A/N: Since I ran out of reasons for Spike to not kill Buffy I decided it was time to take it to Season 2. Following chapters is my version of ”School Hard” written by David Greenwalt, props to him. There is going to be a lot of original dialogue in this chapter (sorry about that), but I promise the story is gonna take another turn than in the show. I also have to warn you that both Angel and Drusilla is going to make an appearance, but I promise I will get rid of them as soon as I can and there will be some kind of Spuffy eventually.


Huge thanks to Luxferi for betaing this, it wouldn't be readable without your help



* * *




A 1959 black DeSoto was cruising down the highway towards a small town. It ran over a sign saying ”Welcome to Sunnydale, enjoy your stay” before screeching to a halt. A man clad in a black leather duster opened the door at the driver’s side and got out. Although, this wasn’t a man at all, as you could tell by the ridges on his forehead. He was a vampire, a not very unusual phenomenon in this town, resting on a Hellmouth. Another vampire, a female one, was lying sprawled in the backseat, sleeping.

The male vampire who called himself Spike, lit a cigarette that was dangling at the corner of his mouth before saying to himself or to no one in particular:

“Home, sweet home.”

He started walking towards a warehouse, leaving his sleeping beauty to rest in the car. The last time he’d been to Sunnydale, the abandoned warehouse was the place that the leaders of this town had been dwelling in. It turned out that it still was.

As he came closer he could hear the voices of a male vampire talking to a kid. When Spike got inside he could tell that the kid was in fact a creature of the night like himself.

“Can you do it, can you kill the slayer?”

“Yes. This weekend, the night of St. Vigeous, our power shall be at its peak. When I kill her, it'll be the greatest event since the crucifixion. And I should know. I was there.”

Spike remained in the shadows until he couldn’t take the ugly vampire’s yammering anymore. *Bloody pretentious fledging.* He stepped out to where they could see him.

”You were there? Oh, please! If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock.” Spike walked over to the vampire, laughing at him.

”I oughta rip your throat out,” the other vampire answered. There were others, a few more vampires spread around the room and a child sitting on top of some boxes. They were silently watching the conversation unfold.

Spike turned his back on the vampire before him, strolling away. ”I was actually at Woodstock. That was a weird gig. I fed off a flowerperson, and I spent the next six hours watchin' my hand move.” He held his hand before him as he remembered that day. The blood had tasted like shit, but that wasn’t something he wanted to share with the others.

The vampire who previously said he was at the crucifixion ran towards Spike from behind. Spike, who could both hear and sense him long before he reached his goal, easily knocked him out without even looking.

“So. Who do you kill for fun around here?”

“Who are you?” The same question that a human girl had asked him about two months ago was now asked by what looked like an even younger boy. The answer was again simple.

“Spike.” He kicked the arm of the now unconscious vampire lying on the floor before he continued.

“You're that Anointed guy.” Spike had to keep himself from calling him ‘that Annoying guy’ but promised himself that it would be his new nickname for this fella. He had immediately disliked him.

“I read about you. You've got Slayer problems. That's a bad piece of luck. Do you know what I find works real good with Slayers?” Spike walked up to the child but didn’t wait for an answer. “Killing them.”

“Can you?”

“A lot faster than Nancy-boy there. Yeah, I did a couple of Slayers in my time. I don't like to brag.”

Spike loved to be a master vampire in the presence of fledgings, they were so easy to play. He could go on forever. But this time he couldn’t keep his face straight and continued, laughing.

”Who am I kidding? I love to brag! There was this one Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion, and...”

He stopped talking when he could feel the familiar presence of his sire behind him. Spike turned his head to look at her, morphing into his human guise.

“Drusilla.” He shouldn’t have left her in the car. “You shouldn't be walking around. You're weak.” Damn that czeck mob. He felt his blood boil just by the thought of it. Hurting his princess, that was something you just couldn’t do. Of course he had gone off and killed every last one of them.

“Look at all the people. Are these nice people?” Drusilla said in a childlike manner, looking around the room.

“We're getting along.”

Drusilla stared at the Anointed One. “This one has power. I could feel it from the outside.”

Drusilla happened to be what was usually called a ‘Seer’. But since she was more than a little crazy, Spike was probably the only one who could sort out her predictions from the rest of the nonsense.

“Yeah. He's the big noise in these parts. Anointed, and all that.”

Drusilla turned to the boy as if she’d just found a new playmate.

“Do you like daisies? I plant them, but they always die. Everything I put in the ground withers and dies...”

“Me and Dru, we're movin' in.” It was a clear statement and no one had the nerve to protest.

“I'll do your Slayer for you. But you keep your flunkies from tryin' anything behind my back. Deal?”

The Anointed One nodded.

“So. How 'bout this Slayer? Is she tough?”

“She killed the Master, man,” said one of the vampires that had until now remained silent.

“The master? That really tells us everything about the bird. Killing that ninny, yeah that’s an achievement!” His tone was sarcastic as he walked around the room. “I never really liked the poof, was always going on about his rituals and sacrifices, makes a bloke impatient ya know, never getting to the kill?”

“But...” The vampire was silenced again but another one spoke up.

“The master ruled this town, and it is in his honour that we will kill the slayer.” Spike rolled his eyes. “On the night of St. Vigeous,” the fledging continued.

Spike snorted before turning to the pack ”Find out everything about this Slayer: where she lives, where she trains, how she fights, where her mailbox is. Everything.”

One of the female vampires who had remained at the back, stepped forward:

”You don’t get to make the rules, the Annointed One rules this town!”

”I will kill your Slayer! Alright? Tomorrow.”

”On the night of St. Vigeous – ”

”Screw St. Willy. I will kill her. Tomorrow.”

* * *

”Tomorrow?” Angel said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

”I know! Me and Willow have been painting banners and everything to be done by then. And this girl, Sheila, who has the yuckiest boyfriend in the history of the world, was supposed to help me, but of course she didn’t because she’s a total menace and everything my mother thinks I am, and- ”

”What exactly is Parent-Teacher night?”

”Oh, it’s the night that principal Snyder, the troll, gets to complain about my so-called ’behaviour’ and the night my mother will ground me until I’m 21, at least.” Buffy sighed.

”Hmm.”

”Would it hurt if I killed Snyder?”

”So you won’t be patrolling tomorrow?”

”I mean, trolls are evil, right?” Buffy continued, obviously not noticing Angel’s question.

They had been walking hand in hand from the cemetery where Buffy was patrolling. Angel had as usual showed up out of nowhere and offered to walk her home. All the way to Buffy’s house on Revello Drive, she had been complaining about the job the principal had given her: arranging the Parent-Teacher night, and how her mother thought about her as a problem child. To add to the extra stress, Giles, her watcher and mentor had started fussing about something that Buffy had called ’The Night of St. Vicious, Or Whatever’ when she told Angel. Being a Slayer, the only girl in the world chosen to protect the innocent, sucked. Especially if you were in high school. Life wasn’t easy on Buffy Summers.

”Oh, we’re here.” Buffy was torn out of her thoughts about how to kill Snyder and making it look like an accident. They had reached 1630 Revello Drive.

”This is me.” Buffy waved her hand, gesturing at her house.

”Yeah.”

”So…I’ll see you around?” she asked hopefully.

”Yeah. And Buffy? Listen to Giles, this Night of St. Vigeous, it could turn ugly.”

”Yeah, yeah.” Buffy, who had been hoping for a goodnight kiss, gave up and turned around. She started walking towards her door. Why did he always have to talk about slaying? She was more than just a Slayer.

As Buffy got into her house, Angel heard a sound from behind a nearby tree. He used his vampire speed to rush there and pin the unsuspecting fledging, who had chosen the tree as his hiding place, behind the trunk. Angel morphed, letting his fangs show.

”Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what you’re doing, spying on us.” He gave the fledging an evil smirk in a strict Angelus manner. Just because Angel had been cursed with a soul and therefore had started joining the good side of the battle, didn’t mean he couldn’t let his alter ego to come out and play.

”Ow man, let me go…”

”Not until you tell me what you’re doing.”

”She’s the slayer, man, Spike told me to-”

”Spike.” Angel spit the name out like venom. This was bad.

”Angel? What’s going on?” Buffy, who had heard a commotion outside, looked out through the front door. This distracted the older vampire, and he let his grip on the fledging slide for a short while. The younger vampire did not wait for another chance. He freed himself and ran down the street as fast as he could towards the warehouse.

”Nothing. Go back inside,” Angel said, now standing alone in the street.

* * *

The following day a couple of teenagers including Buffy Summers and two adults were sitting in a local high school library. The table in front of them was covered with ancient books and weapons. A brown-haired boy spoke up:

”So, this night of St. Vigeous deal. If the vampires are gonna attack with force, aren't we thinkin' of a vacation?”

“We can't run Xander, that would be wrong. Could we hide?” a redhaired girl said, nervously playing with her fingers.

“Well, it can't be worse than any other things you've faced.” One of the adults said in a British accent, turning to Buffy. This was Rupert Giles, Buffy’s watcher but his outfit revealed his other profession, which practically screamed ‘librarian’. The other adult in the room, Jenny, who Buffy said her watcher had ‘a thing’ for was standing on the other side of the table.

“It’s worse.” Angel had suddenly appeared behind them, making everyone turn around. “William the Bloody has come to town.”

“William the what?” Xander asked, confused.

“Dear lord,” the watcher said, his face slightly pale. “I read something about him in the watcher’s compendium.. something about...” He started to rummage through his books.

“So what is he? Demon, vampire-“ Buffy was interrupted by Angel.

“Vampire.”

“Does he have super powers? I mean other than vampire strength and all that?”

“No.”

“And he fits in an ashtray if you put a stake through his heart?”

“Yes, but-“

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem,” Buffy said casually.

“Once he starts something he doesn't stop until everything in his path is dead,” Angel continued.

“Hmm. So, he's thorough, goal-oriented,” Xander commented.

“I’m...I’m not liking this, Buffy,” the readhead said. “If Angel says he’s bad then it must be...bad.”

“Calm down, Willow. I can take him. He’s just another vampire.” Willow didn’t look so sure.
She didn’t like ‘the Bloody’ part of this vampire’s name.

“Angel, do you know if this William the Bloody goes by any other name?” Giles asked.

But Angel had, without the others noticing, slipped out of the library.

“Okay, that's it. I'm puttin' a collar with a little bell on that guy,” Xander said.

* * *

Later that day, Buffy was standing at a table pouring more lemonade into papercups in the school lounge. She had filled them once but poured even more liquid into them, as she had nothing else to do. No one was actually drinking the lemonade, probably because word had gotten around that it didn’t contain any sugar, a phrase that usually made people want things, but here, used in the same sentence as ‘lemonade,’ it didn’t. Buffy’s motto in this case was still ‘better safe than sorry’ and she continued to fill the cups until there was no more lemonade left.

An hour ago she had ushered her mother to Willow who was supposed to do anything to make sure that Ms. Summers did not meet any of her teachers, especially Principal Snyder. Buffy was fiddling nervously with an empty papercup, expecting to see her mother any minute. So far everything looked good. Parents were strolling by smiling at her at where she was standing underneath a yellow and red banner.

Soon came the woman Buffy was looking for. Joyce Summers was followed by Willow, who was smiling proudly to herself.

“Well, I believe that I have seen every classroom on campus, and just as I get there all your teachers have miraculously stepped out,” Joyce said.

“Oh!” Buffy laughed nervously as she saw the principal enter the room. ”Oh. Um, but you haven’t seen the boiler room yet. And, you know, that’s really interesting, what with the boiler being in a room and all,” she said, fidgeting with her hands as Snyder came up from behind her. *Oh crap!*

“Hi. I’m Joyce Summers.” Joyce offered her hand but Principal Snyder deliberately ignored it.

“I’m Buffy’s mother,” Joyce continued and lowered her hand when she realized the short man wasn’t going to take it.

“Principal Snyder,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I’m afraid we need to talk. My office is down here.”

Buffy gave out a small moan as she watched her mother disappear into Snyder’s office.

* * *

At the same time in the library, Xander, Jenny, Giles and a cheerleader called Cordelia were in what they usually called: ‘full research mode.’ In other words: everyone but Giles were staring at old texts in extinct languages trying to make it look like they knew what they were doing.

“Oh, there you are,” Giles said, sipping his coffee.

Jenny, who was studying an old scroll answered, “There who is?”

“Our new friend William the Bloody. Also known as Spike. Earned his nickname by torturing his victims with railroad spikes.” He put down his coffee mug at the table while he continued to read and inform the others. “Here’s some good news: he’s barely two hundred years old. He’s not even as old as Angel.”

He stopped, frowning. “Oh.” Angel was right. This was worse. Much worse.

Xander immediately felt the change in the old man. “That’s the bad look, right?”

“I think your suggestion of running away this Saturday might’ve been a good one. William the Bloody had fought two slayers in the last century, and...he killed them both.”

Neither Cordelia, Jenny or Xander for that matter, who was usually full of witty remarks, made a sound.

“Xander, could you get Buffy straight away, I think she needs to know this,” Giles said seriously.

“Sure, G-man.”

“And don’t call me that.”

* * *

In the lounge where Buffy was sitting, waiting nervously with Willow for Mrs. Summers to return, the time had come to end for the Parent-Teacher night. Finally she could see her mother coming up to her with Snyder. Things didn’t look good. Her mother was wearing that ‘you-are-not-going-anywhere-young-lady’ look on her face that was usually accompanied with the usage of her full name. Buffy stood up.

“In the car. Now.” Joyce said.

She and Willow shared a worried look before Buffy followed her mother in the direction of the exit door. Snyder began turning off the lights with a satisfied look on his face just as Xander rushed in. That was when they came.

Two at first, jumping through the windows making pieces of glass flew in every possible direction. But there were more to come. Several vampires jumped through the windows, crashing the tables that took Buffy hours to prepare.

Buffy acted on instinct, her spidersense on high alert, turning to Xander, yelling:

“Get them out of here. Now!” She was of course referring to the humans and not the vampires as that would have been very irresponsible of an active Slayer and probably would have led to a certain boy’s death.

Xander did as he was told, trying to get the screaming crowd of parents to follow him. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

Joyce, on the other hand, was desperately trying to get Buffy to follow the others, but she wasn’t listening. She was standing in a fighting stance, ready for attack. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t prepared for what was coming next.

The vampires, five of them, came out of the darkness and lined themselves up. You could tell who was the leader since he was standing in the middle: a bleached blonde vampire with his favorite duster fluttering around his legs. Spike. He growled, making the panicked humans scream even louder.

But at some time during all this chaos, things changed. Spike let his human guise fall into place as he stared at the girl before him. She was older, but there was no doubt about who it was.

“Buffy.”

She was rendered speechless for a while, but she did manage to say one word, although it was spoken so quietly you have to be a vampire to hear it:

“Spike.”






A/N: Cliffhanger! *I'm evil!*

Sorry guys about the lack of spuffy in this chappy, there were some things I needed to say before that. I promise there will be more interaction between our two blondes in the next one