In our eleventh installment, the aftermath of the battle and the kissing. Warning: If you thought the curtain was going to rise on a make-out session… not exactly. This chapter contains some unpleasant imagery.

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Previously: Buffy jumped off the tower to save the world about thirty years ago. Twenty years later Dawn was killed in a car accident and left her daughter Anne in Spike's care. While Anne was dying in a hospital with Spike at her side, slayer Lieuko was being slaughtered by Drusilla. This caused a rift in the Scoobies when Jesse Harris blamed Spike for her death. Buffy's return has gone a long way to reuniting Xander with the few remaining members of the group, but the slayer is struggling to find a place in a much-changed world where her friends are old and grey, Angel is human, Spike has a soul, and Willow might want to kill her. Recently, Tashi, Buffy, and Spike were ambushed by an unusually large and organized crew of vampires and were moderately injured. After patching Spike up, Buffy kissed him.

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Chapter Eleven



She was running, racing, trying to find her way in the dark toward the continuous moaning. A light bulb flickered in the bottom of the stairwell. She flailed, grabbing the railing as she slipped in something slick on the last few steps. The hanging bulb swung and she saw the seven pieces of what used to be Wesley Wyndam-Price.

Her hands pulled the chains around Angel's wrists right out of the wall. She could feel his hot breath against her neck, his heart thudding against her chest. He finally went silent when she tore the tape off his eyes and they could close at last.

Buffy woke with a start and thrashed out of Spike's arms. She splashed water on her face in the bathroom, fighting the rising bile in her belly.

She couldn't see him in the mirror, but she could feel him there behind her. When she turned around he gave her a bleary-eyed smile. "You alright, pet?"

"Slayer dream. Faith. She found Wesley... what was left of Wesley."

Spike frowned. "Never told me the story."

Buffy swallowed a few times. "If you really want to know..." She offered the least detailed description she could manage.

Spike eyes went dark and a little shudder went through him.. "Christ, love. Hell of a thing to see."

Slumping against the counter she realized how ridiculous all her inner turmoil over laying one on Spike was. So she hadn't meant for it to turn into a make-out session that ended with her breathless and sleepy against his shoulder. So he was a vampire. She knew there was a time when Spike would have found the idea of Angel's eviscerated lover amusing. However and whenever it had happened, that Spike was gone. Replaced by some sort of new, improved Spike she was still getting to know.

"I think I need to sit down," she suggested.

He nodded and took her elbow, guiding her back to the couch. "Good idea, by the way, calling in Harris."

She gave him a little smile, grateful for the change in subject. "I'm just glad he got there in time. And that you didn't get burned." Buffy tried for a bigger smile, but the visual of Wesley's corpse was a little too fresh in her mind.

"Fancy some breakfast, love? Might have something edible in the cupboard."

She licked her lips. The truth was she was starving, but she also needed a shower, a toothbrush, and to look at, like, pictures of puppies frolicking or something for a while. "I'll pass, but thank you." She finally managed that real smile. "For... for a lot of things."

Spike gave her the patented Spike smirk and unearthed her jacket from under the couch. "Careful walking back to Harris's, slayer. Lost a bit of blood last night, and you're on an empty stomach."

It was still hard to understand sometimes. How had he become this guy? She tossed the jacket back over the sofa back and threw her arms around his neck. Kissing Spike was better than eating, and it gave her something else to blame the lightheadedness on.

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Tashi sat straight up, gasping. Dreaming was the worst part of slaying. Just as the relief of waking started to sink in, she realized there was something nasty nearby. Her eyes struggled to focus in the low light. Something stirred in the room and approached her, moving fast. She scrambled up against the headboard, hunting with her fingers for something sharp or heavy.

"Relax, pet."

She sighed and slumped against the pillows. "Spike. Don't surprise a slayer, okay?"

"Should know that by now, I suppose," he agreed. There was a far-away, dreamy look to him. "Just wanted to check on you is all."

How many hours since the fight? She couldn't really gauge how much time had passed. Connie had patched her up and sent her off to bed to sleep it off and heal. Tashi poked away a swatch of gauze on her shoulder. Nothing underneath but smooth skin. "How's Buffy?"

A freaky big grin crossed his face for a minute before he caught hold of himself. "Summers is fine. Sent her home to Harris. Was him that got us out of that mess."

"I remember." She examined her broken nails. "Are you and Buffy dating?"

He gave her a look like she'd just asked him where babies came from. "Might be."

She nodded. Good for them. She still felt a little guilty about running off his old girlfriend. But considering that she'd only been in town two weeks before Katya packed up, quit her job and Tara's store, and disappeared from Sunnydale, Tashi figured she wasn't the whole problem. Buffy probably wasn't going to get all crabby about Spike working with her; she figured it was more likely that she was going to get crabby if they started making out on patrol or something.
In her mind’s eye she could see him again, face spattered with blood, mouth open in a silent scream. She couldn’t see who or what he was looking at, but she knew it wasn’t good.

“You up for patrol tonight?” he asked, breaking her out of the memory.

“What?” It took a moment for her to parse the question. She stretched and flexed her muscles a little. “Yeah, patrol is a good idea.” She took a deep breath. “Spike?”

“Yes, bit?”

Tashi took a deep breath. “I don’t know what, but something really bad is coming.”

Spike’s face went solemn and still for a moment, and then he petted her on the shoulder. “Good thing we’ve got two capable slayers then,” he said brightly.

Tashi frowned. Buffy had survived a lot of bad, but she had also died twice. The girl could fight, but still, she wasn’t entirely reassured.