AN: This is a response to a challenge from Buffy/Spike Central. Small fiction set post-Girl in Question when Buffy and Spike have their first conversation when Spike shows up in Rome. Must have Xander, Dawn and Andrew fighting each other to hear the conversation. Andrew kissing Dawn suddenly and her getting grossed out.
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"Bloody hell," Spike muttered to himself, breathing out hard. He was standing outside of Buffy's door, his hands on his hips as he stared the wooden barrier down. Apartment 34, or so the fancy tacked on numbers claimed, the fourth floor up in the small building. He could hear the voices of just about every member of the Scooby gang inside - Dawn, Xander, Andrew - all laughs and giggles. He'd traveled all the way to Rome to see Buffy - again - sodding any insecurities about the Immortal or cookie dough or an "I love you" that really meant, "Thanks for dying for us, here's something to make it easier." And now there he was, standing outside her door listening to the collective bunch of them, feeling more like an outsider in that moment than he'd felt the previous year living the LA life with Angel and his group of do-gooders.
He sighed, lifting his hand in a fist to knock on the door. This was easy. Not difficult at all, especially considering he'd already stood in the same very spot a few months before. He was there with the Champ, and while he'd never actually got to talk to Buffy, he'd been there. Standing right in the same spot. Maybe a little further to the right as Angel was standing there, too - all rectangle shaped and taking up the whole bloody frame of the door - but metaphorically speaking, he was in the same place. So this was easy. The loud thumping in his head? Wasn't at all because of nervousness, it was the thumping of music coming from the other side of the door. The tightening of his chest wasn't at all from his being scared shitless, and the way the silence screamed like a freight train in his head, countering the thumping and the music and voices - it wasn't at all a testament of him being terrified of standing there. He was calm. Cool, even. Completely level-headed, and this would be easy. Would be nice. Hugs and tears, and all that rot.
He dropped his hand, knocking on the door hard with his knuckles. He pulled away, immediately shoving both hands in his duster as he waited for it to open, ducking his head down in anticipation.
"Come in!" he heard Dawn yell as the music cut off.
Oh, bugger. He hadn't prepared himself for that. Every reunion he'd ran through in his head had Buffy opening the door, all wide-eyed and beautiful as ever. Never once did this scenario play out - him having to let himself in, especially a scenario that included people other than him and Buffy. Mostly they were scenarios of her opening her door, shocked and stunned at the sight of him. Maybe there would be some tears, probably a pissed off punch to the nose by her, but it was always just the two of them. He sighed again, pulling his hands out of his duster as he reached for the doorknob, gripping the cold handle tight. He hesitated, listening for footsteps. Maybe if he just stood there, Buffy'd get impatient and come and open it. If he just waited long enough...
"We said come in!!" Dawn yelled again a bit louder.
He breathed out frustratedly, turning the knob slowly and pushing the door open. He cracked it open, Xander's face the first to come into view.
"Spike?!"
So it was Xander who noticed him first, not Buffy. Well wasn't that special. "Special" in the sense where it's not. All those long months wasted on what it would be like to see her for the first time, eyes connecting as realization dawned on her - and instead he'd got the whelp.
"You're all alive!" Xander continued, jumping up from the chair he was sitting in. He looked around at Dawn and Andrew who were sitting on the floor around the coffee table playing a board game of sort. "Spike's all evil undead again! Does anybody else see him? I'm not crazy and imagining this am I?"
Spike's lips curled upwards, his eyebrows shooting up. "Imagine me often, do you?" he smirked.
"What?! No! There can never be a strong enough 'no' for that!"
Spike shrugged his shoulders, looking around the room and seeing no Buffy. Dawn must've read his mind, or saw him peeking down the hallway towards the direction he figured Buffy's room was, as she stood up and cleared her throat.
"She's, uh... she's in her bedroom, if that's what you're looking for."
"What? No, I was just... seeing stuff," he replied, rather pathetically, returning his gaze back to the three of them.
Andrew jumped up, knocking the board game off the table as he raced over to Spike. He stood in front of him, a wide grin on his face as he stared happily up at Spike. Oh, hell. His arms shot out and before Spike could back up or protest, Andrew had him in a tight embrace.
"Spike, you're here! I knew you would come again. It's so romantic. The reuniting of vam-pyre with his Slayer, a tragic love cut short in an equally tragic way. Time spent apart making the heart grow fonder, the reuniting all the more heartfelt because of it," he pulled back, holding onto Spike's shoulders. "Reunited lovers. Both having died before and having come back to each other - a love that surpasses even the great beyond."
"Uh, riiight," Spike drawled, shrugging Andrew's hands off of him. "She planning on coming out anytime soon?" he asked evenly, trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice.
Dawn walked over, joining Andrew in front of Spike. "I can't believe you're alive," she paused, staring hard at Spike. "How are you alive? You're not evil are you?"
"Evil as ever."
Dawn stared at him suspiciously, tilting her head and furrowing her brow as she studied him. He mirrored her tilt, matching it with narrow eyes as he watched her watching him.
"I'm not a bloody theme park attraction, Dawn - you got something to say or are you just going to stare at me?"
She smiled, shaking her head. "I can't believe you're here, that's all. It seems surreal. There's a good lack of 'real' and much with the 'sur'."
Xander walked over, staring hard at him as well. "So what'd you do, give them your 'Get out of Jail Free' card?" he asked, coming to a stop beside Dawn.
"Yea, that's exactly what I did. And then I skipped past go and didn't collect my sodding $200," Spike replied sarcastically.
"Well, how are you alive?" Dawn asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Andrew answered. "He's a hero, destined for great things. It wasn't his time so they sent him back to continue fighting the good fight in the sake of atonement and reformation, seeking a destiny chosen by himself out of love."
Dawn, Xander, and Spike all stared at Andrew, expressions ranging from horrified and amused, to disgusted.
"That," Spike said slowly, lips twitching upwards in amusement, "And because of that amulet Buffy gave me. Turns out it did more than liven up my wardrobe."
"This is weird. I'm getting a weird vibe - anybody else?" Dawn asked, looking back and forth between Xander and Andrew.
Xander's hand shot up, "Definitely a weird sort of this-all-feels-so-familiar vibe."
"Hey, I'm the one being stared at like a bleeding theme park attraction, and you lot are talking about it being weird?"
Dawn turned to Andrew for further back up. "Weird, no?"
"Uhm, not so much. See, me and Spike kind of already had a reunion of sorts. A rendezvous where-in stories of manlihood were swapped and together we fought side by side, risking life and limb," he paused, looking over at Spike, "Nice to see you've healed--" Spike shrugged casually as Andrew continued, "to fight and capture the dark Slayer."
"The who?" asked Xander.
"The Slayer, held asylum by a traumatic childhood," Andrew clarified.
"Again with the 'huh'?"
"Crazy chick," Dawn inserted, turning towards Xander. "Faith-lite. You know - brown hair, psychotic bitch factor, big with the crazy?"
"Ohhh," Xander nodded, realization steamrolling through. Spike watched in an amused sort of exasperation, completely enthralled at how daft he really was, as Xander continued nodding, "Dana. The Slayer you went to rescue from Evil Empire LA, when....heeey, wait! You and Spike, in LA?"
"Who in LA?" Buffy's voice came filtering through, suprising the hell out of everyone. "Hey, what's with the assemblage? Is there a Giles-shaped person behind that huddle?" she asked, tilting her head to see around the group.
"Giles?" Spike called out disgustedly, pushing his way through Dawn and Xander arms until he saw her. He was momentarily taken aback at the sight of her, her eyes growing wide at the sight of him. Christ, he knew she'd look beautiful. He'd only got the small glimpse of her last time he was here. A flash of blonde hair and golden skin, then - but now he was seeing her for the first time all over again.
"You're not Giles," Buffy said, wincing as the words played back in her head. "OK, that sounded stupid even to me."
Spike smiled, wrapping his arms tight around himself as he hesitantly stepped closer. "Hello, luv."
"Spike? How...? I mean..." she broke away from his eyes, looking around him and at the group behind him. "Everyone else sees him, right? I'm not imagining this?"
"Ha!" Xander cried out, pointing at Spike. "See, I said the same thing! It's weird, isn't it? He's all here and undead, and not at all a big pile of dust."
Spike turned around, "Thanks, mate" he said dryly.
He felt Buffy step closer, his senses on overdrive as the smell of her hit him. That smell that drove him wild. Haunted him when he couldn't have her. Teasing him with every strut past him, with every indignant toss of hair over her shoulder. Apply that logic to when he did finally get her - the smell of her driving him wild, smelling everywhere - on his clothes, on his bed, on his crypt floor - everywhere. And then, here - again, just completely overwhelming and so familiar. He turned back around as she stepped up to him, closer more until she was standing right in front of him. He smiled, and she smiled back, and then walked past him to the group of Scoobies. He turned around, following her with his eyes disappointedly as she distanced herself from him.
"Hey, guys. Can you like...leave? So we can talk?" she asked the three questioning faces, holding the handle of the still-open front door.
Dawn laughed, "As if, where do you propose we'd go? And - I live here, remember! You can't just kick me out because Spike's back."
"Yea," Xander joined in. "We can't miss this, this is good stuff here. I mean, gross if you're me, because I so don't want to see the two of you making with the supposed reunion, but much, much better than anything I'd find on TV here."
"Yea," Andrew protested, folding his hands across his chest in a pout. "Why do we have to go?"
"Oh, I know!" Dawn chirped. "We can go in my room! There's privacy for you and a good lack of leaving for us! It's like that thing people say: killing two birds with one stone, except minus the violence that comes with the imagery."
"Dawn!" Andrew squeed, rushing over to her and grabbing her in a tight embrace. He held her tight, kissing her hard before pulling back. "You, my little peach, are quite the genius--"
Dawn shoved him off of her, wiping off her mouth. "That was so gross, Andrew! You seriously need to think about ritalin or something."
Xander chuckled, grabbing a hold of an Andrew arm and a Dawn arm as he pulled them along beside him. "We'll just leave you two alone," he nodded towards Spike as they left the living room and headed into the hallway towards the bedroom. "Dawn is so gonna kick your ass," Xander muttered to Andrew, shoving him in front of them as they disappeared into Dawn's bedroom, closing the door behind them.
"Well," Spike said slowly, turning from the closed door back to Buffy, "Bit's gonna be traumatized after that," he smiled.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!