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Sorry this is a little short, but I really wanted to get something out. Thanks so much to all those reviewing and that have this on alert and favourite.

Chapter Twelve

Three months had passed since Buffy and Spike had parted ways. Spike still missed her despite himself, but that all-encompassing anger he had felt initially had dulled somewhat. He was still avoiding her as much as their jobs would allow and thankfully their meetings had been few and far between. Her pregnancy had meant her role in the Council was a more advisory one for the time being. No doubt she would be Slayer Numero Uno again once she had given birth. She was very pregnant now and seeing her with her rounded belly still managed to hurt him. She looked gorgeous, even as heavily pregnant as she was. She was as beautiful as ever and her breasts, normally small and pert, were more rounded. He had been surprised that she hadn't immediately run back to Angel. Maybe he had been wrong, but even if Buffy didn't want the Poof, he would still be a huge part of her life. Spike knew he was better off staying the well away from her. Still, there were lonely moments when he wondered if he had made the right decision.

It was a Tuesday night and Spike was after arriving at Slayer central for a meeting. He was walking through the corridor when he heard a familiar laugh coming from one the rooms. Buffy. He hadn't been expecting to see the slayer, as she hardly worked nights anymore. He couldn't resist peering in the glass of the door. He knew he shouldn't but when did he ever do what he should? What he saw cut deeper than he imagined an innocent little look could; Angel was in the room with her. Angel was looking in awe at Buffy's stomach and had his hand lain upon it.

He spoke with a grin upon his face. "The baby's moving."

Buffy just laughed again and it was a joyful laugh that made Spike feel like his insides were being cut open. In a fit of blind rage he nearly rushed over to them. He would have too if it weren't for a firm hand on his shoulder. He spun around only to meet the sympathetic gaze of Rupert Giles.

"Come with me," urged the watcher and Spike went unresisting. He didn't take much notice of where he was being led. When they finally stopped it was outside Giles' office and the watcher gestured that he should go inside. Spike sighed and obeyed without knowing why he was doing it.

"You should sit."

Spike shook his head and leaned against the wall. "Prefer to stand. What are you doing this for?" He wondered what Giles was playing at? Was he about to warn him to keep away from Buffy? Was he going to tell him to let her have her normal life at last?

The watcher spoke again as he sat down at his desk. "You looked like you needed to talk before you did something you might regret later."

He looked incredulously at the man. Was that pity from the man that once tried to off him?

Giles continued seemingly oblivious to Spike's growing anger. "And I'm sorry for being a bit of berk to you when it was Buffy that hurt you."

Spike's blue eyes blazed in fury. "I don't need any pity, Rupert, especially from you."

Giles shook his head. "It's not pity. As much as I'm loath to admit it, I'd prefer you to be with her than Angel any day."

Spike raised a questioning brow at that. "Even a human Angel?"

If that first pronouncement was surprising to him; it was nothing compared to what Giles said next. "Yes - even as a human, I don't trust him."

Spike shook his head sadly. "I appreciate the sentiment, Rupes, but it doesn't change a bloody thing."

Giles nodded. "No it doesn't. Angel's involvement would put paid to that even if you were willing to forgive her."

The two lapsed into silence. Giles and he had never been friends and never would. Nevertheless, he was glad that he wasn't the only one to see Angel for the bastard that he was.

The scene Spike had witnessed at Slayer Central was the first he had heard of Peaches being in town. It wasn't until the next day that he heard from Dawn that Angel had moved nearby. According to Dawn, Angel hadn't yet moved in with Buffy and there was nothing more than friendship between them, but that was little balm to his pain. Spike was careful to avoid any contact whatsoever with his newly human grandsire. He didn't know if he could trust himself to not lose control especially after that particular occasion where he almost had. The other unusual occurrence of that night was that memorable conversation with Giles. Since that night his respect for the Watcher had grown. It seemed Giles had learned something about vampires at last. Giles had asked him to call over to his apartment as he had a proposition for him that he would rather discuss in private. He knocked on the Watcher's door and Giles answered promptly letting him in.

"Would you like a drink? A whiskey perhaps?"

"This must be serious business when you're offering me a stiff drink."

Giles handed him a tumbler of the amber liquid, which Spike accepted gratefully. "I have a proposition for you. We're in dire need of a full time trainer for the younger Slayers since Buffy was forced to step down from her duties due to her condition."

The vampire almost spat out his drink. "You're not serious!"

Giles nodded. "Perfectly."

Spike eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you want me to fill in? Wouldn't it make more sense to promote one of the slayers?"

The watcher shook his head. "Vi and Leah haver performed admirably for the past few weeks filling in, but they have their own duties to attend to. Besides, I wish to have a more seasoned and experienced fighter. Only Faith would have the experience that I'm looking for and she is needed in Cleveland and has her own bunch of slayers. Moreover, I don't think she'd take well to the younger ones."

"And I would?" Spike scoffed.

"You managed to take care of Dawn well enough. With hindsight I can see that you did a lot more than the rest of us did that summer. You seem to have an affinity for the young. They respect you and think you're… What's the word I'm looking for. Ah yes. They think you're cool."

The vampire scoffed. "I'm no Mother Hen."

"They don't need a Mother Hen. They need somebody to look up to. You can show them the other side so to speak. Having killed two slayers, I believe, there is a lot of wisdom you can impart to them."

"You've gone around the bend, Watcher." The vampire wondered what the hell had gotten into Giles. "I already have a job that I happen to be good at. Why would I want to jack it in and shackle myself to gaggle of little girls?"

"You can continue with your own job. We only need you for a couple of hours every week and I know you're not getting much for your freelance translation work. I will match Buffy's pay and you won't have to do the paperwork involved. I'll get you a secretary for that."

He looked Giles in the eye searching for some ulterior motive. He could find none. "You forget I know what a paltry sum that was. If you think I'll put up with teenage hormones for that then you must have a screw loose. Or maybe you have a screw loose asking me to do this anyway?"

He was only bluffing. It was too good an offer to refuse when his demon hunting contracts were few and far between at the minute and his translation work for the council was practically for free.

"Please, Spike, think about it. I think this could truly benefit both of us."

The vampire couldn't understand why the watcher wanted him to do this so much. He did need the money. What he was getting at the moment didn't amount to much and it would give him something to do besides drinking and fighting.

Spike took a deep breath and exhaled. "If any of them give me doe eyes I'm out of there."

Spike had his first class the following Monday and he was determined to make it memorable. When he saw that some of the chits were gossiping among themselves casting him pitying looks, he decided that needed to stop. He would make them despise him. By the time he was done the bints would be glaring malevolently at him. He smirked.

"Girls!"

The chattering died away and they all looked in his direction.

"Now before any of you thinks the norm for vampires is to twinkle like stars, then you've got something coming. Vampires are monsters, not fluffy vegetarians. They want to eat you."

He looked around daring any of them to respond.

"I'd like him to eat me," one of the girls muttered under her breath. The other girls standing beside her erupted into a fit of giggles.

"Is that so? Now which one of you silly bints doesn't realise that vampires have super hearing?"

None of the slayers answered.

"Lesson number one always have your weapon in your hand, because we already have ours." He vamped out for emphasis and was satisfied to see several of the girls flinch in response. "Now which one of you thinks it would be fun to get killed by a vamp?"

To be continued…