of whom are also witches, did a spell and brought me back. So here I am!"

"Wow. When was this?"

Buffy's face fell. "Not long ago."

"How long have you been back?"

"Look, no offense, but it's not really one of my favorite topics."

William mentally kicked himself for prying. "Of course, sorry." He looked down at his hands and shirt, covered in Buffy's blood. "Do you mind if I.....um, just really quickly.....I gotta wash this blood off me. It's driving me crazy."

"Oh, yeah, of course. I guess I should take that as a compliment. But I bet any kind of blood would do that....."

William shook his head. "Not really. It's not just that it's human blood, but it's Slayer blood. That's got its very own kind of.....attraction."

"Oh....."

"I won't be but a minute. Try not to move around too much, don't want you reopening that wound."

"Right."

William emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. He had taken a quick shower and was looking very yummy to Buffy. The clean shirt he wore was open as he ran a comb through his wet hair. Buffy decided that getting caught ogling him would not be good, so she looked around for something to occupy herself. She noticed a large crucifix, about a foot long, lying on William's nightstand. There was a small towel covering half of it. She picked it up.

"Strange collectible for a vampire to have." She looked at William who seemed a bit stunned.

"Uh, well, yeah, I guess it is." William ran both his hands through his just-combed hair.

Buffy frowned. "William, why do you have a cross by your bed? Probably not because you like to say your prayers every night."

William shrugged and put his boot up on the bed, paying close attention to tying it up just right. Now that he was so close, Buffy noticed something. She reached over and pulled his shirt open further. There were marks on his chest the size and shape of the cross she was holding. Some were fading, some more fresh. William quickly grabbed his shirt closed and turned his back to her as he buttoned it.

"William?"

William turned to her with a big smile. "Hey, it's late. Your people are probably worried sick. No need to keep them waiting. Let me give you a ride home. Are you ok to ride the motorcycle?"

Buffy looked at him for a long moment, then decided not to push him. "Yeah, I think I'm good."

"Ok, then. Away we go. Oh! Let me get you a different shirt." William turned toward his dresser.

"No, really. No need to bloody up another one. I'll be fine until I get home."

"Oh, alright."

After giving William directions to her house, Buffy settled herself in behind him on the bike. She wrapped her good arm around his waist and tried to casually rest her head against his back. They both took a moment to enjoy the sensation of being so close to the other before William started up his motorcycle and took off for her house.

After what they both felt was a too short ride, William pulled up to the curb in front of Buffy's house. When he killed the engine, she got off the bike carefully, making sure not to jostle her arm.

"Um, you wanna come in?" Buffy asked bashfully.

William smiled. "It's late and you could probably use the rest. Another time?"

Buffy nodded, disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Absolutely. And just for the record, you have a standing invitation."

William raised an eyebrow at this. "That a smart idea, luv? Giving a vampire an open invitation?"

Buffy shrugged. "Are you going to sneak into my house and kill me and/or mine?"

"Hadn't made any plans, no," William chuckled.

"Then I figure it's safe. So, I'll see you tomorrow. Regular time?"

"No, luv. You take the night off. Get good and healed."

Buffy gave a pout. "I'm not taking the night off. It's my job, not yours. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

William nodded. "Right then, have it your way. Stubborn girl," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Nothing. You feel better, pet."

"No, I'm sure you said something," Buffy persisted.

William started up his motorcycle, revving it loudly. "Sorry. What? Can't hear you." William made an apologetic face and pointed to the motorcycle.

Buffy rolled her eyes. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Look, buddy, I know perfectly well you can hear me, so listen close: I'm the Slayer, you're the vampire. I don't need anyone protecting me. You helped me out today and I'm grateful. But don't let that make you think you can go all Cro-Magnon on me."

William's look of surprise told Buffy that he had heard exactly what she said. He mouthed the words "Cro-Magnon" over the roar of the engine. Buffy nodded and folded her arms. The action, however, resulted in a great deal of pain in her injured shoulder. When William saw her wince, he moved to get off the motorcycle, but Buffy's glare stayed him.

"I'm fine. Now go home, Cro-Magnon."

William shook his head but couldn't help smiling. He gave her a little wink, and she graced him with a small smile of her own before he pulled away into the street.

The next night, Buffy showed up at precisely 10 o'clock, despite William's suggestion that she take the night off. When he saw her sauntering up to the cemetery gates, William couldn't help but shake his head. 'Stubborn.'

When Buffy reached him, she held up her hand, "I don't want to hear it. I'm here, I'm fine, so let's patrol."

William smiled then bowed with a flourish, allowing her to lead the way. "And how is the lovely Slayer tonight?"

"The lovely Slayer is just fine. Thank you for asking. And the lovely vampire?" Buffy grinned.

William cocked his eyebrow. "Dunno, next time I see Angel, I'll ask."

Buffy giggled. "Aww, you think he's lovely. You so totally want him."

William's eyes narrowed. "I don't think he's lovely, I just meant....pfft, sod it. You know what I meant."

Buffy tried to contain her laughter. "Hey, you know, if you want to explore your sexuality, I'm all for that. I have friends who're gay, so I'm totally supportive of alternative lifestyles."

William stopped walking and turned to her, his eyes wide now. "Explore.....I'll explore your sexuality if you're not care-......um well, I mean, I don't mean that I'd....that is to say....."

Buffy started laughing full force now. William just clenched his jaw and crossed his arms, waiting for her to compose herself. After about a minute, William lost his patience and started walking ahead of her. Buffy finally got her breath back and jogged to catch him

"Stop, I'm sorry, it's just that....that was too funny!" Buffy's chuckles were lessening a bit.

William stopped and nodded his head, clearly not amused. "Uh huh. Anyway, can we get to work here?"

"Absolutely, yes. Work-mode Buffy, at your service. Ready to dust any vamps that come my way. Present company excluded, of course," Buffy smiled.

William gave a little grin himself. "Of course." They started walking again.

"Oh! I completely forgot yesterday. I was wondering if you'd like to come over tomorrow for dinner, before patrol. My family's request, really. They'd like to meet the guy that I spend most of my nights with," Buffy chuckled.

"Your family? I thought you said there was just your sister....."

Buffy shrugged. "Well, she's the only real family I have-and even that's a long story-but my friends are all as close as family to me."

William nodded. "Uh, sure. That sounds nice. What time?" 'No, no, no! Meeting the family. Dinner. Badness lies that way, Mate.'

"Um, 7-ish, I guess?"

"Alright, 7-ish it is."

They only encountered a few vamps throughout the patrol, most of which William took the lead on, doing his best to keep Buffy out of action. Buffy noticed, but didn't say anything. Despite her rant to him the night before, she kind of enjoyed the chivalry. For some reason it was annoying when Angel did it, but with William it was sweet. Buffy didn't even want to think about why that was. And she was rather grateful, since her shoulder wasn't as healed as she tried to pretend.

On the last leg of the patrol, Buffy had gotten rather quiet. William noticed immediately. "What's wrong, luv? Something on your mind?" He was really hoping she wouldn't chastise him for not letting her have much action. He didn't want to get in that argument right now.

Buffy sighed and stopped walking. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

William stopped and frowned. "Well, you can always ask. Can't guarantee I'll answer though."

Buffy looked up at him, then away quickly. "Well, last night....the cross and....well....why?" The last part she said very quietly.

William took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He unconsciously reached inside his pocket for his cigarettes. When he opened his eyes again, he looked over at Buffy briefly. Remembering his promise, he clenched his jaw and put away his cigarettes. William turned his back to Buffy and ran a hand through his hair. "Well....I'm not sure it's something you can really understand, luv."

"I can try," Buffy offered.

William sighed. He turned back to Buffy, but couldn't look her in the eyes. "The thing is.....before I got my soul...." William's voice broke a bit. "Before I got my soul, I was....evil. Very, very evil. I did things....terrible things that I'm not sure they have a name for to this day. And I was never brought to book for those things. Never made to pay. Never made to hurt like I'd hurt all those people. The massive guilt trip doesn't even begin to cover it. So I...." William shook his head.

Buffy reached up and put her hand on William's arm. He looked up at her. "So you hurt yourself? Because you think you deserve it?"

William nodded. His eyes started tearing up and he quickly looked away from Buffy. He didn't pull away from her, nor did she remove her hand. Overcome with sympathy and sadness for him, Buffy reached up and hugged William. He was stunned still for a moment, but slowly returned the embrace.