Truce

“Buffy, we need to have a talk,” Joyce said.
“Have you been up this whole time waiting for me?” Buffy asked.
“Yes, now sit down. I’ll make us some hot chocolate,” Joyce instructed.
Buffy sat down at the table, “You should have gone to bed, it’s like way early, or late I guess.”
“Last time I checked, I was the adult. It’s you who should have been in bed hours ago. I understand that you have to do the Slaying, but it really is becoming a burden,” Joyce said.
“It’s my calling, mom. It’s not like I can call in sick. I’ve already tried that one, Giles didn’t like it very much,” Buffy said.
Joyce joined her daughter at the table. She handed a steaming mug to Buffy. “I don’t like you going off on you own, and especially not to L.A. That is a very dangerous place, Buffy. The note was a very immature way to handle things.”
“Because living on a Hellmouth is so much safer,” Buffy replied, “Look, mom. I know this is hard for you. I’d love to tell you that it’s just a phase, that I’ll grow out of it, but I can’t. The only time I’m out of the calling is to die, and I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon. I’ve been forced to grow up a lot faster than I would have liked, but seeing what I’ve seen kinda forces adulthood on you.”
“An adult would not have just left a note, Buffy,” Joyce scolded.
Buffy rolled her eyes, “You’re right, mom. An adult wouldn’t have had to tell anyone where they were going. Besides, you’re an adult and you leave me notes all the time when you’ve left.”
“That is different, Buffy. I leave for my job, to provide food, clothes, shelter…for you,” Joyce challenged.
“Exactly. I went to L.A. because of my job. It might not put food on the table or pay the bills, but it saves the world so that there is a table for you to put the food on. I don’t expect you to understand what I do, or why I do it, because, honestly, I don’t always understand why I do what I do. I’d love to be just another teenager, not knowing about what actually goes bump in the night. I don’t have that luxury. I bear the weight of the world, and no one can help me,” Buffy said.
“I’ll admit that your job, your ‘calling’ is important, but it doesn’t change my feelings. You may be the Chosen One, the Slayer, but you are first and foremost my daughter, no calling will ever change that,” Joyce said.
Buffy regarded her mother for a moment. She had such presence. There was no room for argument, nothing Buffy could say would change her mother’s mind. Summers women were known for being stubborn, her mother was no exception. The determination in her mother’s eyes brought out a renewed respect for her mother. “I’m sorry. I should have handled the whole thing differently. Next time I need to leave, I’ll talk to you first. You know, you can’t exactly keep me from leaving, right?”
“I know that, Buffy. I can’t help but want to. I’m supposed to keep you safe, to fight the monsters in your closet, not the other way around. I can’t stop being your mother,” Joyce said.
“I understand, and I don’t want you to stop being my mother. I like having a mother,” Buffy said.
“You should really get some sleep now. You have school in a few hours,” Joyce said.
“I love you, mom,” Buffy said. She hugged her mother tightly before walking up the stairs to her bedroom.
Buffy stretched her legs before climbing into her welcoming bed, thoughts consumed by the ring she still had in her pocket.
She was sitting on the edge of Giles’ bathtub, staring down a Spike, who was chained to the tub.
“So…you saw their faces but you can’t describe them?” Buffy asked.
“They were human, two eyes…kinda in the middle,” Spike retorted.
“Uh huh, and the lab?”
“Underground,” Spike sighed, “I came out through an air vent. I don’t know exactly where. I’m done. Put the telly on.”
Buffy heard Giles walk in, probably carrying the pig’s blood for Spike.
“It’s about time. Hope you got it warm enough,” Spike said to the Watcher.
Giles handed the mug to Buffy. She wrinkled her nose at it before placing the straw within Spike’s reach. Spike greedily sucked on the straw. She gagged slightly before turning her head away.
“I don’t know why you’re so dainty all of the sudden. You’ve done this for Angel – you must have,” Spike said. Spike hurriedly returned his lips to the straw, just in time for Buffy to snatch away the mug.
“Hey! Give it!” the vampire said, the straw dangling from his mouth.
“Ok, that’s it. The invalid amnesiac routine is over. The kitchen is closed until you can tell me something useful about the commandos.”
Beyond pissed at this point, Spike was tired of playing nice captive, “I’m trying to remember, it was very traumatic.”
Irritated Buffy replied, “How long are you going to pull this crap?”
“How long am I going to live once I tell you?” Spike shot back.
Tiring of their endless banter, Giles interceded, “Look, look, Spike – we have no intention of killing a harmless, um…creature…but we have to know what’s been done to you. We can’t let you go until we’re sure that you’re impotent – ”
“Hey!” the indignant vampire shouted.
“Sorry, poor choice of words. Until we’re sure you’re, you’re…”
“Flaccid?” Buffy offered.
“You are one step away, missy,” Spike gritted out.
“Giles, help! He’s going to scold me,” Buffy retorted.
Spike, in an effort to maintain his dignity, growled and reached out to grab the offending Slayer; his attempts were thwarted by the chains, making his movements…comical.
“You know what? I don’t think you want us to let you go. Maybe we made it a little too comfy in here for ya,” Buffy said as she squatted next to the tub, her face close to Spike’s.
“Comfy?” Spike asked, “I'm chained in a bathtub drinkin' pig's blood from a novelty mug. Doesn't rank huge in the Zagut's Guide.”
“You want something nicer?” Buffy teased, she bent her head to the side, exposing her neck to the deprived vampire, “A look at my…poor neck? All bare and tender and exposed…all that blood just…pumping away…”
At this point, Buffy had Spike so worked up that he was licking his lips in anticipation. Giles, fed up with their charade, muttered, “Oh please.” and left the pair alone.
“Giles, make her stop,” Spike whined after the man.
The images in Buffy’s mind blur and fast forward, the comforting scene of Giles’ bathroom fades to a field, at night. Buffy sees herself standing next to Spike who is clawing at the ground, yelling at it. Something about a commando lab, and fix me…those are the only intelligible things Buffy hears. The images blur once again, and Buffy feels her stomach lurch as she fast forwards through time…
“One more word out of you and I swear…” Buffy threatened.
“Swear, what? You’re not gonna do anything to me. You don’t got the stones,” Spike threatened.
“Oh I got the stones. I got a whole bunch of…” Buffy felt herself falter under his intense gaze, “stones.”
“Yeah? You’re all talk,” Spike spat back.
Buffy shot up from her bed, there it was again the damn stones. She knew she was having a Slayer dream. Spike, chained in Giles’ bathtub…commandos…secret lab…major wiggin’ for Buffy. Plus, the dream was all future like, she was older, and if she didn’t know any better she would swear that she was flirting with Spike. What was worse…he was flirting back. That was not the normal tendency of Vampire/Slayer relationships. “How do you explain Angel?” Angel had a soul; he was an exception…wasn’t he? Sure he’d gone all bumpy after her birthday, and forgotten all about loving her, but still, when he had a soul he was all lovey.
Shaking away her thoughts, Buffy tasked herself with getting ready for school. She couldn’t have had more than four hours of sleep, and her fitful dream wasn’t exactly conducive to sleep. Principal Snyder was on her case again, so she couldn’t afford to sleep in, or not go at all. Plus, she really wanted to tell the gang, and Giles, about her dream. It meant something, she just couldn’t exactly figure out what that meaning was.
“Buffy!” Joyce called, “Hurry up, it’s time to leave.”
Two hours later, Buffy was listening to her teacher talk about some important person from history. She didn’t really pay attention in this class because Willow would let her borrow the notes. Her mind was not idle; it was full of vampire thoughts. “Spike lips, lips of Spike…” She smiled as the thought bounced around in her head. Kissing Angel had always been tender and loving, kissing Spike would be something different entirely.
“Buffy!” Willow said as she shook her friend.
“Huh? Wha’d I miss?” Buffy asked.
“Apparently the whole lesson. Let’s go. We’re meeting in the library,” Willow said.
“Ok,” Buffy said as she shoved her things into her backpack.
“I’ve found some interesting things about Spike in my books,” Giles said as the girls entered the room.
“Yeah, Mr. Research has been imparting to us for a while now,” Xander said.
“Is there a reason I’m here?” Cordy asked curtly.
“An excuse to not be in Algebra,” Xander replied.
Cordy’s mouth formed a silent ‘o’ and she went back to mindlessly wandering the bookshelves.
“The Watcher’s Journals depict William the Bloody as a killer as bad, if not worse, than Spike,” Giles said.
“William the Bloody? A killer? No way,” Buffy said.
“How can you be sure?” Giles asked. He knew the information Buffy had was correct on some things, but she really did need to keep an open mind.
“Angel told me it was because he was an awful poet, we’ve done this part, Giles,” Buffy said.
“I know we have, it just doesn’t add up. Why would the Journals say something so different from what actually happened?” Giles pondered.
“He didn’t want to be known as William anymore. That’s part of why he was so willing to let Dru eat him…he wanted to be different. After he became William the Vampire, that wasn’t enough…so he created Spike. Something about someone would rather have a railroad spike ran through their head than hear another one of William’s poems,” Buffy explained.
“It does make sense,” Oz said, “I wouldn’t be afraid of a poem reciting vampire.”
“Me either,” Willow said, “Well, maybe a little.”
“I’m telling you guys that’s what he did. But I really don’t want to talk about Spike anymore. I had a Slayer dream last night, and it has me seriously wigged,” Buffy said.
Giles perked up at the mention of another dream. It was a good sign, or bad depending on your prospective, when his Slayer wanted to discuss business. “What was it about, Buffy?”
“Commandos, a secret lab, Spike, impotent…no flaccid,” Buffy said.
The group stared at her like she was absolutely insane. None of what she had just said made a bit of sense to them.
“Perhaps you should try again, and this time, do tell us the details,” Giles said.
Buffy related the dream to the group trying to remember as much about it as possible. There were so many things about it that made sense to her in an obscure way…like a memory she was never meant to have…like it was all just a dream, the reality of it nothing more than a dream.
“It certainly sounds like a prophetic dream. I’ll have to conduct some research,” Giles said once she had finished.
“You guys think I’m nuts. I don’t blame you, if I didn’t know me I’d think I was nuts too,” Buffy said energetically.
“So that would be an ok feeling?” Xander asked.
“Yeah, definitely ok,” Buffy told him, “Oh! I ran into Spike last night when I got back from L.A…”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Giles inquired.
“You wanted to know about L.A. It kind of…slipped my mind,” Buffy said.
“Right, what happened?” Giles asked.
“He offered to make a truce. I no slay, he no bite,” Buffy said.
“Why would he do such a thing? It’s absolutely unheard of, vampires making truces with Slayers, it’s absurd,” Giles exclaimed.
“It’s not like Spike is your textbook vampire though. Maybe he’s serious about this truce,” Willow said.
“You didn’t accept this offer, did you?” Giles asked, a hint of worry touching his features.
“No, never got a chance to. Do you think I should? I mean it’s not like I’m going to stop watching him…and if he breaks his end…”
“Dustville for Spike,” Xander finished.
Buffy smiled, “Exactly.”
“I suppose this will be easier with his cooperation, if you feel you can control him. You must ensure that he won’t attack us,” Giles said.
“You honestly think I’d let him eat you guys? Never going to happen,” Buffy said, “I’ll make the deal with him tonight.”
“You should get back to class. We’ll meet again tomorrow,” Giles said.

“I was worried for a moment that you’d stand me up,” Buffy pouted.
“How could I ignore an invitation like yours, pet? Jus’ had to catch me some dinner,” Spike said.
“A world of ew. You said something last night about a truce…”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I accept. Only, you can’t eat my friends either. If you even try to eat them I’ll stake you,” Buffy said.
“Like I’d want to eat your friends anyway. Can’t stand any of ‘em. Red’s the only one of the lot of you I’d ever think about eatin’,” Spike said.
“Again, ew. And stay away from Willow.”
“Whatever you say, luv.”
They stood there in awkward silence. Neither knew what to do next. What exactly did the truce mean? Ok, so they couldn’t kill each other, but was that all? Did they now work together?
“You still have my ring,” Spike said.
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that,” Buffy hurried to dig the ring out of her pocket.
Spike’s lips curled into a smile as he watched the Slayer blush a bright crimson. He didn’t really care about the ring, but something needed to break the silence. “Find anything interesting?”
“About what?”
Spike shook his head, “The ring, pet.”
“Oh, um…it had something to do with the spell, and I think it had to do with you being chained to Giles’ bathtub,” Buffy paused, “You watch Passions?” Buffy couldn’t believe it, it was so…pathetic.
Spike’s nostril’s flared, “We have a truce, pet. That’s below the belt.”
“Oh my god, you do watch Passions. You are so not a normal vampire. You know what the books say about you?” Buffy changed the subject.
“What’s that?”
“William the Bloody, just as deadly as Spike, maybe even more so,” Buffy said.
“How do you know I wasn’t?” Spike challenged.
“Come on, Spike. You were a poet. You wrote love stuff for Cecily, I think that was her name…”
“Stop!”
Buffy jumped slightly, not expecting the rage from Spike. She muttered a sorry, and they resumed their awkward silence.