Disclaimers: All the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon.

Chapter 28: Testing times part two

The school gym. Quentin had made sure that the windows were blocked out and that there was at least two watchers on guard at all times outside the gym. Buffy was so nervous at what he wanted to test her on that she had turned a certain shade of green. Luckily for her he tested Spike and her friends first. Xander failed miserably, falling on his arse and he looked like he had been in a fight with a bull at the end of it. Willow came off just as bad as him. Now Faith on the other hand surprised everyone at how good she was. At this point all the watchers seemed to be taking a lot of notes. The older slayer noticed this. Then it was Spike's turn. Quentin especially loved testing his fellow watcher's son. His ability was incredible. Buffy gulped as she watched on. How did he get so good? The vampire smirked as he watched him being tested. The older Buffy stared at the vampire and he flashed her a toothy grin, which she rolled her eyes at. Quentin excused the teen. Turning to Buffy he smiled.

"Miss Summers, your next," he informed her

Yet another gulp. A man came up behind her and blindfolded the petite blonde.

"Ohhh," she shouted in surprise

"Agility, clarity, stamina and strength...these are the qualities that the Slayer must possess to do her job,"

Nigel finished tying the blindfold around Buffy's head. Giles, both Spike's, the gang and the other Watchers were standing around. This situation seemed vaguely familiar to the other slayer and she clicked. This is exactly the same thing they did to her not so many days ago. She went to interrupt but decided not to. Even the same people were there.
"What came after agility?" she said

"If you want her to attack the dummy-" Giles started but was interrupted by Quentin

"No, no. Philip will attack the dummy," Philip was standing next to the dummy in a black karate robe.

"The Slayer's job is to protect it, Do you understand?"

"Protect the dummy," she verified

"As if it were precious. Now, getting the best of Philip will require agility. Listening to my instructions at the same time, that will demonstrate clarity. And stamina and strength will win the long fight. Good luck,"

"Instructions?"

"Yes, I'll be telling you what to do, how to counter Philip's attack. We assume you're familiar with the Japanese names for aikido and jiu-jitsu moves,"

What? Japanese? Oh no.

"Japanese?" the worry was evident in her voice

The second watcher clicked a stopwatch.

"And, go!"

"Whoa, hold on a second. We uh, you know in America, we usually just work our way up to go,"

Philip bowed toward Buffy. He was holding a short axe. Travers spoke in Japanese. Buffy furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Huh?"

"He wants you to bow. Take a bow," Giles translated

"Oh,"

The teen bowed. Philip circled around her. Buffy followed his movements. He thrust at the dummy and Buffy blocked. Then she kicked at him and misses. She spun around and blocked his overhead punch. More instructions from Travers. Philip punched Buffy in the face.

"Punch him," Giles informed her all too late

"Thanks, Giles,"

"Sorry,"

Yet more Japanese.

"Uh...back kick, elbow-" Buffy back-kicked and Philip moved out of the way. She thrust with her elbow and he avoided it. This test seemed pretty unfair to the rest of them. The vampire never really got a look in when the older slayer had to do this and so far he was impressed. "...elbow...strike," Quentin spoke to Giles, not taking his eyes away from Buffy.
"How have you been training her?" he queried Giles sighed.
"I've trained her to win...she has only been active for a few months possibly less than that, so if her moves are not up to your standards do not blame her,"

Quentin chuckled slightly.

"No, on the contrary, I blame you Mr Giles,"

Buffy huffed and looked annoyed.

"You know what? I'm gonna have to do it my way, guys...(quietly) even if I'm rubbish,"

Philip swung the weapon and she ducked. He lifted it for an overhead blow and Buffy grabbed the handle, kicked him in the stomach, forced him back against the training horse and elbowed him in the face. He tumbled backward over the horse, losing his grip on the weapon. The momentum pulled it out of Buffy's hands and it flew backward to land in the dummy's chest, knocking the dummy backward into Nigel. He fell to the floor with the dummy on top of him. Buffy turned around, pulling the blindfold off, looking rather sheepish and apologetic. Watcher two knelled by Nigel and clicked the stopwatch.

"Uh-oh,"

The others helped Philip up.

"I think she just broke my rib," he grimaced
"Yes, well,"
"I didn't mean to. Um, you know, I, I can do better...sorry?" The watchers just looked at her.

Here she stood. Face to face. Toe to toe with the vampire version of her crush! He seemed muscular and in a sense, not totally true but a bit better looking, like he held himself with an air of confidence and attitude that William didn't have. Spike sucked in his cheeks and grinned at how shy she was. The scoobies, watchers, Dawn and Buffy sat a fair distance away. Willow made a tiny noise, sounded like a squeal and started to talk in a hushed tone.

"How can they do this? He's killed two slayers you know!"

Xander shrugged.

"Maybe they need someone to dust him..." he offered

Buffy frowned. She was dreading seeing this. Ok, he couldn't fight her fully but still. The woman watcher coughed, scoobies turned around to see her press her finger to her lips. Quentin made his way over to the pair.

"Now this is a test and only a test, keep it as fang free as possible shall we?"

Spike grinned at Travers.

"I'll keep it fang free if Goldilocks keeps it stake free," he stipulated

Buffy gulped. Spike noticed how nervous she was looking. Maybe she needed a reminder that he couldn't hurt her. Smiling to himself he put on his game face and made an attack for the teen aged slayer. Almost instantaneously he is brought up short by a crippling brain seizure. Buffy jumped back in shock. Turning back to his human guise and now rubbing his temple to relieve the pain he turned to look at the other Buffy then back at the younger one.

"If there's intent to hurt you, then that chip they shoved in my noggin activates. If, on the other hand...,"

He began to throw feigned punches, Buffy blocking each one, just.

"See (continues to fight her) the thing about the dance is, you never get to stop,"

He grabbed to ken do sticks and threw one at Buffy. Spike flipped the stick up and spun it.

"Every day you wake up, it's the same bloody question that haunts you: is today the day I die?"

He brought the stick down in a vicious arc and Buffy counter-attacked, enraged. Spike grinned. Now that was the slayer he knew.

"Death is on your heels, baby, and sooner or later it's gonna catch you, And part of you wants it... not only to stop the fear and uncertainty, but because you're just a little bit in love with it,"

Buffy had heard enough. She backhanded Spike across the face.

"Death is your art. You make it with your hands, day after day,"

Buffy stared at him, her face a blank mask.

"That final gasp. That look of peace. Part of you is desperate to know: What's it like? Where does it lead you? And now you see, that's the secret. Not the punch you didn't throw or the kicks you didn't land. Every Slayer... has a death wish, (looks to the other Buffy) Even you,"

Spike tossed his stick to the side and made his way out of the room, leaving Buffy stunned and scared. The watchers informed them that they had passed and that they would send them the report once it had been done. Eventually the only people left in the gym were Buffy and William. She made her way over to the benches and he handed her a bottle of water.

"Thanks,"

The water went down quicker than anything and William noticed that she was shaking. He put his hand on her arm.

"You okay Summers?" he asked

She nodded at his kindness and smiled.

"Yea, I'm good, only thing left to tackle now is the talent show," she grimaced

Buffy wasn't the only one dreading it. William didn't want to do it. There was something about Buffy that seemed different. She was twitchy and had that look in her eye saying 'I'm totally wired' that or 'I'm completely high'

"You know watching you and the other me fighting has left me with feeling the need to go and kick some demon ass, up for it?...promise I'll get you home in one piece," he tried to persuade her

Buffy thought it over for a minute. Patrolling with Spike, after school. Sounds a lot like a date but not a date. No way was she missing out on this quality time with him. Grabbing her coat she smiled.

"You're on,"

As they were walking out William spoke.

"I mean, it's not like I'm some dangerous vampire, who has killed two slayers and has a chip up my brain,"

Buffy pushed him playfully on the arm.

Hey guys what do you think? Sorry it took me ages to update but i had major writers block. Please enjoy. Thanks for the reviews so far and keep it up!