Feedback: My first ever fic so YES PLEASE!!!!
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Night. Things were unusually quiet in Sunnydale What was normally a thriving colony of vampric and demonic activity lay still, as if a blanket of silence had swept over the whole town. Nevertheless, Buffy conducted her nightly patrol of the cemetery. Although experience had taught her that when things were quiet, something was brewing, she had decided to take Riley with her. Normally she preferred to hunt alone but the past few nights had been so non eventful that she figured she could use a little company. Besides, Riley could take care of himself if something came up.
This was their third sweep of the area and so far she had only encountered one vampire. Having dispatched him quickly, it had been the only excitement of the evening.
"Do you want to do one last round?" asked Riley who enjoyed being alone with Buffy, even if it was in a cemetery which was usually populated by the undead. He was just thankful that there wasn't some apocalyptic disaster to avert.
Buffy sighed. "No, we may as well head back." As much as she didn't want to admit it, she hated it when things were quiet like this. She almost wished that there was some apocalyptic disaster to avert.
As they were leaving Buffy suddenly sensed a vampire behind her. She whipped out a stake and swung round ready to attack.
"Watch where you're pointing that thing will you."
Buffy sighed and lowered her stance. Spike. She glared at him.
"Spike, hasn't anyone ever told you that sneaking up behind the Slayer can be hazardous to your health?"
Spike glared back and then grinned at her.
"I wasn't sneaking up on anyone! You need to relax and stop being so bloody jumpy all the time"
Buffy felt her anger rising and it was all she could do to refrain herself from staking him right there and then. Spike had to be the most annoying person she had ever met. Seeing her angry just amused Spike even more. She always rose to his bait.
"And what exactly are you doing following us?" she asked, her voice full of suspicion. Spike was always up to something and more often than not it was no good.
"Just out for a walk, last time I checked it was a free country."
"Fine" snorted Buffy "Just stay out of my way. I wouldn't want to accidentally stake you"
Putting on her sweetest and most sarcastic smile she took Riley's arm and practically dragged him out of the cemetery Spike watched them leave, shrugged, and walked off in the opposite direction.
******
Buffy stormed towards her house and was walking so fast that Riley was having problems keeping up with her. Eventually he caught hold of her arm and stopped her.
"Buffy, what's wrong?"
She turned to look at him. His eyes were full of confusion and concern. Trying to swallow her anger she gave him a small smile
"I don't know, just Spike stuff. He gets me so wound up!"
Riley pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
"You shouldn't let him get to you. He only does it because he knows you always rise to it."
Buffy pulled back and shrugged. He was probably right. Riley gave her a sly smile.
"You know, I know a great way of relieving tension."
Buffy smiled back. "Really? What's that?" She asked, feigning innocence.
Riley pulled her back into his arms and kissed her deeply and passionately, wrapping his arms firmly around her. Buffy kissed him back, all her anger vanishing as she embraced him. After a few minutes they parted.
"Better?"
Buffy nodded and Riley smiled at her. She looked so beautiful standing in the moonlight.
"Buffy, I love you" he whispered.
The smile fell from her face. She cared deeply about Riley, but lately it had felt as though there was something missing from their relationship. She knew that he loved her but somehow in her own heart there wasn't that same feeling. She felt bad about this. Riley was so sweet and kind, but it seemed that that's where the problem lay. He was a little too nice. When they had first started going out she had been determined that her relationship with Angel wasn't going to interfere with Riley. At first it had been great, they had done all the normal things that a normal couple would do. They went out during the day and just spent time with each other. It had been a bit of a shock when she'd found out about him being in the Initiative, but in the end it had actually strengthened their relationship. As time went on though she found herself longing for something else. There was no excitement in their relationship, no danger.
"Riley, I..."
Her sentence was cut short as she felt something being clamped over her face. It was a cloth soaked in some foul smelling liquid. Buffy struggled to free herself but her limbs weren't responding. Her struggles grew weaker and her vision began to blur, then everything went black.
******
Spike had been walking around the area for about half an hour when he decided to walk towards Buffy's house. It had become part of his nightly routine recently, always hoping to catch one last glimpse of the Slayer before he went to bed. He knew that she would probably be there with her boytoy but he didn't care. He just wanted to see her. He was nearing her house when he spied a figure lying on the ground. He walked a little closer and saw that it was Buffy. His initial thought was the she was dead, bested at last by some unknown foe. Fear pierced his heart and he ran over and knelt beside her. He could almost feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He looked over her prone form and saw that she was breathing, he sighed with relief and began to search for any injuries. When he found none he looked puzzled, then the smell hit him. Chloroform. Someone or something had knocked her out and left her there. Well, it wouldn't do to leave her here. He carefully lifted her up and carried her home.
As Spike arrived at Buffy's house he saw that it was in darkness. This was good, it meant no one was home which in turn meant no awkward questions. He opened the door and stepped inside, thankful that he'd been invited. He switched on of the lights, lay Buffy down on the couch and knelt down beside her. She looked so peaceful sleeping, so beautiful. Spike had imagined this a hundreds times in his head but the way she looked now was better than anything he could ever have pictured. He reached out to brush her hair out of her eyes but was almost afraid to touch her in case he woke up from a dream. His hand lightly brushed her skin which made his whole body tingle, then, without thinking, he leant down and kissed her softly on the lips. Almost as soon as he'd done so Buffy began to stir. Spike jumped back as if he'd been burned. He climbed to his feet and sat on a nearby chair to wait for her to wake up.
Buffy opened her eyes and looked groggily around. She was at home, but couldn't remember how she had got there. As her eyes focused she saw Spike sat across from her. She sat up quickly and her eyes grew cold.
"Spike, what the hell are you doing in my house?"
"Oh, well, that's gratitude for you." Grumbled Spike, trying not to betray the disappointment he felt because she wasn't even a little pleased to see him. "I should have left you where I found you"
The glare left Buffy's eyes and she now looked puzzled. Everything was fuzzy, the last thing she remembered clearly was kissing Riley. She looked around the room.
"Where's Riley?" she asked.
Spike shrugged.
Her head clear now Buffy stood up, she needed to find him and make sure he was alright. Then it occurred to her she didn't know where to look, she sat back down again.
"Alright Spike, I need some answers. Tell me exactly what happened."
Spike told her what had happened, missing out the minor detail of him kissing her.
Buffy stood up again.
"I'm going to go and have a little chat with our friend Willy. Whoever did this had the perfect chance to finish me off but didn't. I need to know why."
Buffy walked over to the door, put her hand on the knob and turned back.
"And Spike...be gone when I get back"
Without waiting for a response she left. Spike sat numbly on the chair for a minute, she hadn't even thanked him. He wanted desperately to be angry at her, to hate her like he would have done in the days when he was the Big Bad. Instead he just felt hurt. I'm turning bloody soft! Thrusting his hands into his pockets he stormed out of Buffy's house, slamming the door behind him.
******
Willy quivered when he saw Buffy enter the bar. Things always got violent when she showed up.
"H-hey Buffy, how's things?"
Buffy jumped up onto one of the bar stools.
"I'll cut to the chase Willy. My boyfriend went missing tonight and I know you always know what's going on. Who's new in town?"
Willy trembled slightly but had suffered too many bloody noses at Buffy's hands to risk lying to her again.
"Well, I heard there's a new vamp in town. A guy called Leon. A lot of my regulars have been freaking out big style. Apparently he's quite a big shot."
"Where can I find him?"
"I don't know and that's the honest truth!"
Buffy raised a fist.
"I swear on my mother's grave, I don't know!"
Buffy lowered her arm again. Willy wasn't stupid enough to risk lying to her. If he didn't know, there was only one other person she could ask.
******
Riley slowly came back to consciousness and opened his eyes to find himself in total darkness. He could feel his arms were in heavy chains which he could tell were not going to come loose easily. His eyes began to adjust themselves to the dark but he still had no idea where he was.
"Buffy?" he whispered.
"She's not here" came the deep voice of a male. Riley looked around but could see no one.
"Who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
******