Author’s Note: Thanks to the fabulous Kar and to all my readers and reviewers. Special thanks to blondiebear for bringing my attention to the lack of Buffy-Giles interaction. I really do appreciate the feedback, folks, even if it’s just a short note.

In our fifth installment Buffy considers the upside to having Spike as a roommate, Faith does some thinking, Anya checks in, and there is Buffy-Giles interaction.

Chapter Five: Lessons

"Okay... j'aille, tu ailles, il aille, nous allions, vous alliez... Spike, move your hand. ils aillent." Buffy gasped. "Not what I meant," she informed him. She gripped his wrist where it had snuck up underneath her skirt, but she really wasn't all that motivated to stop him and somehow she ended up encouraging him instead. So much better than conjugating the subjunctive.

"That's it, pet, show me how."

"Spike," she tried, but her protest came out as a moan instead. "I have to learn this."

"Keep reciting, Slayer," he instructed.

Kinky bastard. He was getting off on the whole naughty student thing. Which was bad… and well, then, maybe so was she. She kept going. "Je fasse, tu fasses, il fasse, nous fassions... I can't."

"Yes you can, girl. vous fassiez, elles fassent"

Right. Because having Spike growl French in her ear was really helping her concentrate on homework. She gave up and leaned back against his chest, her hand still guiding his. She'd had far too much time to figure out what sort of rhythm worked for her in the months he'd been gone.

But of course Spike added a twist or two of his own. Her head rolled against his shoulder as she arched against the bolt of sensation thrumming through her.

When she could control her breathing again, she scolded him. "William, you're being very distracting."

"Goodie," he rumbled, nibbling at her neck.

She thwapped his knee. "You have to let me study, or I’m going to have to start spending all my time at the library." She really didn't want to. The apartment had so much more going for it. Sunken bathtub, satin sheets, privacy, unlimited Spike access...

They were supposed to be meeting Giles and the girls for training after sunset. She wasn’t sure they were going to make it, with the mood he was in. Really, Buffy wanted to impress the new girls. There were three now: Amanda, Connie, and Octavia. And, she wanted them to think of her as a good mentor, not a flighty vamp ho. But with Spike’s hands all over her, it was hard to keep that goal in mind. Also, passing her classes was probably a good plan.

He did that thing again, where he sorta bobbed around her. It still made her a little uneasy, the whole I'm scenting you thing, which was just a pretty way of saying he liked the smell of her after an orgasm. "Can't help myself, pet. When you get all prim schoolgirl, just makes me want to sup at your tasty quim."

"My..." Jesus. This was life with souled Spike. Occasional night terrors, fewer comments about how he wanted to rip people's spines out and sometimes really bizarro purple phrases like that. "Sup at my tasty quim?" She twisted around to look at him. "Makes me sound like one of those drive-thru places people go to for a root beer float."

Another change was that she could now sometimes cause a little shadow of shy embarrassment to cross his face. But then it was the familiar leer, eyebrows quirked, tongue thrust against his teeth. "You get any ideas about opening for business, might have to tie you to this bed and remind you you're mine alone."

Her homework was so not getting done. She squirmed a little and licked her lips before managing a husky, "Okay."


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Spike was leaning against a headstone lighting up when Faith strolled in on the training session. She was really only a little late, and she hoped her sister slayer would spare her the lecture this time. Buffy was standing near the girls, shouting encouragement and instructions while Octavia and Connie double-teamed a panicking fledgling.

Spike was enjoying the show. Faith wished his pants hid his assets better. It was distracting, like the thought of how the cigarette he lit for her had just been in his own mouth. It didn’t seem to be fading, that feeling that Buffy’s things also belonged to her. Maybe it was a slayer thing, or maybe it was just her.

She wasn’t even trying to go after Spike. For one thing she seemed to be back in the group’s good graces and for another he practically had ‘property of Buffy’ tattooed across his forehead. Although probably that was a big part of why she was digging on him, because he was really not her type. He was too short, too lean, and his nose was almost as funny looking as Buffy’s. Faith liked them big, broad, and dumb.

But maybe her tastes were changing.

“How’s Red?”

Faith started and then squinted at him a little. “You a mind reader now, Billy?”

A little frown ghosted across his face at the nickname, but then he smiled one of his less pleasant smiles. “You’re thinking about her then?”

Faith shrugged. “You brought her up.” But yeah, she had been thinking about Willow. She was doing that a lot lately.

“You smell like her.”

Faith choked on a lungful of smoke. “Excuse me?” she sputtered. Then it dawned on her. “Oh, yeah, we ran into each other at The Bronze.” It was just a fluke; not like she had any idea that Willow always went for a Sam Adams Light after her last class on Friday, not like she knew anything about Willow’s routine. “I let her wear my jacket on the way back to the dorm. Girl was cold.”

“Right chivalrous of you.” She forced herself not to let the bamb-chicka-bamb-bamb look on his face bother her. “Forgot to wear one of her furry pastel sweaters tonight, I suppose.”

It was Faith’s turn to give a suggestive look. “Didn’t realize you paid that much attention to Willow’s wardrobe. Does B know you’re keeping such a close eye on her best pal?”

Spike shrugged and considered the end of his cigarette. “Red is vamp bait and doesn’t even know it. All those bright colors, all fuzzy and soft and warm. Not so much any more, but used to be such a shrinking little thing, just the type you could corner against a wall in the dark when they slip off to be alone. Almost cuddly feeling when you—bloody hell!”

Faith stared at him. It took a minute to realize there was a connection between the throbbing in her fist and the way he was clutching his head. She whipped around to see if Buffy’s had caught her smacking the boyfriend around. Luckily Buffy was too busy giving one of her lectures on How To Be Good to the new recruits.

“Suppose I deserved that,” Spike offered with a wry smile. He held out the pack. “Have another?”

After a few minutes of smoky silence she cleared her throat. “Didn’t think you had those kind of thoughts anymore, now that you’re all souled up.”

“Still a demon, pet. Just don’t always care so much for the things that pop into my head anymore.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.” He stomped out his smoke. “Worth it though,” he sighed as he sauntered over to chat with Buffy.

They looked so relaxed together. He’d lean into her just slightly, and she’d slide a finger through one of his belt loops. So casual and easy; she didn’t think she’d ever seen Buffy like that with Angel. Big, broad, and dumb; that’s what she was on the hunt for.

It was her turn to work with Amanda, then a short meeting with Giles, and then some serious imbibing. She flicked her smoke against a headstone and watched the little orange sparks fizzle out. Maybe Willow would still be awake.

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Dear Xander,

Today I put my third slayer on a plane and tomorrow I'm off to Florida to pick up the fourth. I haven't been to Florida since the 1920s. I never got a chance to tell you those stories. You probably wouldn’t want to hear about what happened to Fredrick Armstrong’s bathtub gin, but I could have taught you how to Charleston. I miss you.

Anya burned the letter in the hotel ashtray and took the ashes out to scatter in the wind. The Houston sky was grey and the ash swirled in the air as an airplane seemed to fly right at her. She stroked her wedding ring and leaned out over the balcony. There was nothing to see but the line of traffic to and from the airport, a few sad trees, and giant billboards. Anya pulled her sweater tighter. It wasn’t as loose as it had been when she’d packed it.

So far slayer retrieval was turning out to be exciting. She's track down the girl, corner her when the opportunity opened to catch the girl alone, ask if the girl had noticed she suddenly had amazing strength. The girls Anya had met so far had been relieved to meet someone who had the answers.

Anya had mixed results with the parents. Connie's parents seemed relieved to get her gone, her mother for her child's safety and her father for less savory reasons. It had taken a great deal of willpower not to call Hallie once she'd gotten the girl out of that house.

Octavia's parents were not happy, but they seemed to think it was a better fate than the early motherhood and drug addiction they obviously thought awaited their daughter. Anya thought the girl seemed smarter than that. Deirdre’s parents were devastated at the end of their daughter's gymnastics career, but the girl was desperate to leave. Her parents wanted to debate; she wanted to earliest flight out.

She hoped Solana would be equally eager. Anya also wondered what was happening to the girls outside the United States. Maybe it was coincidental that Dawn was only seeing American girls so far. Girls in other countries needed help, too. For one thing, it was a big world. For another, Anya wouldn't mind an all-expenses-paid trip to Barcelona.

From down the block apple wood smoke wafted her way, along with the smell of caramelizing sugar and hot animal flesh. Her stomach gurgled and she grabbed her purse. The Council was going to be paying for a full rack of ribs and some potato salad.


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Buffy chatted with Faith for a few minutes about who was going to train who, what wasn't working, and what time they'd get together to meet Deirdre. She could feel Spike's eyes on her as they talked. A familiar heat was rising up inside her as he ambled over and slipped one hand into the pocket of her jeans.

"Can you take Amanda home?" she forced herself to ask. "I need to talk to Giles."

Spike gave her a long look, then dropped a quick kiss on the side of her mouth and strolled over to the crowd of new slayers and watchers. Buffy didn't like Diana --- reminded her too much of Gwendolyn Post, but Anil and David seemed okay. Dawn said they sucked at retail, but they were getting along well with the girls. In a way she felt sorry for them. Amanda and the others would never know what it was like to have their very own watcher like the way she had. Not that Giles hadn't cared about Xander and Willow, too, but she'd always known it wasn't the same as what he felt for her.

She missed that. It was partly her fault, but that didn't make it ache any less.

"They're doing quite well, wouldn't you say?" Giles asked softly when the others had cleared out.

Buffy nodded. "They're good."

"And how are you, Buffy?"

She turned to look at him, really look at him. He seemed grayer than when she'd last seen him. "I'm good too," she said quietly.

"Yes, I see that," he agreed.

Buffy let out the breath she was holding. "You haven't really said much about it."

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me since my return?”

“I haven’t…. yes.” There really wasn’t much point in denying it. It had been one thing talking to him over the phone. It was easy enough just to avoid the subject, but now that he was back, seeing them together all the time, she had to know what he thought of her now.

"What would you have me say, Buffy?" He sighed deeply. "I cannot say I heartily approve of the situation, but the two of you do have... a most remarkable effect on one another."

"And that's good? I mean, is it? The effect?" With her mom she could be cool and confident, but it was harder with Giles.

"Well, aside from the perplexing urge to seek his soul?” was the half answer he gave. “He's very good with the girls," he added after a moment of silence. Giles sounded a little surprised at his own grudging praise of the vampire.

She shrugged. "He always liked Dawn. Plus? Vain. It strokes his ego getting to show off for the girls." Buffy couldn't clamp down on her fond smile. "He started wearing those stupid necklaces again because he thinks it will make him look more menacing or something. Because nothing says grr for a guy like jewelry." She didn't mention how it also meant she could jerk him around by the little metal chains when they were in bed together, in a way that was probably not healthy, but God it was such a rush to be able to overpower him like that. It wasn't like he minded.

"Buffy?"

Buffy jerked her head up and blinked. "I was just--"

"I beg you not to enlighten me," he said with a sardonic smile. She had missed his smiles.

"I should go home," she replied. "Get some rest. Got another new girl to work with tomorrow."

"You are doing a wonderful job with them," Giles said with another wistful look. "I must say, I'm proud of you, Buffy. You're an incredible role model for the girls."

Buffy felt her heart clench as she hugged him quickly and carefully. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Giles." She squeezed his shoulder. "There's something else I wanted to say, something I've been wanting to say ever since I got back, but then you were gone, and...." Giles waited patiently for her to get her words together. "Glory and Ben... I know what you did. I know you did it for me, so I wouldn't have to carry that burden." She breathed out, "thank you."

Giles's hand trembled a bit when it touched her cheek. "My dear child, I come back and find you've grown up while I was away."

She slipped out after another quick hug, before she lost it and started blubbering like a little kid. It wasn't until she was out on the sidewalk, the late September air cooling her heated face that she realized how nervous she'd been. So afraid to disappointing Giles. Still she couldn't give up Spike, even if he had asked her to. She loved him. Had she told him that since he'd come back?

It was time to go home and make sure he knew it.

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Okay, I know things seem pretty happy. It’s taking me a while to get everything all shook up and situated. Next chapter will see the return of some old enemies and the introduction of a new one. So the action will start ramping up. In the meantime, feedback please, please, please.