Title: LESSONTH THE FIRST
Synopsis: Buffy plans to visit Spike at his new "home". A post-"Lessons" episode fanfic.
Rating: PG
Date Written: Friday, 27 September, 2002
Author: † The Resident Vampyr © 2001-2002.
Credits: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the property of Joss Whedon and the powers that be. Partial script from "Lessons".
Characters: Buffy † Dawn † Xander † Spike

***
Buffy was excited to tell Dawn about the news of her getting a job at Sunnydale High courtesy of the new principal, Mr. Robin Wood. He was a bit odd, that Mr.what's-his-name, thought Buffy.

He seemed to know a lot of things about her and her stint at the old high school. He even conversed with her quite heavily about Sunnydale High's history.

Creepy, thought Buffy, and suspicious. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that Principal Wood has something to do with the summoning of the three evil dead that stalked her and Dawn. Or maybe not.

"We're home," Dawn said cheerfully, as she opened the door, Xander trailing not far behind.

"Dawn, guess what?" Buffy prepared to make the announcement.

Dawn dropped everything and listened to her sister. Xander stood by and smiled with anticipation since Buffy already told him about the good news earlier at the school.

"I got a job at your school!" Buffy exclaimed and explained how she got the job. "Don't you love it? I get to earn legitimate money and get to watch over you!" she smiled, which made Dawn felt uneasy.

"What are you gonna do? Security?" she asked.

"Ha-ha! Security," laughed Xander. "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer slash security guard."

Buffy glanced at Xander. "What' wrong of being a security guard? Besides, I'm the new school counsellor!" she paused, "Well, sort of."

"What?" Dawn asked. "You mean, you get to listen to all our problems and send us to detention?"

"I don't know about the latter, I think that's more of the principal's turf." Buffy knew that Dawn wouldn't be so thrilled having her at the school, but she assured her that her presence at school wouldn't make a big difference.

"So, how was the principal," asked Xander curiously and at the same time delivering his usual sidenotes, "besides having a name that sounds like a man wearing green tights with a bow and arrow on his hands?"

"Like Synder, only creepier," said Buffy.


***

"Buffy..." he heard himself saying.

Spike knew he looked a bit of a wackout when he came face to face with her today. That was because of a troubled soul and a haunting vision he was having ever since he came back to Sunnydale.

"How can I even begin to tell her about it? She will only laugh at me and say it was so lame. 'You're beneath me' ", he mimicked her. "Look at me like I am nothing!" he shouted at the blank wall. He was not ready to face her again. Not just yet. He needed to regroup.


***

"The talisman..." Buffy told Xander, "was probably probably used by some new baddie seeking vengeance. It could be anybody."

It reminded her of the one who informed her about it.

How he came to be there, she was unable to comprehend. All she knew was he was there, in the flesh, or what was left of it. His sinister laughter, his restlessness, and his mysterious scars in his chest only proved one thing --- something terrible happened to him. Something that would make him cut himself that way he did.


***


Then came silence.

Spike found himself alone again in his new sanctuary, the basement of the new Sunnydale high school. It was dark, and dank with no natural light to speak of. The one who spoke to him through the walls tentatively became silent for a few seconds. His mind immediately became filled of only one thing --- Buffy.

She had grown her hair, his eyes shining at the thought. He lightly touched his own hair, feeling the familiar curls. It had been months since he took care of them, not that it mattered. A half-grin appeared in his face. He felt a slow, yet steady rush of power coming from within.

Him seeing her tonight made him realized one thing. Buffy was his strength. She was like a beacon in the darkness. She was his power.

***

Buffy reached out to uncover the scar that he was hiding. "What did you do?" she asked him, her eyes sought his.

There was a faint twang in his voice. "I tried to cut it out," he hesitated, then nervously turned away from her, covering himself up.

Cut what out? Buffy asked herself. Spike talked about some thing in the walls and about "the only three of them" present in his basement. His words and the way he looked was deeply unsettling.

She told him she would get back to him, but was unable to do so because of an encounter with demons. However, she promised herself that she will visit him.

Soon.

"It's not about right. It's not about wrong.
It's about power."

***

Also by The Resident Vampyr™ † Vampire Seasons™ - a compilation of season 6 BtVS post-episode fanfictions & The Vampyr Pentateuch & Other Stories™. Visit http://www.vampyrslayer.cjb.net for more.