I know I am a broken record by now, but again I apologize for the time lag between postings.

Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed.

All characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Chapter 18 Truths

"Hey Willow wait up!" Buffy called as she ran to catch up with her friend in the hall, relieved that Willow actually stopped and waited instead of dodging her.

"Hi Buffy. How was dinner with Faith last night?" She asked. Buffy could tell she was still not getting any sleep from the dark circles under her eyes, and was still stressed out by the way that she was twisting the strap on her book bag.

"It was good, Mom liked her. How are you holding up?" she asked with concern.

"Me? I'm fine. Haven't said anything to anyone." she stammered.

"Please tell me you haven't just locked yourself in your room all weekend." Buffy pleaded, knowing that was probably the case.

"No, I mean I was in my room, but I was just studying so I didn't have time to go out."

"Look Will, there's a vampire problem..."

"Spike?" Willow asked, panicked.

"No." Buffy hushed her and looked around to make sure no one heard that. "A different vampire I think it followed Faith here. As soon as he's taken care of I'll talk to Giles, promise."

"Okay, no big." Willow tried to say neutrally, though Buffy could tell it was.

"Buffy!" Giles voice called from behind them.

The color drained from Willow's face and her breathing sped up. Buffy said quietly. "I'll meet you in class." Then turned to face her Watcher. "Hi Giles!" she said brightly.

He watched Willow walk away as he approached. "Where is she off to?"

"Willow?" she stalled turning to watch her go. "Uh, um she said something about talking to our French teacher before first period." She turned back to Giles. "Did you need me?"

"I wanted to ask how patrolling with Faith went last night."

As she opened her mouth the bell rang. "Long story, can we meet at lunch?"

"Yes, of course." he agreed.

"Good and can you see if you can find out anything about a vamp named Kakistos?"

"Kakistos?" Giles was visibly shaken. "Why? Is he here in Sunnydale?"

"You've heard of him? Yeah, I think he and Faith have run into each other before." She looked at her watch. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you at lunch." she hurried off, leaving a very worried Giles standing in the hall.

Buffy discovered that Willow was okay as long as there was no one around she was actively keeping the secret from. But in the classes they shared with Xander, Cordelia or Oz she was a wreck and it didn't go unnoticed. Each of their friends asked Willow several times if she was all right, or in Cordelia's case "What's your deal?"

Just before lunch Buffy took Willow aside, making sure they were out of earshot of their friends Buffy whispered. "Will, if Oz promises to keep the secret you can tell him. Will that help?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Buffy, yeah, that will help a lot. I'm sure he can keep the secret."

"Since he hardly says anything I thought it would be safe with him." Buffy smiled warmly. "Now I have to go talk to Giles about that vamp I told you about."

"All right, I'm going to find Oz. Bye." She seemed a little more at ease.

When she got to the library she found Giles sitting at a table covered in books.

"All these are about Kakistos?" she asked, looking at the dusty tomes.

"He's mentioned in most of them, he's very old." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "And we have another problem..."

"Oh, good, because we're always short on those."

"Yes, quite." he smiled slightly at her sarcasm before looking somber. "It appears Faith's Watcher is dead."

"Kakistos?"

"It's a reasonable assumption. Did you see him?"

"No, but the vamps we were fighting worked for him. When they said his name Faith freaked out."

"Maybe they were just scouts, that may give us some time before he arrives in town." Giles offered hopefully.

She shook her head. "He's been seen in town and apparently he's sporting a new slayer's mark." Buffy supplied.

"Slayer's mark?" Apparently Giles hadn't heard of them either. He put his glasses on and studied her. She felt a ripple of panic, she had assumed he knew and had either not mentioned them to her or she wasn't paying attention when he did. She never thought he wouldn't know.

"Yeah, sometimes when a slayer fights a vampire a wound never fades, it leaves a scar." When he continued to look puzzled she added. "The scar on Spike's eyebrow is one."

"I see." He leaned forward in his chair. "You said he's been seen in town, by whom?"

Buffy contemplated lying to him. Telling him she had gotten the information from Willy, but she knew she was just postponing the inevitable. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then said, "Spike."

Giles did not seem surprised which puzzled her. "So he is here in town?"

She nodded.

"And you've been in contact with him?"

Another nod.

"And for reasons that defy all logic you've become infatuated with him." It was a statement not a question.

Her heart began to race. "What? How did you know?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "One of the unfortunate aspects of being your Watcher is having to be surrounded by teenagers. I have become rather adept at reading them." He straightened in his chair. "Since last week his name has come up several times and every time the corners of your mouth curl up and you blush."

"Oh." She had thought she had hidden it better than that.

He stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Buffy, I cannot fathom why you find yourself attracted to him, but remember who he is, what he's done. He's very dangerous."

"I know." she said softly.

"And I don't think I need to remind you that those around you can be placed in peril as well."

"No, you don't." She was surprised at how well he was taking this, no yelling, no declaration of disappointment, just reminding her of the dangers.

"Good, Buffy I know it's difficult, but just try to keep these things in mind before you embark upon what would surely be an ill-fated relationship." he said paternally.

That's why he's so calm, he doesn't realize his reasonable talk is too late.

"Giles," she had to clear her throat before she continued. "I'm afraid the ship has already left port."

"What?" he asked harshly, his hands tightening on her shoulders.

There's the anger. "I'm sorry Giles, but Spike and I are already seeing each other." she braced herself for his fury.

"How long has this been going on?" His hands left her shoulders and he shoved them in his pockets.

"Since last week."

"I say Buffy that seems awfully quick. He just comes into town and suddenly you're a couple. Spike has proven himself to be a dangerous and evil being." He studied her. "Are you sure that Drusilla hasn't played some mind trick on you? She's quite capable you know."

"What?" That wasn't something she had even considered. "Yes, I'm sure, I haven't seen Dru. Why would she even do that?"

"To trick you, to tempt you in so Spike will be in a position to kill you."

"If Spike wanted to kill me he's had ample opportunity."

"When?" he asked both surprised and angry.

"In L.A. to begin with."

"He was in L.A. with you?"

"Well he was in L.A. while I was in L.A., but I wouldn't say he was 'with' me then." She took a deep breath, quickly deciding how to edit the story. "I ran into him and tried to fight him, but he won. He knocked me out and let me live. Actually he did more than that. He could have left me lying in an alley in a very bad part of town, but he didn't. He made sure I was safe."

"That's not in character." Giles thought out loud. "Did he say why he was being so merciful?"

"I think he was curious. He asked me a lot of questions about how the battle between me and Angel ended. Then he let me go." There, that was all true and didn't go into the more embarrassing details. She took a deep breath. "But you know, I needed to talk through it, so it really helped me. If it weren't for him I'd probably still be there."

"And that was the last you saw of him until he came to town?"

"No, the next night he helped me find a guy who was missing and stop a group of demons that were enslaving homeless teens."

"Why did he do that?"

"He was in L.A. looking for Dru." At Giles puzzled expression she elaborated. "She was mad at him for helping me stop the whole Acathla thing, so she left him. He was trying to track her down and thought maybe she was the one who took the boy so we worked together."

"And why did he come to Sunnydale?"

"Again, to look for Dru. As part of our truce I told him he could come to town and, as long as he didn't kill anyone, I would let him look for her."

"So you've let him roam Sunnydale for the past two weeks based on his promise not to kill anyone?" Outrage creeping into his voice.

"He's kept all his promises to me even when there'd be no consequences if he didn't." she shrugged. "Maybe I'm being stupid or foolish, but for right now I trust him."

"Well I do think it's foolish." he said unapologetically. "I can't condone this relationship. It puts you and everyone around you in danger. Have you even considered what might happen when you break up?"

She noticed he said when not if. "We actually discussed it. He said he's not into elaborate revenge scenarios. That once it's over between us he won't come hunting you all down." she said quietly, not wanting to think about the end.

"And of course you believed him." Giles scoffed.

"Yes! I believed him." she replied angrily. "That's what you do when you care about someone, you trust them, until they give you a reason not to."

He switched to a more cajoling tone. "Buffy, I'm just concerned that due to your naivete you might be easily taken in."

"Like you and Ms Calendar?" She asked sharply.

Giles looked like she had slapped him. "Buffy, that is hardly the same thing." he said defensively.

"Isn't it? You trusted her, we all did. But she wasn't what she pretended to be. If she had been honest with us we might have been able to find out sooner about Angel's curse. But we didn't find out until it was too late." She took a deep breath. "Maybe I'm wrong about Spike. But you've noticed yourself that I've been happy lately. He makes me happy. Don't I deserve a little happiness?"

"Of course you do Buffy." he softened. "I just think you'll be able to find it elsewhere."

"With someone I have to keep my secret from? Someone I have to constantly worry about getting hurt or killed? Somebody I have to hold back with so I don't crush them if I hug them too hard?" she challenged.

"Buffy." he said with impatience. "You're just looking at the negatives. There are many reasons to date a boy your own age. Similar experiences, mutual interests."

"Like what? Hanging around graveyards? Prowling dark alleys? Fighting? Being killed and coming back?" she asked bitterly. "I have more in common with Spike than anyone at this school."

"Buffy,..." he began, but despite his mouth moving he couldn't find any words to form.

"You know I'm right Giles, admit it."

"No. Now look Buffy, I know a new relationship can be heady and exciting and I imagine the element of danger here makes it all the more tantalizing. But you have to look at the big picture, think about your future." he reasoned.

Placing her hands flat on the table she bowed her head, her shoulders hunched. She shook her head slowly back and forth. "My future?" she laughed sadly. "Do I even have one?"

"Of course..."

"Really? Because what's the average life expectancy of a Slayer? Kendra didn't make it a year. I've been the Slayer for about three years now, where do I fit on the Slayer mortality bell curve?" His face darkened and he dropped his eyes. She knew he wondered the same thing, or maybe he knew she was already on the downwards slope. She thumbed through the pages of a book. "When will you open a book and find another prophesy that says when I'm going to die?" She flipped to a random page, her finger pointing to a line of text. "Oh look, here it says the Slayer will die a week from Tuesday." She flipped to another page. "Wait it says here she has until Valentine's day. I guess I won't have to worry about getting a date." She grabbed another book and opened it. "Oh this one says May 22nd, 2011. But that's another two and a half years from now so they must be talking about a different Slayer because what are the odds I'll last that long?" She looked up at him and softened her voice. "Giles, I might be dead tomorrow, all I'm looking for is a little happiness today. Is that too much to ask?"

Giles raised his head but did not turn to look at her, instead he stared off at the stacks. "Does your mother know?" he asked quietly and Buffy knew that, while he may never condone the relationship, he wouldn't try to forbid it. At least for now she had won.

She sighed, "No, not yet, I'll tell her soon though." She smiled. "I think it will be easier since she seems to like him."

Now he looked at her. "When has your mother met Spike?" he asked in confusion.

"Three times actually. She hit him on the head with an axe when he attacked the school, then when we were calling our truce so I could rescue you, and last night." she ticked them off on her fingers.

"Last night?"

"He stopped by last night after I got back from patrol. They talked for like an hour over hot chocolate."

"I'm sorry?" Giles asked for confirmation that he had heard her correctly.

"Exactly." Buffy said. "That was pretty much what I was thinking the whole time. But he turned on the charm and told her a fairly sanitized version of his travels. Kept her up past midnight, would have kept going too if I hadn't interrupted before he got to when he was hanging out with Andy Warhol at some factory."

"Spike knew Andy Warhol?" Giles looked impressed despite himself.

"At least the way he tells it. Apparently he palled around with all sorts of celebrities." she began counting them off. "Andy Warhol, Sid Vicious, Nancy somebody, Billy Idol, who apparently stole the hairstyle from Spike not the other way around."

"And you don't think he's just making it up?"

"He could be, but he told me basically the same string of events before, just with some gorier moments thrown in." she shrugged. "Either way he tells a good story."

"And your mother knows he's a vampire?"

"Yeah, she found out the night I told her I was the Slayer."

"So she was fine just sitting there having cocoa with him?"

"I think since I didn't treat him as a threat she assumed he was okay."

"And what excuse did you give for him being at your house?"

"Spike told her we were working on some plan together. One that required everyone to think he was still the enemy. She seemed to buy it."

"I'm not comfortable with you keeping the truth from her. She is your mother..." she could tell he was winding up for a big lecture.

She cut him off. "I'm going to tell her soon. It just seems to me that we have a bigger problem right now."

"And that would be?" he asked, annoyed at the interruption.

"Kakistos."

"Oh." Apparently her love life had pushed all thoughts of the ancient vampire from his mind. He looked momentarily flustered at his oversight. "Yes, you're right of course. I guess some kind of plan is in order. What was Spike able to tell you about him?"

"Just that he's old, cruel and dangerous, also the whole pig hands and Slayer's mark thing." She was trying to remember what else he had said on the phone. "Oh yeah, he said he ran into him in the warehouse district. That he had some sort of base of operations there. Spike spoke to him briefly, Kakistos asked about Slayers in town."

"Well at least he can supply some useful information." Giles conceded. "So what do you think the best approach will be?"

"I'll find Faith, then we can scope out the area, hopefully before dark."

"Do you know which warehouse?"

"No, I didn't think to ask, but I'll see what I can find out." She glanced at the pile of books on the table. "Any special weaknesses you could find?"

"The books don't mention anything, so I assume the normal methods will work."

"Hopefully he won't be expecting both of us. Spike told him I may be gone since no one had seen me all summer and none of the guys we fought last night got away to tell him any different."

"The element of surprise would be helpful, but we mustn't count on it." The bell rang signifying the end of lunch. "Check back with me this afternoon, I'll keep researching."

"Okay, and Giles?" she waited until he looked at her. "Thank you for caring enough to worry about me."

"I always will."