Avocation

Chapter 24

“Life! Austere arbiter of each man’s fate ,/ By whom he learns that Nature’s steadfast laws/Are as decrees immutable; O pause/Your even forward march! Not yet too late/Teach me the needed lesson, when to wait/Inactive as a ship when no wind draws/ To stretch the loosened cordage. One implores/Thy clemency, whose wilfulness innate/Has gone uncurbed and roughshod while the years/Have lengthened into decades; now distressed/He knows no rule by which to move or stay,/And teased with restlessness and desperate fears/He dares not watch in silence thy wise way/Bringing about results none could have guessed.” ~Amy Lowell, “Before Dawn”

Xander was dying to tell someone the story, but it couldn’t be just anyone. Willow wouldn’t understand. She was too caught up in her early application packets. Buffy was busy with Slayer stuff. Giles would just roll his eyes and tune him out.

Oz would probably listen, but Xander had a hard time reading the other boy. He wanted someone who would actually react to what he was saying.

He really wished there was someone he could talk to about the thing with Faith. That had just been weird.

That might have been why he felt some sense of relief when he saw Spike coming down the hallway. “Spike! What are you doing here? It’s early.”

Spike shrugged. “I was out last night and saw something that worried me a bit. Took the tunnels to get here.” The vampire suddenly grinned. “Sun isn’t so scary if you have a few tricks up your sleeve.”

“Well, if you’re looking for Buffy, I think she’s in the library. Last I heard, she was complaining to Giles about the new Watcher.”

Spike frowned. “There’s a new Watcher?”

“Yeah, Giles got fired over that test thing.” Xander fell into step next to Spike.

“Oh, right. Forgot about that.” Spike gave Xander an inquisitive look. “What’s up with you, mate? You look like you’ve got ants in your pants.”

Xander hesitated, and then he burst out, “I kept the school from getting blown up.”

“You what?”

The story wasn’t nearly as coherent as Xander wanted it to be, and he was worried that he sounded more like a spaz than a hero, but Spike simply nodded. “Said you had guts, didn’t I?” At Xander’s slightly disappointed expression, the vampire raised an eyebrow. “You were looking for something else?”

“Nothing’s changed,” Xander said. “Cordelia—”

“Do us all a favor and forget about her,” Spike said. “She’s going to be pissed off at you until the day she dies, and she’s going to try and make your life a living hell. Best if you ignore her as much as possible.”

Xander sighed. That was basically what both Buffy and Willow had been telling him, but he’d wanted another solution, something a little quicker. “Yeah, I guess.”

“So you’ve seen this new Watcher?”

Xander laughed. “He’s no Giles.”

Spike got to see how right Xander was for himself. The new Watcher had returned to the library in Xander’s absence. The vampire couldn’t help but be reminded of a certain stiff young man who had died over a century ago.

Of course, while he might be able to sympathize that didn’t mean he was going to make it easy on the prat. “What have we here?”

“New Watcher,” Buffy said, sitting at the table, her chin propped in her hand. She perked up. “Want to come amulet-hunting with me tonight?”

“And who is this?” Wesley demanded. “Does everyone know your identity, Miss Summers?”

“I’m hardly ‘everyone,'” Spike drawled, looking the other man up and down with apparent disdain. “Name’s William the Bloody, or Spike if you prefer.”

Wesley’s eyes widened. “But—but—you—” He turned to stare at Giles. “He’s not supposed to exist!”

Spike smirked, his face shifting as he grabbed Wesley by the lapels and pulled him in close. “I don’t, strictly speaking.” He grinned toothily, thinking that the younger Watcher looked as though he was about to wet himself. Spike pushed him back. “Can’t believe they’d send you to the Hellmouth.”

Wesley drew himself up importantly. “I’ll have you know that I’m perfectly qualified!”

Both Spike and Buffy burst out laughing at the same time. “Right,” Spike said slowly, his now-blue eyes sparkling with barely-contained laughter.

Wesley straightened his suitcoat, turning to Giles. “Do you mean to tell me that you have allowed a vampire to work with the Slayer?”

“Apparently the Powers That Be asked Spike to protect Buffy,” Giles replied mildly. His eyes met Spike’s, and they shared a moment’s understanding. “Really, Wesley, I had expected you to understand that sometimes one needs to improvise in the field.”

Wesley frowned, thrown off slightly by his total lack of fieldwork. “Oh, ah, yes. Improvisation and flexibility are key elements in the Slayer’s arsenal. Remember that, Buffy.”

“Whatever,” Buffy said, bored. She perked up a moment later as Willow came through the library doors. ” Willow ! Ready to teach me some chemistry?”

Willow ‘s eyes widened. She didn’t think she had ever seen Buffy this excited to study anything before. “Uh, sure?”

Wesley cleared his throat. “Buffy—”

“It’s not dark yet, and I have a chemistry test tomorrow,” Buffy said, interrupting him. “Why don’t you grill Spike for a while? Then we’ll both go to retrieve the amulet.”

She paused to give Spike an apologetic look then turned and dragged Willow out of the library. The vampire simply raised an eyebrow, daring the new Watcher to ask a question. Wesley stiffened. “You know, I have some more unpacking to do, if you’ll excuse me.” He scuttled out of the library, and Giles finally indulged in the laughter he’d been holding in.

“Oh, Spike,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to do something like that all day.”

Spike shrugged. “It was fun, pulling that wanker’s chain.” He grinned. “You sure he isn’t evil? I could rip his throat out for you.”

Giles wished that offer wasn’t nearly as tempting as it was. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s not evil, just a prat.”

“If that means he’s a dork, I would heartily agree with that assessment,” Xander offered.

Giles, who normally found Xander rather annoying, now regarded him as a breath of fresh air in comparison. “Thank you, Xander.” He turned to the vampire. “You’re here early. Is anything wrong?”

Spike took a seat at the table. “Could be. We’ve got a cult moving into town, and they’re not here for the sunshine.”

“The Eliminati?” Giles asked. “Yes, Buffy and Faith ran into them last night. Wesley seems to think they’re here for an amulet.”

Spike leaned back in his chair. “What amulet?”

Giles took a seat across from him. “Apparently it’s rumored that the demon they worshipped, Balthazar, had an amulet that gave him strength. Wesley is insisting that the demon is dead and that the Eliminati want the amulet for sentimental value.”

Spike stared at Giles for a moment before letting out a bark of incredulous laughter. “He’s not serious, is he?”

“Yes, I believe he was.” Giles frowned. “What makes you say that?”

Spike shook his head. “This is a vampire cult we’re talking about, right? Because they don’t put a lot of stock in ‘sentimental value.'”

“Yeah, vampires aren’t really with the touchy-feely, I’m thinking,” Xander threw in.

Giles considered that for a moment. “Wesley seemed to know what he was talking about.” The older man steepled his fingers in front of his face. “I knew his father, you know.”

“Was he a wanker, too?”

“Quite.” Giles shook his head. “I want you to go with Buffy tonight, Spike. Stick close to her. If the cult wants this amulet for something important, this might turn out to be more dangerous than we thought.”

~~~~~

More dangerous than expected was exactly what their evening turned out to be. The amulet was right where it was supposed to be, but the Eliminati arrived soon after they did. Two against six weren’t horrible odds, however, and they managed to kill four before the last two ran away.

“Where’s Faith?” Spike asked, leaning against the wall of the crypt. One of the vampires had managed to graze his side with his sword, and he was trying to get a good look at the laceration.

Buffy swatted his hands away and bent to take a look for herself. “This isn’t too deep,” she decided, then answered his question. “I don’t know. We kind of got into a fight last night.” Straightening, she asked, “What happened between the two of you, Spike?”

“Nothing,” he replied, his tone short. “It was nothing.”

“Did she come onto you?” Buffy asked. When he refused to answer, she pressed a little harder. “Did you turn her down because of me?”

“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Slayer,” Spike replied, disgruntled with her line of questioning.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “That so doesn’t answer my question.”

“It’s none of your sodding business.”

“Well, pardon me for being a little concerned here, Spike,” Buffy shot back. “You’re fighting with Faith, Faith is picking fights with me, and I’ve got an idiot for a new Watcher. I’m not doing this with you.”

“Doing what?”

“Doing this back and forth thing,” Buffy replied boldly. “Either we like each other or we don’t. We’re all in or we decide we’re not.” She stuck her chin out. “So what’s it going to be, because I would appreciate knowing you’ve got my back if I can’t trust anyone else. “

“You know I’ve got your back, Buffy,” Spike replied. He was quiet for a moment. “What happens if we’re all in?”

“Beats me,” Buffy admitted. “I just thought deciding that might make things easier on the two of us.”

Spike shrugged uncomfortably. “I’m in.”

“Okay. I’m in, too.”

There was a long pause, and then Spike observed, “That didn’t seem to help.”

“No, it really didn’t.”

“Maybe this will.” Spike bent his head, touching her lips with his. The kiss was chaste, tentative, and brief. He rested his forehead against hers.

Buffy sighed. “What happened between you and Faith, Spike?”

“About like you thought,” he confessed. “She said all you wanted me for was muscle.”

“I won’t deny that part of it is nice,” Buffy replied, “but that’s hardly all I want you for.”

They both caught the unintended double entendre and laughed shakily. Spike sighed, his hands moving of their own accord in a soothing pattern on her back. “This isn’t something I’ve done before, Summers .”

“We’ll move slowly then,” Buffy said. “Just—see where it takes us.”

“Right then,” Spike said. “You got it, luv.”

“Then maybe you could kiss me again,” Buffy said. “Because that’s the best part of the deal.”

~~~~~

“So then what?” Willow asked.

Buffy tried to hide a smile. “Then we went back to his place and I patched him up.”

Willow glared at her. “I want to know about the smoochies!”

“There were some.”

The resolve face came out again. “Details, Buffy!”

“They were nice?”

“On a scale of one to ten?”

“Oh, we were hitting an easy nine by the time I left to go home,” Buffy admitted. “And that was just the beginning. I got the feeling Spike was holding back on me.”

Willow sighed. “You guys are perfect for each other.”

“I know.” Buffy’s expression went from blissful to concerned . ” Which is what has me worried. “

“You’re not still concerned about Spike going evil on you?” Willow asked.

The Slayer shook her head. “Not really. I’m just concerned about Faith. She got pretty nasty the other night about Spike. I think she’s jealous.”

Willow made a face. “I kinda can see that,” she replied. “I mean, she was living with Spike and he’s still into you. Plus, you got Giles for a Watcher and she gets Wesley.”

Buffy grimaced, slouching down on her bed. Willow had come over to give her a protection sachet, and then they had gotten to talking. Spike was supposed to be over later, and then they were going to meet up with Faith. Not that any of them were actually comfortable with that plan, but all three of them would probably be needed to take care of the Eliminati.

“Don’t forget that I have Wesley too,” Buffy reminded Willow . “And can I just mention how badly that sucks?”

Willow , who normally preferred to see the best in people, couldn’t disagree. Even she thought Wesley was pretty much useless. Still, she wanted to be positive. “Maybe the Council had a good reason for sending him here,” she suggested, even though she sounded rather doubtful.

Buffy made a face. “Does the Council ever have a good reason for doing anything?”

Willow couldn’t really disagree with her friend on that one. Any organization that would nearly kill Buffy and fire Giles didn’t operate on any kind of logic that she recognized. “Yeah, you’re right.”

A knock came on the door and Spike poked his head through. “Ready to go, pet?”

“I’m right behind you,” Buffy said. “Where are we meeting Faith?”

“At the Bronze,” Spike replied. “Seemed like a neutral enough location.”

“Sounds good.”

Spike looked at Willow , giving her a brief nod. “You alright there, Red?”

“Just peachy,” she said. “You guys be careful tonight.”

“As always,” Buffy said cheerfully, following Spike out the door.

Willow watched them go, realizing suddenly that Buffy had appeared to be happier than she’d been in a very long time. The witch sighed. Although she couldn’t begrudge her friend a chance at happiness, they hadn’t been able to spend nearly as much time together recently.

At least Willow did get most of Buffy’s company during the day.

~~~~~

It was with a certain amount of shyness that Spike reached for Buffy’s hand. The fact that she let him take it relaxed him slightly. “So, the Bronze, huh?”

“Yeah, figured it was easiest,” Spike replied. “You don’t mind?”

“No, but it would have been nice if we had some time to have fun before work,” Buffy replied, pouting slightly.

Spike frowned. “Fun?”

“Is that such a foreign concept?” she teased.

“No, but…” Spike shrugged. “Killing things is fun.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “There are other ways to have fun, you know.”

“Like what?”

“Like dancing with yours truly.” Buffy stepped just a little closer.

Spike smiled. “All we’ve ever done is danced.”

“Maybe we ought to try a different venue.”

“You two lovebirds going to get down to business any time tonight?” Faith asked, her tone sharp.

Spike took a step away from Buffy, putting some much-needed distance between the two of them. “You ready to go?”

“There you are!” Wesley’s voice cut through the noise, although he stiffened when he saw Spike. “What is he doing here?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “There’s a demon that needs to be killed, and it requires all hands on deck.” He suddenly grinned. “In fact, maybe that ought to include you.”

“What?” Wesley took a step back as if he was afraid Spike was going to grab him. “I’ll have you know I’m a Watcher. It’s my job to instruct and guide the Slayer. Watchers are not required for field work.”

Faith and Buffy exchanged a look, completely in one accord for the first time in weeks. “That’s probably a good thing,” Faith said. “You’d just be in the way.”

“I am highly trained in the art of hand to hand combat!” Wesley shot back, stung.

Buffy snorted. “Right. Spike says Balthazar isn’t dead.”

“He most certainly is,” Wesley said. “My books—”

“Aren’t worth shit,” Spike said rudely, tired of Wesley’s pretentious attitude. “Where’s the amulet?”

“It’s in a safe place.”

Buffy reached forward, ignoring Wesley’s squeak of affront, and pulled out the amulet. “Maybe we should put it somewhere that’s actually safe.”

“How did you know it was there?” Wesley demanded.

Buffy sighed. “It made your jacket pooch.” She looked over at Spike. “What are you thinking?”

“That you two aren’t going in alone,” Spike said. “We can wait until tomorrow night to take care of this demon.”

Faith frowned. “Screw that. I’m in the mood for some damage.”

Spike shook his head. “From what I’ve heard, there’s at least a dozen Eliminati, plus the demon. Not odds I want you two facing on your own.”

“You mean you don’t want your precious Buffy facing those kind of odds,” Faith shot back.

Spike glared at her. “Listen up, little girl. You might not want to listen to your Watcher—which makes sense since he’s a complete git—”

Wesley was indignant. “Hey!”

“But you’ll listen to me. I’ve been around longer than you, and I know losing odds when I see them. Might not want to sleep with you, but I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Spike’s tone of voice was one Buffy hadn’t heard before. It was hard—tough and authoritative, and she found herself grateful that he hadn’t ever tried talking to her like that. There was something about it that caused Faith to look away, almost cowed. “Whatever.”

“Good.” Spike’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you staying?”

“Motel out by the highway,” Faith muttered.

Spike nodded. “Fine. You need to do some violence tonight, you do a patrol. Sweep the cemeteries and keep your head down.”

To Buffy’s surprise, Faith didn’t argue, even if she didn’t say anything that could be termed an agreement. After the dark-haired Slayer had disappeared into the crowd, Buffy turned to Spike in surprise. “What was that?”

“That was me being the pack-leader,” Spike said with grim satisfaction. “Not a card I like to play all that often, but a girl like Faith respects a show of strength.”

Wesley apparently felt that he needed to try and regain the ground he’d lost. “Excuse me, but I am the Watcher here.”

Spike glanced at him with disdain. “When you start acting like one, I’ll let you know. Let’s get this out of here, Buffy.”

Buffy couldn’t help but feel a warm sense of satisfaction that Spike was hers.

He was really hot when he was taking charge.

~~~~~

“How long are we going to have to put up with him, Giles?” Buffy whined the next day.

Wesley had been talking about “training regimens,” and Buffy had attempted to explain that Spike was in charge of that but to no avail. He was driving her crazy.

Giles sighed. He wasn’t happy about the Council’s choice for his replacement, either, although he couldn’t help but be relieved at Buffy’s change of attitude. Since the Cruciamentum she’d been a little cold towards him. She’d done a complete about-face once Wesley had arrived, however.

“I’m afraid he’s here for the duration, Buffy,” Giles replied. “That’s who the Council wanted.”

“Why?” she demanded. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

Giles grimaced. “I won’t argue with you. Honestly, I’m not certain why the Council would place Wesley in such a position. Active Slayers are usually assigned to a—well, an older Watcher.”

Buffy slumped in her seat. “I’m not training with him,” she warned him. “Spike and I are doing just fine.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Giles said. “How are you and Spike?”

“What are you talking about?” Buffy said, trying for complete innocence and not quite managing it.

“I think you know.”

Buffy wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Are you angry?”

“I ought to be,” Giles said sternly. He shook his head. “Spike’s soul might be permanent, but he is still a vampire.” His face softened. “But I believe he’d lay down his life for you, Buffy, and that’s something.”

Buffy shook her head. “This wasn’t what I wanted, Giles.”

Giles thought of his relationship with Joyce, and although he didn’t say anything, he certainly understood. He never should have entered into a relationship with Buffy’s mother—except that sometimes, you really had no control over who you fell in love with. “Be careful, Buffy.”

“Always,” she promised him with a smile.