Chapter 2

“Mother? No, that can’t be right. I’ve only been gone for a little over a month.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m sure it’s been longer than a month. Who are you, anyway?”

“Spike,” was all he said and then continued. “They said time would move differently there, but it couldn’t have been this much. What year is it?”

She raised her eyebrows. “It’s 2008, are you sure you didn’t just hit your head or something?”

Spike’s eyes widened. “Bloody hell, it’s been eighteen years? How is that possible? You’re Elizabeth’s daughter? You look so much like her.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. So, are we done here? I have to get home.”

He grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Where’s home? Is Elizabeth there? I really need to see her.”

A sad expression formed on Buffy’s face. “No, she died a long time ago. I live with Rupert Giles, her watcher. He took me in and raised me since her death.”

Spike shut his eyes, opening them a moment later. “She’s dead? How did it happen?”

Buffy yanked her arm out of his grasp. “You may have known my mother somehow, but you’re still a complete stranger to me. It’s not something I feel like talking about, especially not with a vampire.”

She walked away then, and he did nothing to stop her.


* * * * *


“Do you know a vampire named Spike?”

Giles put his cup of tea down, staring at her in shock. “Where did you hear that name?”

Buffy shrugged. “I met him in the cemetery tonight. He thought I was my mom for some reason, I think he might have a few screws loose.”

Giles took his glasses off to clean them. “Spike was a…friend of your mother’s. He helped her out sometimes with slaying; she relied on him quite a bit. He took off eighteen years ago and never returned. It was very hard on her.”

Buffy tried to process all of that. “It sounded like he didn’t know how long he was gone. He said time moved differently where he was, maybe some alternate dimension.”

Giles nodded. “I suppose that could make sense. A lot of time has passed, and he might not be the same vampire he was. Elizabeth may have trusted him, but I think it would be best if you two didn’t cross paths again.”

“You won’t have to worry about that. He kind of gave me the creeps.” Buffy knew that was a lie, remembering the fluttering in her stomach when she first laid eyes on him, but figured Giles didn’t need to know that. “Why was my mother hanging out with a vampire? Wasn’t she supposed to kill them?”

Giles took a deep breath. “Spike wasn’t like other vampires. He turned his back on his family, instead choosing to fight on Elizabeth’s side.”

That was the last thing Buffy expected to hear. “Does he have a soul or something? I didn’t think that was possible.”

Giles shook his head. “He did all of that without the need of a soul, but that doesn’t mean he should be trusted now. Your mother was foolish in a lot of the choices she made, she trusted too easily. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.”

Buffy thought about what he said and knew that he was right, but a part of her was curious to see the vampire again.


* * * * *


“What was my mother to you?”

Spike turned around surprised, not having heard the girl come up behind him. He’d just got settled in a new crypt and was wondering how she could have found him already. “I loved her.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “Okay, so more than just a friend. That was all I could get out of Giles.”

“I suppose he would tell you that. If you mentioned me, then my guess is that he also told you to stay away. And yet, here you are.”

She gave a smile. “I was never one for doing what I was told.”

He smiled in return. “No, you don’t seem like you would be. So much like your mother.”

For some reason, that comment bothered her. “We need to get one thing straight if you’re going to be staying in town. I may look and act like my mother sometimes, but I’m not her. If you’re thinking of somehow pretending that I am her to get your jollies off, it’s not gonna happen. We clear on that?”

Spike nodded, changing the subject. “How old are you, pet?”

She decided to let the name go. “I just turned seventeen a few weeks ago.”

Spike sighed in relief, knowing that he couldn’t have been her father. He didn’t even know why that thought entered his mind; it wasn’t possible for vampires to have children. “Why did Giles take you in? Where’s your dad?”

“Hell if I know or care, he was just some loser that walked out on my mom when I was about a year old. Giles has always been like a father to me, well, grandfather I guess. Not that I would ever tell him that.”

Spike liked this girl; she was a bit of a spitfire. “Why did I find you staking a vampire? You’re not a Slayer, are you?”

Buffy laughed. “Hardly, it doesn’t work that way. Giles has been training me since I was old enough, I’m the one that chooses to go out every night and fight vampires. I feel like I have to, Slayer or not. It’s the only way I could be close to my mother. She died when I was really young, I don’t even remember much about her. I just know that she was killed by a vampire, I saw it happen. I don’t know why, but the vampire decided to spare me. This is something that I have to do. I plan on killing every single vampire I come across, until I find the one that took my mother away from me. She’ll definitely regret letting me live.”

He backed away, not liking the bloodthirsty look in her eyes.

“You can relax, Spike. Since you were close to my mom and don’t seem to be a threat, I won’t stake you. I make no promises if you get in my way, though. You either work with me, or you stay out of my sight. If I find out that you’ve been killing anyone in my town, I won’t be as generous.”

Spike nodded after a moment. “I haven’t killed anyone since I was with Elizabeth; I have no intention to start now.”

She nodded as well. “That may be so, but my mom isn’t around anymore to keep you on a tight leash.”

He scoffed at that. “There was no bloody leash. She trusted me and knew that I would never kill because it would hurt her, and that was the last thing I ever wanted to do. You feel that you need to slay to be closer to her. Well, I feel that I need to help you out to do the same. We’re on the same side here.”

Buffy didn’t know why, but she believed him. “I usually work alone, but I suppose having a vampire on my side could come in handy. Hey, do you like to spar? Giles is getting a bit too old for it. I’m afraid he might break a hip or something.”

A slow smile formed on his face, he really liked this girl.