CHAPTER 126 - TRAINING

APRIL 14, 2009

TUESDAY

9:30PM

One evening a couple of weeks later, as they drove home from their classes, the question of training came up in an unexpected way.

William had been quiet during the ride home, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Elizabeth? Um, I hate to bring this up, but did you hear about what happened on campus last weekend?"

"That girl?" she asked, referring to hearing that a freshman had been assaulted on the way to her car after leaving the library Friday evening.

"Yes, and on Good Friday even," he said, shaking his head.

It had been Easter the weekend before. Buffy had thought that William might want to go to church again, and so she'd asked him. He'd thought that would be a good thing to do. She didn't mind, figuring if anyone should be grateful for resurrections, it ought to be her, in lieu of William knowing, and so they went. Like Christmas, there was something very special about the services, though this time served up at sunrise, rather than at midnight.

"I was thinking, maybe you should take a self-defense course or something," he said, "Wendy says they’re starting one over at the "Y" a few blocks from here before classes on Thursday nights, and also on Fridays."

Ever since Giles had mentioned training, she had been thinking about it, and trying to figure the best way to approach it. She had started talking about their getting fit and mentioned some different types of exercises she used to do, but he’d only seemed mildly interested and she hadn’t pushed it.

"Wasn’t that girl with her boyfriend, too?" she asked, innocently.

"I think so," William said.

"I heard he got beat up pretty badly, as well, trying to defend her."

He nodded, lips tightly drawn. He’d heard about that as well, and it had made him sick to think, that despite this fellow’s best attempts, his girl still got hurt. If that happened to Elizabeth... "Suppose it wouldn’t hurt if I went with you, would it?"

"Would you?" she asked.

He nodded solemnly.

And so, they started going to self-defense classes twice a week. Soon it was apparent to the members of the class, that Buffy had training before. For William’s sake, she tried to hold back the first couple of weeks, even biting her tongue some of the time, when she knew a better way to do something. However, when she’d been assigned to role-play victim to the largest male member of the class, she quickly used his weight to her advantage, and tossed him over onto his back in nothing flat, to the speechless stares of the rest of the class.

William, like the rest of the class, just stared at her. He caught her eye and looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read.

Buffy extended her hand to the man she’d just tossed onto the mat, as if he were a rag doll.

"You okay?"

He grunted and ignoring her hand, got up on his own, embarrassed.

"Elizabeth, where did you ever learn that move?" her instructor asked her when class had ended.

"Just got lucky," she said, lightly.

"You never took classes before?" the instructor pressed.

"A long time ago," Buffy said, looking around for William, and seeing him talking to a giggling Wendy, who much to Buffy’s displeasure, was also taking the class,

"Wow, that was something, Elizabeth," Wendy said, seeing her as she walked up to them, "doesn’t look like you need any protecting like the rest of us."

Whether intentional or not, Buffy felt the sting of the careless remark.

"I wouldn’t say that," Buffy said, sweetly, but her eyes looked at the girl coldly.

"Bet she could take you out, huh, William?" Wendy teased.

"You know, looks like she probably could," he said looking at Buffy, who looked down, feeling her face flame.

William put his hand on her chin, lifting her face up so that she was looking into his questioning eyes, "But somehow, I think I find that very sexy in a woman," he said, in a low voice that reminded her of Spike.

The other woman was totally forgotten as she looked at him gratefully.

"You ready?" he asked, taking her gym bag from her.

She nodded and after saying goodnight to Wendy, followed him out to the car.

As soon as they got to the car, Buffy put her arms around him kissed him.

"What’s that for?" he asked, gently holding her back.

"Thank you," she said, quietly, "for what you said in there."

He didn’t say anything, just opened the door for her.

They drove home in silence. Buffy stealing sidelong glances at him, wondering why he wasn't talking. Right after they’d left she felt everything was fine, but now she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know what to think. Was he upset? Confused? Angry? She didn’t know, but she was beginning to feel all those things, herself.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" he asked finally.

"What?"

"That you knew self-defense?"

"I did, when I was telling you about getting fit again," she said, slightly defensive.

He shook his head, "I don’t think you mentioned that," he said, looking over at her.

She didn’t say anything.

"I’m glad," he said.

"You are?"

"Of course, why wouldn’t I be?"

"I thought...nevermind."

"No, tell me. You thought what?"

"You know...what she said."

He thought about it and then laughed, "What? About you being able to take me?"

"Um-hmm."

He laughed again, "First off, if you can take me, then I know you could take on someone at least as strong as me; which at this point isn’t saying much, is it? Seeing you throw that big guy in class, makes me glad that isn’t the only case."

They had pulled up in front of the house and he turned off the car, and took her hands before continuing.

"Second thing, is that I already know your strength, Elizabeth. I see it in you every day. And wasn’t it you who came all the way to Chicago and broke me out of that god-awful hospital? It may have not been physical strength, but I daresay, if that had been needed..."

Buffy felt her eyes grow moist and a weight lifted off her. She’d been so worried how he would take knowing about this aspect of her, this physical strength she possessed as part of her slayer package, though not what it once had been, it was still much more than the average girl.

She cleared her throat, "You know, you were the only one who could almost best me."

"How’s that?"

"Back in Sunnydale, we used to spar, for fun. Sort of like what we were doing in class tonight. You were the only one who I could actually have a decent fight...er, match with."

"Really?" he asked, surprised, and a bit proud. "I could beat you, huh?"

She smiled, "Sometimes," she said, not adding, ‘if I wanted you to.’

"Huh," he said, thoughtfully, getting out of the car and coming around and opening her side, before she did. "Maybe you could teach me again, then?"

"If you don’t mind going down," she teased.

"Luv, when have I ever minded going down for you?" he said, as his eyebrows arched suggestively.

She looked at him disbelieving before cracking up, "William! You really do think it’s sexy, don’t you?"

He shrugged, grinning, "Guess I do."

"Oh thank God!" she said kissing him, as she pulled him in the door and shut it behind them.

END CHAPTER 126

CHAPTER 127 - A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM

MAY 5, 2009

MONDAY

7:00PM

William sat at the computer doing an assignment online for his computer class when the funny chirp of Dawn's IM sounded, letting him know she had sent him a message.

DSCG: Hi William!

WSW: Hi yourself!

DSCG: What's new and exciting?

WSW: Not much, really. Just doing an assignment for my computer class.

DSCG: I won't keep you long, then.

WSW: Didn't mean it that way. I'm always glad to hear from you.

DSCG: That's sweet of you to say.

WSW: LOL - but I do mean it.

DSCG: Just wanted to remind you and Buffy that the play John gave you tickets for is this next Saturday night, so don't make any other plans.

WSW: Really? I'm glad you reminded me! Which one is it?

DSCG: A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

WSW: Great! Looking forward to it. Thank him again for me, for both of us.

DSCG: I will. :)

WSW: Why don't you guys come and spend the night here afterwards.

DSCG: I'll ask him. If he doesn't have rounds in the morning, we'll probably do that.

WSW: Looking forward to it. Oh, and tell John he's going to see that A Midsummer Night's Dream is the funniest! :)

DSCG: I'll be sure to tell him that. Okay, I'll call you guys Thursday evening.

WSW: Good. Just remember we don't get home from school until almost 11pm.

DSCG: Thought it was around 9.

WSW: It was, but taking a self-defense course after school on Thursday. It starts rather late that evening.

DSCG: Buffy told me you guys about that, but I forgot when it was. Do you like it?

WSW: I do. I didn't so much at first. I felt...uncomfortable with all the throwing about and such, but now I'm as they say, into it.

DSCG: Having fun?

WSW: Yeah, I am. I'm rather better at it than I thought I would be, but that's probably due to the private tutoring I'm getting.

DSCG: Private tutoring? Oh, you mean Buffy, don't you?

WSW: Of course. Don't think she'd let em get tutored by someone else, do you?

DSCG: ROTFLMAO

WSW: Wait, have to look that expression up. Oh, now I see it...ha! Anyway, back to the question of time, if you can call us around 5pm, we'll be home from work then, and before we go to classes. Or Wednesday’s we’re home and on Friday we have an earlier class in self-defense class from 6 - 7. In any case, we'll leave Saturday evening open!

DSCG: I'll catch her sometime. Or have her call me. Either way.

WSW: Will do. Bye for now.

DSCG: Bye almost brother-in-law :)

William smiled at her salutation, reminding him that she considered him as family. He didn't know why, but from the moment he'd met Dawn (again) he had felt a bond with her, just like he did with Elizabeth. She'd told him they'd been close before, and somehow that feeling had carried forward, just like his love for Elizabeth had, despite his not remembering the details.

He heard the front door open and saw Elizabeth coming in with groceries.

"Need some help?" he asked, getting up.

"That would be nice," she said, smiling.

He put on his shoes and went out to the car to get the rest of the bags.

"Dawn IM'd me," he told her as he walked into the kitchen, dropping the bags onto the counter.

He told her what Dawn had said about calling her, and about this coming Saturday night.

"Good thing she reminded you, I totally forgot."

"Me, too. Say, do you know where the tickets are?"

"Uh...not offhand, but I think they're on my dresser somewhere, maybe in the top drawer. I'll look later for them."

An hour later:

"Crap, crap, crap!" Buffy swore from the bedroom.

"Can't you find them?" William asked, worried, walking in.

"No!"

"What did you do with them?"

She looked up and gave him a dirty look, "Well, I wouldn't be in here looking for them if I knew that would I? And besides, why was it up to me to do anything with them? They were your present."

"I didn't ask you to do anything with them, you just did," he shot back.

She ignored him and went back to her search.

"Maybe they're with some of the other stuff we got for Christmas," he suggested.

She stopped to think about that for a minute, then pulled out a stack of cards that she had shoved into her drawer.

"Ta-da!" she said.

"You found 'em?"

"Yep, you were right! They were inside your Christmas card from John and Dawn," she said, getting up and handing them to him.

"Sorry I yelled at you, luv," he said, looking ashamed.

"You didn't really yell, so much as just accuse me of losing them," she said, grinning, as she put her arms around him. "You're forgiven. Or maybe I'll just make you make it up to me."

He looked down at her and kissed her, "Like this?" he whispered, as he moved down to her neck, making her shiver.

"It’s a start," she said, pulling him towards the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OFFICES OF WOLFRAM & HART

MAY 8, 2009

THURSDAY

9:00AM

"Lilah’s here to see you," Angel’s secretary buzzed him from the outer office.

"Send her in."

"Hey boss man," Lilah greeted him.

"Did you do what I asked you to do?"

"Of course, that’s what I came to tell you."

"And all the employees were made aware of what protocol to use if a ‘person of interest’ is spotted at our Starbucks."

"Unequivocally. Plus the managers know that if protocol isn’t carried out it’s their heads, literally. That ought to give them plenty of incentive to get their employees to fall in line."

"Good. Now we wait."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAY 10, 2009

SATURDAY

7:00PM

"Here they are," Dawn said, pointing to the fifth row, center seats that were reserved for them.

They had gone to a Mexican restaurant for dinner in Balboa Park and had walked over to The Olde Globe Theatre for this evening’s performance.

"So, you ready old man?" John asked William.

"Are you? Because you’re going to see that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the funniest of the comedies..."

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"They’re at it again," Buffy said.

"Yeah, espousing," she deadpanned.

Buffy giggled.

Soon after they were seated, the lights went down and a man wearing a period costume came onstage and made some jokes as he announced the beginning of the play.

It was very good. Buffy had never seen it before, but had read through it, in the Complete Works of Shakespeare book she’d bought William. More recently, William had borrowed a book on CD from the library, and they had listened to it as they drove to and from their evening classes.

Back in Sunnydale, Buffy couldn’t have imagined herself being able to understand the language of Shakespeare, let alone be able to follow the story. However, now she found herself glued to the action and, like William, sometimes, silently mouthing the dialogue along with the actors.

She turned to look at him. He looked so in his element, watching with unbridled glee, understanding both the complexity and silliness of it. William turned to give her a big grin and a quick kiss on the cheek, happiness written on his features.

Buffy sometimes had to pinch herself that after so many years of hardness, heartache, and her heart being closed off from happiness, that she was fully enjoying both love and life, in as normal a way as possible. She stole a glance at him again, he was so thoroughly, innocently beautiful in his happiness, that it brought a lump to her throat.

As if sensing her emotion, he reached out and squeezed her hand, and the warmth of it reassured her, that indeed, this was real, more than anything else in this world could be.

After the play was over, William and John took up where they’d left off before.

"Well, the bet’s far from over, William," John said, "we still have Taming of the Shrew to see next month."

"And then you’ll agree that I win!" William said.

"We might have to have the girls decide," John said.

They stopped their discussion, just as they got to the counter of Starbucks. They’d decided on coffee, instead of ice cream, having already had a rich, chocolate dessert after dinner.

They ordered their drinks; an Iced Latte with skim milk for Buffy, Espresso for John, an Iced Mocha for William, and an Iced Vanilla Mocha for Dawn, and took their seats.

Behind the counter, a small bell went off. Shanna, who was one of the counter persons, looked over at Aaron. His lips tightened as he walked over to the buzzing machine, and turned a key."

"I’ll be right back," he said. Nervously, he knocked at the door of the small office behind the store. This new manager seemed to have it in for him and the last thing he needed tonight was to be dealing with this shit!

As it was, his job was on the line, just because, due to no fault of his own, he’d been late a couple of times. All Aaron wanted was to be able to make a few bucks over the spring and summer, so that he could pay for his college books the next fall, and take his girl out once in a while, before she dumped him.

"What the hell is it now?" barked Roger, the night manager.

Roger, once a special ops mercenary for Wolfram & Hart, until an unfortunate incident left him with a noticeable limp and partly blind in one eye, hated his new assignment; a downgraded position as a low level manager for a coffee chain!

"There's something you should see," Aaron said, and told him of the alarm. Roger switched over to the Wolfram & Hart screen, which showed him two faces that were listed under 'persons of immediate interest,' along with about a dozen others under the less immediate 'persons of interest' heading.

"Which ones?"

"These two," Aaron said, pointed to Buffy and William.

"They alone?"

"No, they’re with two other people."

Roger clicked the mouse, switching screens to view the inside of the restaurant.

There were only a few tables that had patrons at them.

"Where are they?" Roger said, scanning the faces.

"I...I don't see them!" Aaron mumbled.

"Fuck!"

Roger scrambled out of his chair, knocking it over, in his haste to get to the door.

He hurried out to the counter, "Where are they?" he hissed at Shanna.

"Where are who?"

"The people the alarm buzzed about!"

"Uh...they left. They sat down for a minute, but then just got up and left with their drinks."

"Shit, shit, shit!" Roger swore. "What the fuck is wrong with them? People don't just sit down, then leave in a minute! They either take their drinks to go, or they stay and drink them!"

"I...I'm sure Wolfram & Hart will understand that you had no chance to intercept them."

"You mean, we didn’t, don’t you?" Roger asked, staring down the younger man.

"Yeah, sure they will," Roger thought, turning away as he was already, mentally making plans to pack his bags as soon as he got home that night. He had a rich, older, second cousin that had retired to a condominium in Acapulco; maybe he could go there. Or, maybe they would understand, since it wasn't that he had failed, as much as the people had just basically got drinks to go.

No, they wouldn't. He’d been given one last chance, after screwing up the capture and disposal of a rogue band of do-gooders, trying to oust Wolfram & Hart from the nation’s capitol, and this was it. Finally and irrevocably fucked over by a trendy coffeehouse!

Acapulco it is then, he thought, as he walked back into the office.

The phone rang about 20 minutes later, "Hello? Yes, I'm aware it was them...No, I wasn't able to implement the protocol in time, because they left right after they got their drinks...yes, I was notified, but by the time...Yes, I see...yes, I'll see to it. I promise...I'm so sorry...yes, good-bye."

Roger wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve. He had to get out of here tonight. He let Aaron and Shanna leave a half-hour early and locked the doors after them. Back in his office, he opened up the safe and took out all the day's earnings, plus tonight’s take. It totaled $2319.43.

"That'll do," Roger said, pocketing the money.

Roger left by the rear exit, and briskly walked to his where his car was parked, a half block away. He looked around him, once more, before getting in; so far, so good. Destination: the border and a long drive down to Acapulco.

He crossed the border around 11:00pm and decided to find a cheap motel in Tijuana for the night, before continuing. The roads in Mexico sucked, especially trying to navigate them by night, with barely noticeable markers; haphazardly put wherever the hell the half-assed road crews decided to put them.

That and he was mentally exhausted from the fight or flight response his body had been put through. Well, he certainly didn't have the means or the balls he once had, to fight the likes of Wolfram & Hart, so flight it was.

Roger was lucky, in that he found a not half bad hotel, which actually provided room service. He picked up the phone and ordered a couple of cold ones, and a grilled steak, before taking off his shoes and calling directory assistance. It took all of his patience, more Spanish than he knew, and at least 5 different phone operators and directory assistance workers, to finally locate a number for his cousin in Acapulco.

He dialed the number, hoping he wasn't waking her up.

"Hello? Is this Blanche?"

"Si, who is this?"

"It's me, Roger."

"Roger! How lovely to hear from you! Is anything wrong?"

"No. Yes. Sort of...listen Blanche, I'm in Tijuana, I need to come and...Oh, hold on, room service is at the door."

He put the phone on the bed and walked over to the door, "Come on in," he said, as he opened it.

Roger barely had time to register surprise and shock on his face, as two black robed figures powered their way into his room, scythes drawn. Neither would Roger have had the chance to utter his dismay and horror, as within the first second, his larynx was sliced clean through, the second cut, totally separating his head from his body.

"Roger! Roger! Are you there?" Blanche spoke loudly into the phone.

The only response was the phone being gently replaced on its cradle.

One of the men picked up Roger's head and put it into a heavy, black, plastic bag. As soon as they reached their van, they would put it into the cooler, then take it to the airport for transport back to Wolfram & Hart. The other man gathered up all of Roger's belongings, which weren't many, including the clothes he wore, and took those as well. The body was devoid of any telling tattoos or birthmarks, and so that made their job easier and less messy, not that they would have minded, one way or the other.

They left the headless corpse on the floor of the hotel room.

Two days later, the Tijuana paper would devote about 1" of newsprint to the story on page 37. It wouldn't be picked up by any other press agencies.

Starbucks in Balboa Park would be closed for 'renovations' over the next two weeks.

Surprisingly, Aaron took over Roger’s position, and with it, the promise of a much bigger paycheck. He put school on permanent hold, and dropped his girlfriend for a newer, faster one.

Shanna was transferred to another of Wolfram & Hart’s extensive chains, Baskin- Robbins Ice Cream.

END CHAPTER 127

CHAPTER 128 - FUN & GAMES

MAY 10, 2009

SATURDAY

10:30PM

William looked down at Elizabeth worriedly, her head resting on his shoulder, as he drove back to Julian, Dawn and John in the car behind them.

Just as they'd started to drink their coffees, she'd suddenly insisted that they should leave for home right then, saying that she had the beginnings of a headache. After they'd gotten to the car, she waited until they'd gotten on the highway, and once she felt that he knew how to get them home, she had fallen asleep.

As he pulled in front of the house, she woke up, smiled at him and apologized for possibly making his arm fall asleep.

"Nah, it was fine, luv. Don't think you're heavy enough to do that to my arm."

She reached up and touched his face affectionately, before getting out of the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1:00AM

"You guys are so funny! Hardee-har-har," Dawn said, as her and Buffy walked into the kitchen, having just been trumped in cards by William and John, for the second time, as they played Canasta partners.

"We're just better at the game, dear. Admit it!" John called to her.

"Never!"

"Sore loser!"

"Cheater!"

The bantering went on for another few minutes, before dying down. Buffy knew she had sucked badly at the game, which they'd just learned tonight. William had picked it up so much better than she had.

Dawn and John had come prepared, with a box full of different games. She’d felt badly for both William and Dawn, when her sister had pulled out Trivial Pursuit, and then realized when William asked how to play it, that he wouldn’t be able to.

Not unless they had a Victorian Era version, which knowing Trivial Pursuit, it was entirely possible. If not, she’d send them an email suggesting it.

"How much longer you want to play?"

"Maybe we should turn in after this next game," Buffy said.

She sliced some tomatoes and some low fat, low sodium salami and put them on some wheat crackers, topped with a bit of cheese, then put them on a cookie sheet and under the oven's grill for a minute, before transferring them to a plate.

Dawn made up a pitcher of mostly virgin daiquiris, seeing that there was only a little bit of gin to put in them, while Buffy was making the snacks. "Yeah, it's getting pretty late, but I think the boys are all energized by the winning."

Buffy snorted, "Yeah, well, they can stay up and play all night then, but I'm really getting tired."

"Even with that coffee?" Dawn laughed, then stopped when she saw Buffy’s face.

"Hey, Buff?"

"Huh?"

"Something wrong?"

"No, just...I don’t know. When we were at Starbucks tonight, I just got a funny feeling."

"Funny how?"

"I don’t know. Just kind of got wigged out or something. I’m not even sure what I mean."

"Is that why you wanted to leave so suddenly?"

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, I just really wanted to get out of there all of a sudden."

She shook her head again and laughed at her own paranoia, "What did Xander use to say? Sometimes when you see elephants, it’s just elephants. No, it wasn’t elephants. Oh hell, I don’t remember, I’m too tired to remember anything right now."

"I know what it was." Dawn said.

"What?"

"Sometimes you see evil coffee, when all it really is, is coffee."

"Ha-ha! Very funny," Buffy said, slapping Dawn lightly with a dishtowel.

"By the way, William told me he’s enjoying the self-defense course you guys are taking."

"Yeah, he is," Buffy said, a funny expression on her face.

"But?"

"No but."

"I know that look Buffy, and you have but face."

"Who has but face?"

"You has but face," Dawn echoed, replaying an old running joke of theirs.

"Hold on a minute," Buffy said, and took the snacks out to the guys.

She set them down on the coffee table, which had been dragged out of the spare room, and started to leave.

"Aren’t you girls coming back in to play another game?"

Buffy sighed, "I don’t know, I’m getting pretty tired," she said, yawning for emphasis.

John turned to William; "I think they’re chicken."

"Are not!" Dawn yelled from the kitchen.

"Bawk, bawk, bawk," John retorted.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "We’ll be back in a few minutes, then I’ll let you know, okay?"

"We don’t have to play another game," William said, looking at her sympathetically.

"William, don’t tell me you’re going to poop out on me, too!"

"John, I just think that everyone’s tired right now," William said, helping himself to a snack.

"See, some of us have sense John," Dawn said, coming to stand beside him.

"I was just having fun," he protested.

"I know, sweetie, but our hosts are tired."

"John, if you want, I’ll play a card game with you," William said.

"You wouldn’t just say that to make me feel all better now, would you William?" John said, in a put-on pouting voice.

William laughed, "Nope, just another chance to beat you at something, since I suck at video games."

"You’re on," John said, "know how to play Scrabble?"

William’s face lit up, "Know how to play and how to win!"

"You wish! You’re going down!"

"We’ll see about that," William retorted.

Buffy and Dawn walked back to the kitchen.

"John’s really on tonight, isn’t he?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, he is. Sometimes he gets like that, all excited like. I think it’s because he works so hard. Sometimes he works 80 hours a week, so when he actually gets some time off, he just wants to cram all that he can into it. If he could totally go without sleep, I think he would."

"Not me. I love my sleep."

"Me, too," Dawn agreed, "though being a student isn’t the most conducive to that. I figure, once I’m in my late 20’s I’ll catch up with the sleep thing.

Buffy guffawed, "Don’t hold your breath. I’m lucky if I get 6 hours."

"Yeah, well, I’ll take your 6 over my 4.5 any day."

"And yet, here we stand, talking about sleep, instead of sleeping."

"Sort of like dieting and exercise. At least that’s what I hear. Which brings us back to the self-defense thing."

"Good segue."

"I thought so...so, what’s the deal?"

"Well, you know, we’re taking a class. No big."

"Oh..."

"Okay...here’s the thing, it’s like when William is really into it, when we’re doing stuff here, out in the barn loft, it’s like all of a sudden it doesn’t seem like it’s him anymore, but more like Spike."

"And that’s a bad thing?"

Buffy shook her head, "No, not at all, it’s just a confusing thing. All of a sudden, I’m seeing Spike, when really it’s William standing there, sparring with me. I have to remember to hold back a bit, even when he’s really acting like he wants me to let loose on him. I...I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t like it."

"Why?"

"Because it gets me angry, that he likes it, the way his eyes laugh at me, when he’s all worked up, when he’s coming at me; that he wants to do this with me. He almost acts like Spike, but he’s not Spike...Oh, hell! I don’t know how to explain it."

She decided not to go into the Spike-like sexcapades, which also stemmed from the after bouts of their sparring, that was at once exciting, but also confusing. Not that it wasn’t still sweet and passionate, but there was just a little something left over from the rush of having just thrown each other about, that seemed to make it just a little rougher, a little more urgent...

"Innocence lost," Dawn said, a self-satisfied, Psych 101 look on her face.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"You’ve fallen in love with William, Buffy."

"I...I don’t understand. I mean, yeah, I have. Duh! But I still don’t understand."

"Yes, you do," Dawn insisted.

"No, I don’t, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me," Buffy said, part exasperation, part exhaustion.

"You’ve fallen in love with William. Innocent, trusting, from a different century, William. But, when William spars with you, it reminds you of our not-so-innocent Spike, who you also were in love with. Ergo, William seems less like William, but not quite Spike. The William that you’re in love with, suddenly seems to have lost some of his innocence, ergo, confusion!"

Buffy leaned her elbows on the counter, and rested her head in her hands, "That almost seems to make a sort of sense," she said, looking up, "in a sort of insane troll logic kind of way!"

Dawn laughed, "That’s me, full of insane troll logic, for my over-tired, over-bearing sister."

"Hey, I’m not over-bearing."

"Nah, not anymore, I’m just messing with you. Look, don’t worry, he’s still William inside, even if he’s sparring with you, and didn’t you tell me that you ‘knew’ William, even when he was Spike?"

Buffy nodded, tiredly, "I’d also go as far as to say that when he took care of you, that it was Spike’s inner William that was at the heart of that."

Dawn shook her head; "It doesn’t matter to me, though. Spike, William, they’re both in my heart, I mean, they’re both different, but my heart doesn’t make that distinction."

Buffy looked up and smiled, "That’s a really sweet way to put it, I know what you mean, too. I just don’t know why my mind has to make me, as Spike would say, suss things out."

"Well, I’m not the one in love with him, or them, so it’s really a lot less complicated for me to feel about it like that."

"Yeah," Buffy said, smiling wryly as she stood up, "lucky me."

END CHAPTER 128

CHAPTER 129 - ANNIVERSARY, THE FIRST

MAY 18, 2009

SUNDAY

11:00AM

"I can’t believe that it’s almost the end of the school year," Buffy said, as they sat in bed, having brunch and reading the Sunday paper.

"I know," William said, in a mumble, his mouth full of a bite of bagel.

"I’m just glad that our classes are over!"

"Me, too," he said, turning to her. "Are you sure you don’t mind my taking a couple of courses this summer?"

She shook her head, "No, I mean, it’s not like we were planning on doing anything much. And we’ll still have almost all of August, if we want to take a little trip, before the beginning of the school year."

"A trip, huh? Anyplace special you’d like to go to?"

"I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be nice to get out of here for a little while, wouldn’t it?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice," he said, thinking of the different places they’d been at, over the course of almost a year. Starting in Michigan, and followed by quite a few nights in quite a few states in the RV, a couple of nights at Dawn and John’s, and a weekend at San Juan Capistrano.

He could smell the scent of the shampoo she’d used still clinging to her damp hair, and the lotion she’d applied to her legs and arms, as he leaned in closer to her. Sensual by nature, he was comforted by such things, which he naturally associated with love and comfort, just as he had associated the smells of food being prepared or fresh bed linens of his boyhood home with warmth and safety; belonging. Now she stood for all those things within his heart, and as long as she was with him, it didn’t much matter to him where they went.

"Well, we’ve got plenty of time to decide where to go. There’s a travel agency in town; maybe I can get some brochures if we want to go somewhere far, or we could just drive all the way up the coast of California and let the wind carry us whichever way it wants to."

"Adventure in your heart...I like the sound of that, luv," he said, turning over on his side to snuggle up next to her.

She put her arm around his shoulders and rubbed his back. He closed his eyes; and sighed contentedly, his face nestled against the side of her soft breast. His left hand slowly rubbed up and down her thigh, through her light nightgown.

"William?"

"Huh?"

"Since you’re going to be taking classes this summer, I thought that I might as well work. The school is starting a pilot program, trying to get the students who are transferring to Montessori next year from public school, acclimated to the setting. It’s going to run from the middle of June until the first week in August. I figure we can use the extra money for our wedding, too."

He turned his head and his blue eyes looked up at her, smiling. He took hold of her left hand, and gently rubbed his fingers over the ring he’d given her, "Thought you’d forgotten about it almost."

She shook her head, "Just because I haven’t said much lately, doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it," she said, her other hand coming up his back to play in the soft curls at the back of his neck.

"Me, too," he said, kissing her hand. "Think about it lots. Want to be a right and proper husband to you, Elizabeth; make you proud of me."

She shook her head that he could be so incredibly dense sometimes, "I am proud of you, William. Very proud."

"Haven’t done much for you to feel that way. Not yet, in any case."

"I disagree. A thousand gallons of disagree, you’re a good..."

"Shhh, I know how you feel, even if you have quite an odd way of saying it," he momentarily half-cocked his head at her, his eyebrow arched in amusement, before his face returned to looking so earnest, "but you’ll see..."

"I already do," she said, crushing her mouth to his and kissing him into silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAY 20, 2009

TUESDAY

9:30PM

Buffy and William plopped down on the couch, having come back from Clem’s. Taking advantage of the fact that their classes for the semester, and their 5-week self-defense course had ended, they had started out the evening with a hike in the woods and had wound up surprising him with a visit.

Clem had insisted on feeding them dinner; then invited them to watch a comedy he’d rented on DVD. Afterwards, he’d offered to drive them home, but they declined, so he lent them a couple of flashlights and they walked home in the darkened woods, listening to the sounds of spring peepers and even an owl along their way.

"That was fun," Buffy said, lying her head down in his lap.

"Yeah, it was," he agreed, stroking her hair.

She looked up at him; and was surprised to see him looking very pensive.

"William?"

"Yeah? Shall we get ready for bed, then?"

"Sure, okay," she said, sitting up, "everything alright?"

He nodded and stood up, extending his hand to pull her up, as well.

As they undressed and washed up for bed, Buffy wondered why the evening had gone from them having so much fun, to all of a sudden, a pallor cast over it.

She finished in the bathroom after William had, and turned off the light. He was sitting on the side of the bed when she came out, staring off into space. She came and stood in between his legs.

"Been a year," he said quietly, looking up at her.

"What?"

"Today, ‘s been a year since I...since...I was taken to the hospital...after I was shot...at the museum," he said, looking down to the scar above his left knee. "Don’t really remember that at all, though. Only the fear."

She put her hands on his face, as she looked at him, her large eyes growing moist suddenly, "I’m so very, very sorry that happened to you. All of it."

"Nothing for you to be sorry about, Elizabeth. You came for me. You found me," he said, shaking his head in wonder, "June 11, that’s the first time I saw you. Walked into my hospital room and nearly fainted, you did."

She nodded, "I remember," she whispered.

"I...I dreamed of you, that you were calling out for me, for my help."

"When?" he asked, tilting his head, questioningly.

"Around this time, and a little before this."

"Before...but not in the 5 years, since I’d been ‘missing’?

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head.

"Funny how I can’t remember anything from those years at all. Think I’d recall living in a cardboard box or under a bridge or some such thing, wouldn’t you? ‘S like I only remember anything since about the time you found me again."

He scooted back on the bed and lay down, putting his arms out to her.

"I...don’t know what I would’ve done, hadn’t you come for me when you did, Elizabeth. Might still be at that awful place, drugged up and living like..." he shuddered.

She hugged him tight, raising up to look at him, "But you’re not, you’re here!"

"I know. Took you all of one day to get me out. Do you know how incredible that is?"

She shook her head; "I had a lot of help."

"But it was you behind it all. The last coherent thought I remember having was that you would come for me. It’s what I hung on to. The only thing," he said, as he brought her face to his and kissed her, and made her smile through her sniffles, when he licked an escaped tear, off of her nose.

"Why do I get the feeling that it wasn’t the first time that you came for me, that you saved me?"

She put her head on his chest, turning away from his questioning eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks, as dual horrible images tore at her heart; William drugged and in restraints at the hospital, and 5 years before, Spike looking so broken and disbelieving, when she'd finally been able to rescue him from The First's torture.

"I’ll always come for you," she whispered.

William hugged her tight, rubbing her back, soothingly, until she had stopped crying and he felt her breath become steady as sleep overtook her.

"Thank you, " he said, softly into her hair, "thank you for this life."

END CHAPTER 129

CHAPTER 130 - FENCING

FEEDBACK

 BUY YOUR BUFFY OR ANGEL  THROUGH AMAZON! FREE SHIPPING ON ANY ORDERS OVER $25.