CHAPTER SIX


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She stood studying the wound on her neck in the mirror with a frown. It had been days and the red marks that the vampire had left behind still stood out. There was only so long she could wear polo necks to hide the marks – to stop her friends from worrying. There was nothing to worry about. It was simple taking a while for her Slayer abilities to kick back in. All the more reason to hone them on patrol.

She couldn’t deny that – for the first time in years – she felt the tiniest prickle of fear, radiating out through her from the place she had been bitten, but she was determined to ignore it. ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ was not a saying to be applied to Slayers. She was just rusty. And if she was not very much mistaken, she probably would not find herself alone for tonight’s patrol; she hadn’t missed the new cigarette stubs littering the base of the tree outside her house. Spike had been watching over her and, strangely, it reassured her in a way it never would have done before.



After covering up the marks on her neck with a neck scarf and pausing to converse with her friends – still nervously over-excited, but treating her with caution – she finally left the house and set off for the nearest graveyard. She was more than well-equipped tonight: as well as her usual supply of stakes, she was wearing a cross around her neck and had a bottle of holy water stashed in her back pocket. Just in case.

Unfortunately – or perhaps not – the nearest cemetery was quiet and she moved onto the next, lost in her thoughts.

“Evenin’, love.”

She jumped at the sound of Spike’s voice and spun round in surprise, causing him to give her a confused look. It was strange – she usually sensed Spike a mile off, but she couldn’t even feel that tell-tale tingle now that he was standing just opposite her.

“You alright?” he asked worriedly, drawing her out of her daze.

“Yeah,” she answered hesitantly, “But I think my spidey-sense is broken.”

“Your what?”

“You know, the little tingle that lets me know when vampires are around.”

He tried to hide it, but there was a positively devilish glint in his eyes and he was barely restraining his smirk.

“Not like that!” she bit out, folding her arms over her chest as he smiled. She rolled her eyes and continued.

“You must have a similar thing. Slayer-radar or something.”

“S’pose so,” he answered with a dismissive shrug, taking out a cigarette and lighting it as they began to walk, “Mind if I join you?”

“You’re not exactly going to leave if I say ‘no’, are you?”

He grinned, shook his head, and took a long drag of his cigarette as they moved on.



She still felt uneasy though, not used to being so un-attuned to Spike’s every move. It was all too taking too long to return to her, and panic was waiting in the shadows for her. This was her life.

“Slay- Buffy?”

She looked up to find Spike watching her with concern. It triggered only anger.

“Why won’t you call me Slayer?” she asked angrily.

He looked genuinely surprised by her outburst and raised an eyebrow.

“Thought you didn’t like it.”

“That never stopped you before.”

“Well, I don’t like it now,” he answered slowly, looking at her as if she had gone slightly insane.

“Do you –“

She cut herself off, unable to voice the words that would bring panic closer: Do you think there’s something wrong with me? She was over-reacting.

“It’s only been a week or so,” Spike said quietly, as if he had been reading her mind, “Your body just needs time to catch up, yeah?”

She met his eyes for a moment, and then forced hers away, not wanting him to see the uncertainty there. She moved onwards.



Spike walked along in silence beside her as she fixed her eyes on the ground – although she saw nothing before her. She was tense, too caught up in her thoughts, and stumbled on a small ridge she had not seen. Spike caught her by the arm and she shook him off quickly.

“I don’t need you looking out for me,” she blurted out and his eyes widened ever so slightly.

He said nothing though and took a last drag from his cigarette.

“You can stop hanging around outside my house too,” she added, “It’s creepy.”

“I-“

He cut himself off and she looked up quickly, surprised to see bashfulness in his expression. She drew her gaze away once more, focussing all her attention on the ground now.

“Buffy, are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” she answered, her throat constricting involuntarily and making her voice come out hoarser.

He caught her arm, bringing her to a forceful stop and drawing her eyes to his.

“You never have to lie to me, Buffy,” he said softly, “Not to me.”

She knew that, but if she couldn’t lie to Spike then she couldn’t lie to herself either and a little bit of ignorance was comforting right now.

“I just… it’s taking longer than I thought. To get back to normal.”

He frowned but released her arm, his expression softening minutely.

“You’ve hardly been out of the ground ten days,” he said softly, “Your body… well, sod it, I don’t know. But it… it makes sense, doesn’t it? That it would take a while.”

She desperately wanted to believe his words so she nodded hesitantly.

“I guess so.”

Neither of them voiced the alternative that must have been going through both their minds.

“It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah,” she answered, trying to hide her uncertainty with false confidence, “And hey, at least I’ve got a tame vampire to watch my back.”

His mouth twisted into a silent growl but he made no retort and they moved off once more side-by-side.



Only moments later, they were confronted with the sight of a rather large demon – armed with a club, no less – heading in their direction. She shook herself off and forced a smile as Spike glanced over at her.

“Let’s take this ugly boy down.”

He smiled ever so slightly and as soon as the demon spotted them, they flew at him in a co-ordinated attack. She had been training every day since her last patrol and she prayed that it would pay off as she landed the first blow on the demon.

Her kick had little effect but she was relieved to see that the punch Spike threw had just as little effect. The demon swung the club and they both ducked it, Spike quickly moving round to attack the creature’s back as she landed a kick on its knees. Spike jumped on the demon’s back, locking his arms around its neck as she threw several punches at its abdomen. The demon roared – more at Spike’s stranglehold than anything she was doing she suspected – and swung the club again.

“Buffy!”

She heard Spike’s warning, but could not react in time and before she knew it, she was flying through the air. She hit a hard surface with a thud and everything went black.