Chapter Five I Can Kill Demons!


"Not that I'm unwilling to watch your pretty little backside for you..." Spike said, laughing when Buffy said firmly, "Back. You're watching my back, Spike."

"Tomato, Tomahto, pet. Point is, I don't know how much help I can be, what with not being able to bite or anything."

"Maybe you could just trip one? Or, you know, yell 'watch out!' That's pretty much what Anya does."

"I'll do what I can. It's not like you're likely to need my help with a couple of fledges, is it?"

"Probably not." She frowned. "Would you rather not? Patrol with me, I mean."

Neither one of them had questioned the formerly unthinkable prospect of the Slayer of Slayers helping to protect one. Buffy's question made it difficult to avoid the reality of their situation. They stopped and stared at each other, suddenly unsure of their roles.

"I...dammed if I know, Slayer. I'd rather be with you than back with the Watcher and your sidekicks," he said with a frown. "Don't know about the part where I help you slay my own kind."

"You don't have to help," she said with a shrug. "You can't really do anything anyway, right?"

"Good job ruining my night with the reminder," he growled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders.

"You just said it yourself! Don't blame me for repeating it." Buffy tossed her head and strode off toward the nearest cemetery. Her mouth turned down in disappointment for a second until she heard the swish of Spike's coat and the sound of his boots carrying him back to her side.

They walked quickly until Buffy's irritation wore off and she slowed her steps. Spike matched his stride to hers, watching her out of the corner of his eyes until he saw her face relax.

"You over it now?"

"Over what?"

"Being brassed off at me for snapping at you."

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know why I bother getting mad. You're just being you. It's who we are. You make me mad, I make you mad." She paused and peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "We just can't beat up on each other when it happens anymore."

"You sound like you're sorry about it."

"I think I'm gonna miss it...sometimes."

"Yeah," he said softly. "Me too."

They walked in companionable silence a little more, then Buffy said, "That probably says something deep and possibly scary about us, don't you think?"

"What's scary about needing a little violence in your life? Think our names say it all, don't they?"

"Buffy? Spike?"

"Slayer. Vampire."

"Oh yeah. Good point."

They swung through the gates of Restfield cemetery, Buffy moving into a less relaxed posture as she studied the ground for new or newly disturbed graves. Spike hung back and watched her graceful movements as she quartered the ground, senses alert and excitement building.

When the ground erupted right in front of her, she jumped back, her stake appearing in her hand as if by magic. Spike was well behind her, leaning against the side of a crypt when she bent down to drag the new vampire the rest of the way out of the earth.

"Come on, you. I need some exercise."

The slow-witted vampire stared at her blankly for a few seconds.

"Huh?"

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to try to eat me. Then we fight and I--"

She was cut off when the suddenly ravenous vampire's demon took over and she went down under his mud-covered body.

"Ewwww! Get off me! You're filthy!"

Her stake had disappeared and she was reduced to swearing and holding the slavering vamp off with one hand while she felt around for her stake with the other. The sound of Spike's muffled laughter did nothing for her disposition and she glared at him as he stood to one side, twirling her stake through his fingers.

"Missing something, Slayer?"

"This is how you watch my back? Gimme that!"

"Can't see your back, can I? There some big smelly git in the way. If I didn't know better, I'd say you and he were getting right friendly..."

"I am sooo going to kill you!"

Spike's intended response never left his lips as Buffy's distraction gave the demon the opening he needed and he reached for her neck with his fangs. Before Buffy even registered that she might be in actual trouble, there was dust floating into her face. She coughed and sat up, staring at Spike, who was staring at the stake in his hand.

Buffy climbed cautiously to her feet, keeping her eyes on Spike and the stake. He finally raised his eyes to hers.

"It doesn't hurt," he said unnecessarily.

"So I see."

He handed the stake back to her. "Probably a fluke. Heat of the moment or something..."

"Yeah, probably..." She moved slightly away from him, holding the stake firmly at her side.

"Guess we should check it out, yeah?"

"I guess so..." She bit her lip. "Okay. Hit me. I'll give you one punch."

"Hold onto the stake, pet."

Disappointment flew across her face so quickly he wasn't sure he'd seen it.

"Am I going to need it?"

He cocked his head at her. "No," he said with a sad smile. "But the way you're standing tells me you aren't as sure about that as I am. Just want you to feel comfortable."

"Comfortable. With you. Who might be able to kill again."

It was Spike's turn to try to hide his disappointment before Buffy saw it.

"Got your stake, don't you?"

Buffy looked from him to the stake in her hand, then tucked it behind her back into the waistband of her pants.

"Okay. Let's do this. One punch."

"How about one bite?" He licked his lips lasciviously as he moved toward her.

Buffy narrowed her eyes and rested one hand on the stake behind her back.

"Punch. One."

"Spoil sport," he growled. "Alright, stand still, will you?" he said as Buffy began to bounce on the balls of her feet.

He jabbed at her face with his left hand, tentatively tapping her chin.

"That's it? That's the best you've got?" Buffy rolled her eyes and took her hand off the stake.

"Don't really want to hit you," he muttered. "You should have let me bite."

"If I "let" you bite, it probably wouldn't work anyway, you moron, " she said in disgust. When he still didn't do anything but move around her as if looking for a good spot to tap her again, she threw up her hands. "Oh, for the love of—"
She snapped out one arm, rocking him back on his heels with a one-two combo to his face. Following up with a body blow that doubled him over, she ignored his growling.

"Come on, Spike. Let's see what you've got. Are you afraid of me? Want me to drop the stake again so you'll feel better?"

Her final fist to his nose, combined with her continued taunting took the last of his patience. With a snarling roar, he jumped at her, fangs bared and hands reaching for her shoulders. Before he could touch her, he was on the ground holding his head and screaming. Heedless of the fact that he was still in game face, Buffy dropped to her knees, fluttering her hands helplessly over his writhing body.

"Oh my God, Spike. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"Yes, you did," he said, rolling over onto his back and staring up at the sky. "You did it, and it worked. Soon's I was seriously thinking about hurting you..." He rolled his head to the side to meet her concerned eyes. "Guess that means it was a fluke. Whatever they did to me, it's still working."

"It's a chip," Buffy said without thinking.

"A what? And what the bloody hell do you know about it?" Immediately his initial suspicions that she was responsible for his capture came flooding back, but the twinge to his still aching head wouldn't allow him to follow up.

"Nothing," she said, holding up a hand in the classic sign for peace. "Willow knows about it. She just found it today in Professor Walsh's files. They call you Hostile 17 and you have a microchip in your head that is supposed to fire anytime you try to bite or harm a..." She stopped and looked at him with new excitement. "...a human!" she finished. "That's why you could stake that vamp; the chip is meant to keep you from hurting humans."

"You mean I can still fight demons?" He winced as he sat up, but couldn't contain his hope. "I'm not a complete eunuch?"

Buffy shook her head. "No. And would you please stop using those...words...to describe what happened to you? You're not emasculated, just safer to be around."

"Hoo, bloody, rah, Slayer."

"Think about it, Spike. Which would you rather have lost - your ability to kill or your—"

"Don't say it!"

"Then stop bringing it up," she said, standing up and offering him her hand. She pulled him to his feet, frowning when he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. "Does it still hurt?"

"I'll live," he said. "Just leaves me with a headache for awhile."

Buffy looked down at her muddy clothes and sighed.

"Well, I've got to go back to my room and get some clean clothes. Come with me and I'll see if we've got some aspirin or something."

On their way out of the cemetery they encountered two young vampires just entering it. Before Buffy could step forward, Spike put a hand on her arm.

"Let me, Slayer. May as well find out for sure if your theory is right."

"Okay. But be careful." She blushed when he sent her a puzzled but grateful look. "I mean...I don't know how much aspirin we have. I just don't want you to..."

"Quit while you're ahead, luv," he said stepping toward the advancing vampires. "And watch my back - just in case."

"There is something very wrong with this picture," she muttered, sitting on a tombstone and watching as Spike went into game face and threw out his challenge.

"What are you wankers doing in my cemetery?" he demanded. "Don't you know who I am?"

Their eyes shifted to Buffy, watching with a surprising lack of concern.

"No," blustered the largest one. "But it won't matter in a few minutes. We're going to take you, take your cemetery, and then..." He charged at Spike, snarling, "we'll take your girl there and play with her before we eat her."

"Eek!" Buffy squealed. "I'm so frightened. Spike, protect me!"

Spike met the younger vampire's charge with grin and a punch to his solar plexus. When the chip didn't fire, he threw his head back and roared.

"I'm back!"

He allowed his opponent to recover from the initial disabling punch, amusing himself with picking up the other vamp and throwing him into a tree. Buffy watched with interest as Spike toyed with the two oblivious vampires, taunting them, questioning their manhood and their demon credentials while he beat on them almost at will. Finally, shivering with cold now that the mud in which she was caked had soaked through her clothes, Buffy spoke up.

"Come on, Spike. Quit playing, I need to get out of these clothes."

He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, saw that she wasn't kidding, and without hesitation used the sides of his hands to break the necks of both vampires simultaneously. Without comment, Buffy tossed him her stake and stood up. As soon as he had dusted both vamps, he handed the stake back and fell into step beside her.

"Are you cold, pet?"

"A little. Not like last night, but walking around with drying mud caking to my body isn't my idea of a good time." She saw his eyes light up and his mouth start to open. "Don't even!" she said, effectively shutting down the anticipated mud wrestling reference.

"You're no fun at all," he grumbled, bumping her with his shoulder.

"That's what all the vampires say." She nudged him back. They strode on a few more steps then Buffy said with studied casualness, "So, you can hurt and kill demons, just not people. Kind of sounds like my job description."

"Does, doesn't it?" he agreed and continued walking.

"Are you going to make me ask you?"

"Yep. And ask me nicely, Slayer, or I'll say 'no'."

She laughed. "You won't say 'no'. You're already so bored you can't see straight. I'm offering you a chance to come out every night and help me fight vampires and demons instead of sitting in Giles' apartment listening to Xander and Anya providing us with more details than we need to have about their love life. Even if you said 'no' now, you'd be back tomorrow begging me to let you help me kill things."

She waited, then added, "And if you stay at Giles', sooner or later he's going to notice that you're drinking all his scotch. And he still knows how to behead a vampire..."

"S'pose it is a good way to stay out of trouble, at that," he agreed. "Idle hands are the devil's joy, and all that."

"Exactly."