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 9

"The half moon shows a face of plaintive sweetness/Ready and poised to wax or wane;/A fire of pale desire in incompleteness,/Tending to pleasure or to pain:—/Lo, while we gaze she rolleth on in fleetness/To perfect loss or perfect gain./Half bitterness we know, we know half sweetness;/This world is all on wax, on wane:/When shall completeness round time's incompleteness,/Fulfilling joy, fulfilling pain?—/Lo, while we ask, life rolleth on in fleetness/ To finished loss or finished gain." ~Christina Rossetti, "The Half Moon"

The rest of the summer passed in much the same way, Spike and Buffy fighting each other as often as they dusted vampires and slayed demons. There was no mistaking it for anything other than sparring after that night, however. This time, their truce was unspoken, but it held.

Of course, that didn't stop Spike from winding Buffy up on a regular basis, and vice versa. It took Buffy a little longer to figure out what would get under Spike's skin, but she soon found that the best way to go about it was to insult his car, his intelligence, or—if she was feeling really nasty—his prowess. If she could make the insult into a double entendre, all the better.

In spite of the constant sniping, or maybe because of it, they fought with remarkable accord, their movements almost synchronized.

Giles went out with them one evening, and he was convinced that their verbal sparring threw off their opponents long enough to make them easy targets.

Buffy, of course, responded that they were thrown off by Spike's hair, since it glowed in the dark. Spike suggested that it was her shoes, since no normal person could fight in three-inch heels.

Since their opponents typically ended up dead, they would never know the truth.

What Buffy didn't know—or chose not to notice—was that Spike was constantly over at her house, even when she wasn't home. Joyce still called him "that polite young man," despite knowing exactly what he was. Giles was even more entranced than ever after spending an evening plying Spike with expensive alcohol. It took a lot to loosen the vampire's tongue, but he'd given the Watcher enough pieces that Giles could start putting together the puzzle.

Buffy could honestly say she didn't care. Spike was nice to spar with, he could be trusted to look after himself on patrol, and he wasn't hard on the eyes. More than that, she didn't need to know.

Nothing much changed when school started. Snyder went around in a perpetually bad mood since he hadn't been able to expell her, and Buffy had to work slaying around homework—well, the other way around, actually—but it wasn't anything she hadn't done before.

Of course, this year Joyce was aware of her extracurricular activities, and Buffy found that rather soothing. Her mom was definitely more understanding.

Still, it was the same thing all over again. Her grief over Angel was easing, there was a new guy on the horizon, and there was trouble heading her way.

Who knew that trouble would be named Faith?

~~~~~

Spike had been hearing the rumors for a while now. While he was tempted to do some investigating, he also had no desire to draw attention to himself. Spike wasn't afraid, of course, but there were some kinds of trouble a guy didn't need, especially if he had plans to stick around.

On nights when he went information-hunting, rather than demon-hunting, one name kept coming up over and over again. Mr. Trick was apparently a high-stakes player in Sunnydale, and Spike kept hearing that you didn't get on the man's bad side.

More disturbing than rumors of a master vampire setting up shop, were the faint suggestions that there was a bigger player than that. Someone so dangerous that not even his name was spoken aloud.

Master vampires were a dime a dozen, after all, and Spike had taken out his fair share. This new, mysterious player—that bothered him. He kept his mouth shut about it, though. There was no point in worrying the Slayer when they couldn't do anything about it.

Over the course of the summer, Spike had developed a proprietary interest in Buffy, something that went beyond services rendered for payment. Partly it had to do with the fact that he really liked Joyce, and he would hate to see her hurt—which she would be if something happened to her daughter.

Partly it was the fact that her Watcher treated him like a man—like a colleague. Spike had basically taken over most of the physical duties that went into training a Slayer, and Giles seemed to think that they were in it together. Again, if something happened to Buffy, the Watcher would be devastated.

What it really boiled down to, however, was the fact that Spike was beginning to regard Buffy as his Slayer.

Even if he couldn't stand the girl some days.

The evening trouble rode into town, they were all at the Bronze. Spike had thought about joining them, but the last few times he'd been around the Slayer and her friends, she and Willow had been nattering on about some guy. He had sensed Buffy's hesitation, and he understood it. Angel had left her badly scarred.

Still, Spike knew that the best way for the Slayer to get over Angel was to figure out that he wasn't the only man in the world. He knew it, but that didn't mean he had to like sitting around listening to them talk about the git.

He thought about finding the Watcher and having a drink, and then he frowned, uneasiness washing over him.

There was something coming. Spike just wasn't sure what it was.

~~~~~

The next night found Spike at Giles' flat. He had wanted to discuss some of his impressions with the Watcher, and was more than a little surprised at the first question out of Giles' mouth. "Have you met the new Slayer?"

"New Slayer?" Spike asked, both eyebrows going up. "What are you talking about?"

Giles frowned. "You didn't know?"

"I wasn't around last night," Spike replied. "I was doing some info-hunting. That's why I'm here—to share information."

"Oh," Giles sat, offering Spike a glass. "The new Slayer, Faith, showed up at the Bronze last night while Buffy and the others were there. I hadn't realized you didn't know."

Spike shrugged. "Didn't figure I needed to be there to watch the Slayer and her cronies giggle over the new bloke." At Giles' blank look, Spike added, "Who happens to be perfectly human."

The Watcher shook his head, deciding that piece of information wasn't something he needed. "Yes, apparently Faith was called after Kendra died. I hadn't realized that the line would no longer pass on with Buffy."

"Unless it's split into two lines," Spike argued. "It could be. We don't know that."

Giles nodded slowly. "Of course, there is no real way to test that theory."

"I don't plan on it getting tested."

Spike's hard tone surprised Giles, but he didn't make a big deal about it. He had seen absolutely no signs of romantic affection between his Slayer and the vampire, which he found reassuring. As much as he liked and admired Spike, he had no desire to see Buffy involved with another vampire.

"That makes two of us then," Giles replied. "Still, you might want to look out for this new Slayer as well. She will be quite a bit of help to Buffy. It will be nice for her to have some of the pressure from slaying taken off."

Spike, who had come to understand Buffy quite well over the last few months, wasn't nearly so sure about that. Besides, he knew all about rivalries. Before he'd been cursed, his relationship with Angel had been complicated—filled with love and hate in equal measure.

Well, a certain kind of love, anyway. Perhaps "grudging affection" would be a better term.

"We'll see," Spike replied. "I'll keep an eye out for her anyway, same as I'm doing for Buffy."

"I would appreciate it," Giles replied. "You said you had information."

Spike shook his head. "Not as such, no. It's more like I've heard rumors and I've got a feeling. I keep hearing about a Mr. Trick, but I think he might be the least of our worries."

Giles didn't look pleased to hear that. "Do you know much more?"

"That's about it," Spike admitted reluctantly. "I've kept my head down, but the demon world knows me, Watcher. It's not like they'll sit down and tell me what I want to know. Whatever is going on, no one's talking about it."

Giles sighed. "Keep your ears open," he instructed. "You still have a better chance at gathering information than any of the rest of us."

"Will do." Spike finished off his drink. "You want me to catch up with the Slayers tonight?"

"In light of what you've just shared, yes," Giles replied. "They're investigating some disappearances in the Sunset Ridge area. You'll probably find them there."

Spike stood, nodding shortly. "Then I'm off."

"Spike." Giles watched as the vampire paused and looked back. "Thank you."

Some unknown emotion flashed in the vampire's eyes, and then the veil fell again. "Yeah."

~~~~~

Buffy wasn't sure if she appreciated the vampires interrupting her spat with Faith or not. On the one hand, it was probably better that they hadn't started going after each other. At the same time, however, she had wanted to have it out.

Buffy had wanted to take her frustration out on Faith's flesh.

She was absurdly grateful that Spike hadn't been at the Bronze the previous night. Buffy had the feeling that Spike and Faith would get along marvellously, and she'd be on the outside yet again.

The fact that she understood why everybody liked Faith—she was fun, she was outspoken, she embraced life and Slaying—didn't make it any easier to swallow. Buffy knew she'd been kind of a drag over the summer; her friends didn't have to go rubbing her nose in it.

She'd had to kill her boyfriend. Buffy thought that should entitle her to a little wallowing.

When Faith managed to charm the guy who'd been coming onto her—well, that was just the last straw right there. What Buffy needed was to ditch the other Slayer and find Spike. If she could keep him away from Faith, that would be even better.

Faith was sticking to her like a limpet, however, and so Buffy didn't have a chance to get away. The vampires seemed to come out of nowhere, and there were enough of them that it had her worried.

She was a little more worried when Faith started beating up one of the vampires, leaving Buffy at the mercy of the other two. "Faith! A little help here!"

Faith either ignored her or didn't hear her, and Buffy stretched, trying to reach the two by four. She felt a thrill of fear when she realized it was just beyond her fingertips. Buffy turned her attention to the vampire holding her down, trying to remove herself from its grip.

The next thing she knew, the first vampire holding her down was dust. Buffy quickly broke the hold of the second, rolling six inches over, grabbing the two by four, and staking the last remaining vampire.

She turned just in time to see Faith attack Spike. He'd pulled her off the vampire she'd been beating to a pulp, and the second Slayer was reacting badly. Faith was wild—totally insensible to his attempts to reassure her.

Buffy realized that Faith was going to use the stake she held, and Spike was hampered by his desire not to hurt her. She drove a stake through the heart of the last vampire and then pulled Faith away from Spike by the back of her jacket.

"Faith! That's enough! Spike's on our side."

"He's a vampire!" Faith shot back, still struggling.

Buffy dropped her stake and grabbed Faith's arm. "He's got a soul. Spike saved my life. You leave him a alone."

Faith stopped moving, staring at Spike with unconcealed suspicion. "He looks undead to me."

"Yeah, well, it's a long story I don't have time to tell," Spike replied, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Faith had gotten more than one hit through his defenses.

Faith shook off Buffy's hand. "Get off."

"What is wrong with you?" Buffy demanded, now that it looked as though Spike was safe from the other Slayer.

Faith glared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You!" Buffy shot back. "Beating that vampire to a bloody pulp while I'm about to die. If Spike hadn't come along—"

"Funny, I thought beating on vamps was part of the job description," Faith replied, shooting Spike a dirty look. "Maybe you're in the wrong line of work."

"Maybe you need to watch your partner's back." Buffy wasn't backing down.

Faith just shrugged. "I thought you could handle yourself."

She strode off into the darkness without a backwards glance.

"So that was the new Slayer, I take it," Spike commented wryly.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "That was her."

"I take it you aren't impressed."

"Did you see her?" Buffy demanded. "She almost got me killed."

Spike shrugged. "She's definitely got her issues, pet. Probably a good thing your Watcher sent me after you two tonight."

"Right," Buffy muttered. "Because now I have to share you too." At Spike's raised eyebrow, she exploded. No one else seemed to understand how she felt about Faith, but for some reason, Buffy thought that Spike, at least, wouldn't give her a speech about how she needed to be nice and share. "Everybody likes Faith. My friends think she's the coolest thing since sliced bread, the guy that likes me likes her better, even my mom and my Watcher think she's great. So what if I haven't been fun-Buffy? It's not like the last year has been all that wonderful. And now you and she will probably hit it off, and I'll have to hear how wonderful Faith is from one more person."

Spike listened to her entire rant without interrupting, his face expressionless. When Buffy finally wound down, he smiled. "Not gonna happen."

Buffy stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You're my first priority, Buffy. I didn't get asked to help Faith, or your friends, or anybody else. I got asked to make sure you stayed alive." Spike shrugged. "You're the reason I'm in this town, and you're the reason I'm not going anywhere."

She blinked. Buffy knew Spike was getting paid for this, or at least that he had been paid. She knew that this was business. At the same time, he was so honest—and so dependable, she couldn't help but relax.

Spike was watching her back. Whatever remaining resentment she felt for him faded completely at that point.

Not that she'd be telling him that, of course. Fighting with him was too much fun.

Buffy gave him a grateful smile. Spike's lip was still bleeding a little, and she figured he'd gotten beaten on enough for the evening. "So what do you think the deal was?"

"What? With Faith?" Spike frowned and then shrugged. "Don't rightly know, pet. I'd say some kind of trauma. Where's her Watcher?"

"Somewhere on England on a retreat," Buffy replied. "Giles said he's never been invited on one. Faith told me she wanted to come out and meet me."

Spike considered that for a moment. "I don't know. She sounds like she's from out east. That's a long way to come just to meet the great Buffy."

He was teasing her, and Buffy punched him on the arm, much as she would have done with Xander. "Shut up." Spike just grinned. "Did you catch what the vampire on top of me was saying?"

"Did I want to?" Spike asked, leering at her.

Buffy glared at him. "You're a pig, Spike."

"I'm a bad, rude man," he agreed easily.

She rolled her eyes. This was more like it. "It was a name of some sort. Like Kissing Toast."

It rang a bell, but Spike couldn't quite place it. "Dunno," he replied. "Might be the big player I've heard rumors of." He gave her a sharp look. "You'll be careful?"

"With you as my shadow, why would I need to be?" Buffy asked. He cocked his head. "Yes, I'll be careful."

Spike gave her a satisfied nod. "You do that. I'll meet you at your place tomorrow after sunset. I'd feel better if I patrol with you over the next few days, till we figure out what's going on."

"There's always something going on, Spike," Buffy replied. "We're on the Hellmouth."

"Then maybe you'd just better plan on me being around for quite a while."

Buffy decided not to question the warmth she felt at those words.