Justine Larbalestier's article "Buffy's Mary Sue is Jonathan" first introduced the idea of Buffy and Spike as a slash couple. Larbalestier argued that "Something Blue" (4.9) was Mutant Enemy's acknowledgment of the fan community's fascination with slash fanfiction, as well as an attempt to "poke fun" at the often tragic nature of slash. Larbalestier loosely defined slash as any pairing of characters not traditionally linked romantically. I argue that Buffy and Spike's on-screen romantic relationship in seasons 5-7 represented a serious depiction of a traditionally defined same-sex slash pairing as defined by Constance Penley and Henry Jenkins. By using a traditional male/female pairing Mutant Enemy was safely able to explore the more subversive themes of slash fanfiction on prime-time television. By exploring the use of gender roles and subtext, I will examine the similarities between the Buffy and Spike (B/S) on-screen relationship and same-sex slash fanfiction pairings, such as Star Trek's Kirk and Spock. I will also examine B/S in context to Willow and Tara, the actual same-sex relationship in the Buffyverse (though arguably not a slash relationship) as a way of exploring the importance of legitimacy in defining a relationship as slash in nature.