verucasalt123 | LEAD - for this week's open_on

Signs had been evident for weeks, and now Buffy found herself following those signs. It was twenty minutes to three in the morning, and she was going to hate this when her alarm went off, but it was a job that had to be done.

Sure, she could have asked Xander or Willow to help, but of course, she didn’t. She was on her own for this one, she thought, until Spike materialized behind her left shoulder.

He was a vampire, willing to stake his own kind. For her. Always for her.

“Follow my lead, Spike,” was her only reply.