Avocation

Author: enigmaticblue <enigmaticblue@yahoo.com>

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, but Joss said I could play. Really.

Archive: Anywhere that already has my stuff. Anywhere else, just ask.

Summary: The gypsies curse the wrong vampire, and by the time they rectify their mistake, Spike has been fundamentally altered. Nearly a century later, the Slayer needs help, and there's only one person qualified for the job. Of course, he's not real interested in taking it.

A/N: I have a secret (or not-so-secret) weakness for early canon Spuffy fics. The only problem is that Spike is evil. No, really, he is. Which means that actually writing Spuffy pre-chip requires more suspension of disbelief than I can manage. Reading it is a different matter altogether. So, this is how I write early canon Spuffy. By altering events entirely. By the way, the title comes from a Robert Frost poem, "Two Tramps in Mud Time." Pay special attention to the last stanza.

Chapter 2

"Pain has an element of blank;/It cannot recollect/When it began, or if there were/A day when it was not./It has no future but itself,/Its infinite realms contain/Its past, emlightened to perceive/New periods of pain." ~Emily Dickinson

Buffy finally decided to call Giles first, wanting to be sure he was home before heading to his apartment. After the seventh ring, she hung up. "They aren't there."

"You got another meeting place in mind?"

Buffy frowned, considering her options. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure they'd go there."

"So what's the plan?"

"I thought you were the one with the big plan."

"No," Spike said, his voice dripping with exaggerated patience. "You're the Slayer. You know this town better than I do. You know where Angelus and Drusilla are. I came to make sure you survived and they didn't."

When he put it that way, Buffy couldn't really argue. "My house to get weapons," she decided. "We can call Giles from there."

"Lead on, pet."

They walked in silence, Buffy stealing occasional looks at the vampire. He wasn't very tall; Angel was at least a head taller. He was on the thin side, and he looked like a punk with his disheveled, bleached hair and black leather jacket and black jeans.

"I don't get it."

Spike glanced over at her. "What don't you get?"

"You're a vampire."

"Yeah." This was said slowly, with the sort of inflection that told Buffy he thought she was being stupid.

"You're helping me."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm doing this because I want revenge and I've been waiting about a century for the right time to take it." Spike shrugged. "This is just convenient."

"So you don't really want to save the world?"

Spike snorted. "Of course I want to save the world. I don't know what Angelus is thinking. If he sucks the world into hell, there certainly won't be anything for him to eat."

Buffy blinked. Put that way, Angelus was really stupid. "You're doing this because you don't want to lose your food supply."

Spike caught the hint of disgust in her voice. "Well, yeah. Although, it's not quite like that. I haven't been on a people-diet for years. The world goes to hell, and a lot of other decent things go too, things I happen to like. So really, I'm just a selfish bloke with an itch for payback."

The Slayer wasn't sure she believed him, but she didn't have time to ferret out the truth. Or what passed for the truth with a vampire.

Buffy was feeling rather anti-undead at the moment.

They were approaching her house now, and Buffy was really hoping that her mom would be gone. Ever since Angel had shown up at her house and told her mom that she'd slept with him, things had been rather strained. Turning up with another guy in tow, another obviously-older guy, was not going to make things any better.

No such luck.

Buffy was still trying to decide whether or not she wanted to invite Spike inside when her mom opened the front door. "Buffy? I thought you were staying at Willow's tonight."

Caught in a lie, Buffy could only make the best of the situation. "I forgot some stuff."

Joyce frowned, obviously not buying it. "Yes, well, Mr. Giles just called. He wanted you to call him back when you got home. I told him you were at Willow's, but—" She stopped, catching sight of Spike. "Who's your friend?"

The question was asked in the sort of tone that told Buffy that her mom wasn't going to believe anything she said. "This is—"

"William Brighton." Spike was suddenly on the porch next to her, holding out a hand for Joyce to shake. "I ran into your daughter and insisted on walking her home. You never know what can be hiding in the shadows, you know."

The voice and accent he used for her mom was more polished, all charm. Although Joyce still appeared skeptical, Buffy could see some of the suspicion dissipating. "And you know Buffy how?"

"Through my uncle," Spike replied easily. "I'm in town visiting."

"Giles, Mom," Buffy quickly explained, catching on to Spike's story. She had to admit that it was a pretty decent lie, and one that her mom wouldn't have any trouble believing. "Sp—William is Giles' nephew."

All suspicion drained away, and Joyce looked relieved. "Oh, well, it was so nice of you to walk Buffy home, William."

"My pleasure, Mrs. Summers," Spike replied easily, as though he made a habit of charming parents of girls all the time. For all Buffy knew, he did, right before he ate the whole family.

"I should get my stuff," she said quickly. "I wouldn't want to keep Willow waiting."

Buffy was about to head inside—without inviting Spike—when the vampire called out a warning. "Slayer!"

She felt the attack coming, and whirled to meet the vampire coming out of the shadows. Spike grabbed the creature by the collar of its jacket, jerking it back and giving Buffy a chance to use her stake. A split second later and it was gone, just dust floating on the wind.

Joyce stood with her mouth hanging open, staring at the empty space where the vampire had been. "What—Buffy, that man—did he just turn to dust?"

Spike cocked an eyebrow, looking over at her. "Your mum doesn't know?"

Buffy scowled at his amused tone. "No."

"Buffy?" Joyce had recovered enough from her shock so that her tone was sharper now, impatient with her daughter's lack of response.

"He was a vampire, Mom," she said. "I'm a vampire Slayer. It's what I do."

Joyce shook her head, unwilling to buy into it. "Buffy, that's nonsense. There must be some other explanation."

Buffy ran a hand through her hair. She was just as impatient, although that was because she needed to get her supplies and then get to the others. She wanted to talk to Giles about her companion, and she wanted to kill Angel. "There isn't, Mom. I don't have time for this now."

"You get your stuff, I'll explain," Spike said. His tone of voice told the Slayer that he was still getting a great deal of enjoyment out of this scenario, which didn't endear him to her. On the other hand, if he could explain things to her mother, that would speed up the process.

"Fine." Buffy sighed. "You explain. Come in, Spike." She ran up the stairs, hoping that she wasn't making some huge mistake.

She couldn't afford another mistake.

~~~~~

Spike watched as the older woman stared after her daughter's retreating figure. "Why don't we sit down?" he suggested.

Joyce shook her head. "I don't understand."

"It's a bit much," he agreed. Spike watched her carefully, not quite sure why he was the one who got stuck with this task. Placating the Slayer's mom was definitely not in the job description Whistler had given him, but he was used to this sort of thing. No matter how carefully a job might be planned out, there were always problems.

Joyce sat obediently. "You knew about all this?"

Spike contemplated changing. It would probably scare the hell out of her, which could be funny, but something held him back. Some remnant of William reminded him that Joyce was a lady, and an innocent. "Yeah, for a while now."

She set her jaw. "Well, Buffy will just have to stop."

Spike couldn't help himself; he started chuckling. "Sorry, ducks, but it's not that simple. Slayers don't get to quit. That's not the way things work."

Joyce blinked. "Can't I do something? Talk to someone?"

"Take it up with the Fates, Mrs. Summers," Spike replied quietly. "We don't have a choice when destiny is involved."

Buffy reappeared in the living room. "Let's go," she said. "I've already called Giles, and he's expecting us."

Spike stood. "Right behind you, Slayer."

Joyce stood again. "Buffy, what are you doing?"

"I'm saving the world, Mom," Buffy replied.

Joyce shook her head, feeling the need to pull the parent-card. "You can't. You are not leaving this house until you explain what's going on."

"No, Mom, this is what you don't understand. I don't have time to have a mother-daughter chat with you because my ex-boyfriend is trying to suck the world into hell. If I don't stop him, having this conversation isn't going to do either of us any good."

They faced off, and Spike watched, some forgotten emotion welling up in his chest. He felt—was it compassion? He generally tried to avoid feeling things like that.

Spike generally tried to avoid feeling, period.

"We should go."

Buffy glanced over at him, and she realized that he was no longer amused. In fact, there was something akin to sympathy in his eyes. "Let's go." She tossed the duffel bag with her weapons in it at him. Spike caught it easily and started towards the front door.

"You aren't leaving this house!"

Her mother's voice was desperate, and Buffy could hear the fear. "I have to."

She didn't allow her mom to say anything more. Instead, she was out the door, Spike on her heels, as she went towards Giles' place. They were about a block away when she shot a glare at the vampire at her side. "You didn't tell me about Kendra."

Spike frowned. "Who's—the other Slayer."

"Why didn't you tell me she was dead?"

"Would it have made a difference?" he asked.

Buffy's jaw clenched. "No, but you should have told me."

"Why?" Spike asked. "And when? In case you haven't noticed, we're in a bit of a crisis situation at the moment. There wasn't exactly time to run through a list of casualties with you."

Buffy decided to let it go. She'd kick his ass for not mentioning Kendra's death later. "Giles said you saved their lives."

Spike shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do."

"He also said you did this kind of thing a lot. That you were a mercenary."

"That's one way of describing what I do," Spike admitted cheerfully. "I've been put on retainer, though, so I won't be looking for a new job for a while." He grinned. "May not have to work again if I don't want to."

Buffy huffed. "Great. That's just great. I have to save the world because it's my destiny, and you're getting paid."

"You wouldn't be here if you hadn't shagged Angelus," Spike pointed out. He wasn't sure why he said it, knowing that the words would cut, but he said it anyway. After having seen his sire for the first time in decades, and now with the imminent confrontation with Angelus around the corner, Spike wasn't inclined to be nice.

He just managed to block the punch that Buffy threw at his face. "You're a pig, Spike."

"That right?" Spike sneered.

"You—" She broke off and started walking again. Spike followed behind, keeping a steady pace but not bothering to catch up. Buffy came to a halt outside a group of apartments. Turning to face him, she said, "Please give me a reason to stake you."

For a second, Buffy almost thought he would do it, and then something in his eyes changed. "We've both been burned by Angelus, pet."

She scoffed. "You're a vampire. What could he have done to you that was so bad?"

"Not what did he do," Spike corrected her, his voice quiet. "It's what didn't he do." He looked at the door they were standing in front of. "You want to knock, or shall I?"

Buffy hesitated, then finally rapped on the wood without replying. She didn't understand her companion, and she didn't know how to deal with him. There was no time for her to dig the answers out of him either.

Giles opened the door, waving them inside. "Come in, both of you," he said. "I called as soon as the police allowed us to leave."

Xander, Willow, and Cordelia were all perched around his living room, looking at Buffy's companion curiously. "You okay, Buffy?" Willow asked, sounding timid.

"I'm fine," Buffy replied, sparing her friend a smile. "What's the what, Giles? Kendra—"

"There was nothing anyone could do, I'm afraid," her Watcher said, pulling off his glasses and polishing the lenses. "Drusilla is a formidable opponent."

"I'm sorry." This came from Spike, although he wasn't speaking to Buffy, but rather to Giles.

Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, well, if not for you, we don't know what Drusilla would have been able to do."

"We have to do this, Giles," Buffy said. "Tonight."

"I won't disagree," he replied.

"Are you going to kill him, Buffy?" Xander asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

Buffy shook her head. "Only if I have to. Wills, can you do the curse?"

"I can try," Willow replied. "I don't know."

"You're going to try and curse him again?" Spike asked, sounding almost disappointed. "I thought that spell had been lost."

Giles winced. "No. Not entirely," he said softly.

"So now what?" Cordelia asked.

Buffy took a deep breath. "So now you guys try and do the spell on Angel. I'll try and keep him busy until you can finish it, but—"

"Buffy—"

She met her Watcher's eyes. "I'm ready, Giles. I'll do what I have to do." Looking over at Spike, Buffy pulled Giles over to one side of the room. "Can I really trust him?"

"He's a legend, Buffy," Giles replied. "I don't know. What I do know is that he most likely saved our lives. He tried to save Kendra."

Buffy shook her head. "Why didn't Angel ever mention him?" she asked. "He always made it sound like he was the only..." She trailed off, unable to complete the thought.

"It's difficult to say," Giles replied, lowering his voice further. "Rumor has it that Spike is somehow related to Angelus and Drusilla, although no one is sure how. Perhaps Angel is ashamed, as he was of his connection to Drusilla."

Buffy sighed. "Well, with any luck, I'll get a chance to ask him."

"Be careful, Buffy."

"Always."

They shared a look that said more than words ever could.

"Time's a-ticking," Spike said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Are you sure I can't stake him?"

Giles smiled. "Why don't you wait until after you've taken care of Angelus?"

"Let's go, Bleach-Boy," Buffy said.

Spike shrugged. "After you, Slayer."

After the door had closed behind them, Xander looked at Giles. "How can we trust another vampire, Giles?"

Giles shook his head. "You don't understand, Xander. There are stories—" He sighed. "Willow, do you need any help setting up?"

She shook her head. "I think I've got it under control." She gave the Watcher an anxious look. "Is Buffy going to be alright?"

"I don't know, Willow," Giles murmured, staring at the door. "I really don't know."