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| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 1 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks to the wonderful spikeslovebite for all her help. *hugs* I don't know what i'd do without her.
Love.
It’s such a funny little word. It can mean so many different things. Friendship. Affection. Attraction. It can be an endearment or a way to describe your emotions.
Or love can mean pain. Gut-wrenching, soul-devouring pain.
The kind of pain that you feel when you have to watch as your first love dies before your eyes. The kind of pain that comes from being the one that lands the killing blow.
The light fades and there is silence.
A soft scrape of movement sounds behind me, but I don’t bother turning to look. I already know who it is. The gentle touch on my shoulder is all that’s needed to bring the tears.
Turning quickly, I bury my head in his chest, crying my heart out onto his shirt. He arms wrap tightly around me. I hear his soft, “you did what you had to do.” And the tears flowed even faster.
Sometimes love even shines through the pain.
Chapter 1 ~ Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Spike stalked out of the factory, his determination making his gait seem stronger than it really was. He fixated on finding his target, hoping his trembling legs and weakened body didn’t betray him. He was sick and tired of his grand-sire already and the moans of pleasure and pain from the bedroom Drusilla now shared with the Poof turned his stomach. Since Angelus’ return all the minions who had once been loyal- or as loyal as he had expected them to be- had turned their backs on him and bowed down to the elder vampire, leaving Spike to fend for himself.
The blond had agonized for days on his next course of action, tossing around the pros and cons of every choice. It wasn't like he didn’t have the extra time, what with being confined to the bleedin’ wheelchair like an invalid. Every scheme that he'd come up with, every plan that even had a chance in hell of succeeding all involved one person.
The Slayer.
The short walk to the school seemed to take twice as long as it normally would have. He’d been on his feet less than a week, mostly just practicing in the privacy of his bedroom, with the door locked. Not that the happily reunited couple would make an effort to check on him. It just seemed prudent to keep out any minions who might be looking for information to curry Angelus’ favor.
The lesser vamps had yet to learn that attention from the Great Git, even for something he wanted, didn’t always mean safety or additional benefits. Often, it only brought more foolhardy assignments or a dusting for thinking above your station.
He reached his destination and stopped for a break outside the brick structure. As he rested, his eyes lit on the sign in front of the building. “’Formatia trans sicere educatorum. Enter all ye who seek knowledge.’” He snorted. “Why not just say all you can eat buffet?” he mumbled. Shaking his head at the idiocy of the authority figures on the Hellmouth, he struggled upright and entered Sunnydale High School.
Spike wandered the halls to get his bearings. He knew from Angelus that the slayer and her little group of hangers-on mostly gathered in the library, but he hadn’t found a soul when he’d poked his head cautiously through the door. There was a light scraping noise and the faint smell of burnt herbs coming from down the hall. Someone was doing magic nearby. Hoping to find the merry band of do-gooders, he made his way around the classrooms.
It would surprise him if the watcher was in on this little enchantment, since the watchers council was notorious for snubbing their noses at the use of magic for slayer related activities. Of course they didn’t hesitate to us it for their own purposes. Bloody hypocrites. Always trying to make sure they kept most of the eggs in their own basket so as to make themselves indispensable.
The vampire finally reached the door the overwhelming smell was emanating from. He smirked at the sight of the slayers boy pal hopping around watching what appeared be a young witch as she chanted over a science beaker and intoned, “…until she submits to his will only.”
“Well. Well. Well. What do I spy with my little eye?” His grin only widened when the boy shrieked and jumped a foot off the ground.
Xander’s eyes grew enormous when he realized who had stepped into the room. He backed up until he bumped into one of the lab tables. Once his progress was halted he began to babble and stutter unintelligible words.
The blond looked toward the witch still chanting on the floor. She was so absorbed in her spell she took no notice of his presence. He moved closer to the girl and her bubbling mixture. Cocking his head to the side, he focused on her words.
“Diana, bring about this love and bless it.”
Spikes eyebrow arched in surprise. A love spell, then. Wasn’t expecting that, he thought. His questioning gaze flew back toward the brunette.
He whirled his still clumsy body around as a flash of movement caught his attention. He began to dodge and block punches from the irate slayer as she attacked him full on.
“Slayer!” he exclaimed as he blocked her determined assault. “I was just looking for you.”
“Yeah, well, now you’ve found me,” she snarled.
Still weak from his injury, his body was beginning to tire and he took several steps back to avoid her heavier blows. The slayer followed his retreat and neither noticed when they stepped into the mystical circle drawn on the floor.
As though from a great distance, Spike heard the witch shout, “blow out the candle, now!”
And everything went black.
*****
Spike awoke in a comforting embrace with the feel of soft, warm fingers stroking his cheek. He shook his head to clear away the last of the magic he could feel floating around the room, and when he finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring straight into the brightest green eyes he had ever seen. With that bit of knowledge came the realization that it was the slayer who held him close. Very close.
What the bloody hell? His frantic eyes moved downward searching her hands for the stake she must be clutching in her free hand only to find it curled tightly into his shirt with no weapon in sight.
“Uh, Slayer…what are you doing?” he asked tentatively, still wary of hidden stakes.
“Oh, thank God! I thought I was going to have to open a vein or something to get you to wake up,” she cried in relief.
The vampire was sure that his eyes bulged comically as the words of his enemy registered in his head. He tried to assess the situation to plot his next course of action, resisting the urge to leap to his feet and run. He mentally ran through the limited information in his head before hitting upon the obvious.
Spell. He had walked in on a spell. A love spell, no less.
Groaning loudly, he eased himself out of the slayers embrace to stand. To his chagrin, the blond seemed to meld herself to him every inch of the way. Every effort he made to untangle her arms from around him just caused her to attach herself somewhere else.
His eyes searched the room finally settling on the slayers pal. He searched his memory trying to recall what the slayer had called him the first night at the bronze. “Xander.” That was it!
The boy started slightly when he felt the vampires gaze. He stared at his friend for a moment longer before looking at Spike almost apologetically. “Um, I tried to get her off of you a few times, but she kept growling at me,” he mumbled softly, he eyes now looking everywhere but the two blonds.
“Come on, luv,” Spike sighed as the slayer-shaped limpet clung even tighter. “Time to find the watcher.”
TBC... | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 2 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks to the wonderful Tam for the awesome job she does beta'ing.
Chapter 2
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered continued
"Hey, watch the hands!"
"You know what you are? You're just a big tease. You bust in with the big bad talk, bragging about feeling all 'manly'.” Buffy smirked as he jerked back from the hand that had slid dangerously close to his zipper. “But you're really just a big tease." Moving with supernatural grace, she stalked her prey ruthlessly. “I bet I can make you feel all manly,” she purred seductively.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t have any weapons here, pet.” He had to keep reminding himself that this was a spell and he needed the slayers help if he wanted Angelus out of his hair. Damn her evil little roving hands!
“What’s this then?” The feel of his straining erection was all the encouragement Buffy needed to make her move. Her eyes glittered bright with desire when he finally reached the wall, ending his escape.
“Bloody hell! A little help here!” he yelled, his panicked voice echoing through the library.
The watcher came running out the office in time to see his slayer pen a flabbergasted William the Bloody into the corner, rubbing her body suggestively against her captive.
Giles reached them just as her hands slipped beneath the cornered mans shirt, moaning hungrily as she made contact with his taut skin. The watcher grabbed his charges arm, intent on separating his slayer from the vampire who was looking paler than usual.
The watcher was unprepared when the tiny fist that connected with his face, knocking him on his ass. Stunned, he slid several feet before the table slowed his progress. Rubbing his jaw, he watched his slayer warily.
The slayer was severely pissed at being interrupted. Her mind swirled irrationally with suspicion and fear at being estranged from her intended. Soon the lustful feelings overrode all others and she once again pressed her body flush with her future lover. Buffy and seductive confidence was not normally one and the same, but what she lacked in experience she tried to make up for in enthusiasm.
Spike grabbed the petite blonde’s hands in an effort to gain some control over the situation. “Slayer, you shouldn’t be doing that. Sworn enemies remember? Fight to the death, kill you on Saturday- any of this ringing a bell? You love Angel, I love Dru? Please, for the love of God, stop with the rubbing,” he begged.
“Dru? You’re here with me and thinking about her?” she cried out in indignation. “The crazy bitch is so much dust.” She whirled away; her only thought that of eradicating her only competition for her loves affection.
“No, luv.” He caught her by the arm, swinging her around to face him once more. He was unsure how to deal with Buffy in this state. He knew her emotions were being controlled by the spell and he was unsure how long it would take for it to wear off. Until it did, or they found a way to break its hold on her, he didn’t want to take the chance that she might actually stake his sire.
“I don’t want Dru, I want you. I just think we need to wait a bit. Get to know each other first.” He threw a desperate look at the watcher, hoping he would see the stalling tactic for what it was and not try to stake him for it.
“Prove it.” She demanded moving once again to stand with her body pressed tight against his.
“Wha?” His attention was so focused on saving himself from a dusty demise that he was startled by her command.
“Prove it.” Her smile was pure, unadulterated sin. “Kiss me. Show me how much you want me.”
"Watcher!" The vampire cringed at the sound of his own voice. He was sure he hadn’t hit decibels like that since his William days.
“Oh, bloody hell, just kiss her, Spike. Anything to shut her up,” Giles sputtered. “I don’t think it would benefit your cause to allow her to run straight into the factory and get herself killed because of a jealous fit.” The watcher picked himself up from the floor. And it will serve the little chit right to have to kiss the vampire, he thought. He was still upset from the blow she’d dealt him, even though he knew it was the spell in control. He took a break from cleaning his glasses to rub his eyes. Since the blond pair had burst through the library door followed by a sheepish Xander, the pain in his head had grown to gigantic proportions.
The younger boy had taken off in an effort to find the missing Amy, who had bolted as soon as the spell had hit the vampire and caused him to lose his human mask. Foolish teenagers, mucking around with powers they had no clue about or the serious danger they could be placing themselves and others in.
It had taken everything the watcher had not to run for the security cage and snatch the crossbow down from its hook. Instead, he listened rigidly as the vampire told his tale, explaining his desire for a truce and his idea to form a union of forces to defeat Angelus.
He was not trusting of the vamp, but the fact that his slayer was currently hanging onto his side like a besotted nymph, her body clinging to his in ways that brought out disturbingly erotic images and the fact that Spike had yet to make a move against her stayed his hand and his mouth. He turned away when he saw the blond lower his head. He had no desire to watch his young charge snog yet another vampire.
“Just want you to remember this is your idea, pet. I don’t wanna get staked when this is over.”
“Just shut up and kiss me, Spike.” She grabbed the back of his neck drawing him closer.
The faint brush of his lips against hers brought a rush of feeling that started with her lips and moved quickly through her body. The wisp of pressure was far from satisfying and she pulled him tighter into the embrace, taking full advantage of her slayer strength.
His lips were cool and soft, moving expertly against hers with a skill born from years of practice. It was the reminder of who that practice had been with that caused her to growl possessively, the sound vibrating from her body to his. Buffy delighted in the faint shiver that slid down his frame, never stopping to question its cause. She just couldn’t imagine he didn’t feel the same way she felt, the warm fuzzy feelings growing stronger every second. She wanted to devour him whole, locked away from prying, disapproving eyes that were seriously trying to kill her mood. Couldn’t they see it was true love?
The slayers body was rubbing against his aggressively. Her fierce growl caused him to shudder slightly, unsure what had been the cause of the possessive rumble. His fear that maybe the spell had worn off and she was returning to her senses did nothing to stop his hardening cock. Wasn’t his fault the minx couldn’t keep her hands to herself. He was helpless to resist the urge to run his hands down her body, delighting in the moans of pleasure she made no effort to hide from the watcher.
Tongues glided and caressed gently as they swayed in time with each other, breaking apart slowly when a loud sound echoed for the third time and Spike finally registered that the watcher was trying to gain their attention. He ended the kiss almost tenderly, allowing the slayer to come up for air. Her pout was so endearing that he ducked his head once again to nibble at her lip. Releasing it with a resounding pop, he stepped back to give the petite blond some room. He smirked when she made it clear that one step back was all he was allowed to take.
The library doors burst open as the young whelp returned looking less than triumphant. Spike snickered as he watched the boy shudder as he took in the vision of his friend staring at the vampire in front of her like she wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms and not come up for air for hours…maybe weeks. Slayer stamina and all that.
“I couldn’t find Amy. I tried her house, the Bronze, and all over the school. Um, does she have to do that? It’s kind of creepy.”
“Do what, Xander?” Giles asked without lifting his head from the book in front of him. He found the situation with the slayer and vampire much easier to accept if he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Making with the google-y, ‘I want to devour you’ eyes. It’s freaking me out.”
“Well, as a matter of fact she does Xander, thanks to you and Amy and your misguided use of magic to enhance your lives.” He felt a grim surge of satisfaction at the boy’s guilty expression.
“Watcher, do you have a book with a general reversal spell?” Spike broke in as he snagged the slayers hot little hands from under his shirt once more. The chit was getting braver by the minute. “Maybe that would work. I’ve done one or two in my time, enough to recognize a good one when I see it.”
“And you would be willing to help with this spell, why?” The watcher whipped his glasses off, cleaning them thoroughly before placing them back on his nose.
“I can’t very well go back to the factory with a slayer attached at the hip, now can I? If I don’t go back to the factory, I won’t know Angelus’ movements. If I don’t know his plans, we bloody well can’t take him down.” Finally losing his patience, he grabbed the little hormone bomb and planted her delectable ass in the nearest chair. “Is that clear enough for you?”
“Crystal. Here.” Giles handed the irate vampire the nearest book on magic as he continued to search the one in his hands.
Spike flipped the book open to begin his hunt for the proper spell, but the sniffling beside him stopped him cold. He turned to see the slayer, eyes full of tears and wearing a heartbroken expression.
“So you really don’t want me, then? What is this? Is this all just some big game to you?” she wailed her despair.
“What? No!” his mind reeled, looking for any plausible excuse. He sighed heavily, deciding to stay as close to the truth as possible without opening himself up for a dusting. “Listen, pet, I have to go back to the factory, which is someplace you can’t follow. I’m just trying to make it easier to break the spell and keep you from possibly getting yourself killed. I need you with me in this fight. You understand?”
The slayer gave her best pout. “Why do you have to go back at all? Why not stay here with us?” She focused totally on the hot blond in front of her, ignoring the twin shouts of ‘no!’ that echoed behind her.
“Everyone needs a bit of space, luv. All new couples need room to grow, learn about each other. Don’t wanna smother out the relationship by being clingy.” Spike watched her face as she digested his words.
Finally, with a mixture of fear and resignation, she backed away a few steps. Not far, but just enough. “Yeah, room. I can make room. It takes a lot for things to grow. Lots of light- not direct sunlight of course, because you’re all combusty- but indirect light and lots of care and understanding and our love can grow strong and true.” She grinned triumphantly, satisfied with her reasoning, determined to pay no attention to the gagging sounds Xander was making.
Jealousy is so unbecoming, she thought irritably.
*****
It was close to two hours and a reversal spell later before Spike finally left the school. Two hours of explanations, plans, and embarrassed looks. He hid his amusement at the slayers behavior as best as he could, given the circumstances, but the bright blushes and stammered speech was too much for him to hold back completely. He had bitten back the most offensive of his statements, needing to only look at the stake clutched tightly in her hand to remind himself why.
He had just cleared the lawn and stepped onto the sidewalk when he heard the rush of footsteps and rapid breathing behind him. He whirled, dropping into a fighting stance, unable to hide his surprise when he came face to face with a breathless slayer.
“What are you doing, pet? Thought we had all this sorted out? Did the reversal spell wear off?”
“What? No! I just wanted to say…” It seemed the more she tried to talk, the more flustered she became. “The thing is…you could have, but you didn’t…and I just wanted to say; thank you, Spike. You could have taken something potentially embarrassing and turned it into…well, deadly embarrassing. But you didn’t. So, thank you, and I guess I’ll see you in a few nights, for a report or-or whatever.”
“Sure, luv.” Spike tried but found himself unable to resist one last taunt. “Hopefully next time we meet, you’ll have better control of your hands,” he teased. “Maybe when all this is over, you’ll get a chance to see how ‘manly’ I can be.” He curled his tongue behind his teeth as he disappeared into the shadows, leaving a blushing blond groaning in humiliation beneath the streetlight.
TBC... | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 3 | | | | - - - abc | | | *hugs* and thanks to spikeslovebite for her awesome beta'ing!
Chapter 2 ~ Passion
Buffy felt him the moment he strolled into the library. She was alone; the others had long since gone home and Giles, knowing that Buffy still wasn’t comfortable around the woman, had left to confirm the possibility of a spell with Jenny.
The vampire sat down beside her, turning the chair around to sit astride it. He searched her face, waiting to be acknowledged.
“He was in my room last night,” she said softly, lifting shadowed green eyes to meet his gaze.
“So I heard. You alright?” His scanned her body looking for injuries. He didn’t expect to find any, knowing that most of Angelus’ victim bore their scars on the inside, but he still gave her a quick once-over.
“Yeah, just kind of shook up. Giles is trying to find a disinvite spell. He’ll be right back; he thinks he’s found one that might work.”
“Right. Speaking of invites; you know you lot are sitting ducks here, right? Any vamp can just stroll on in and have a field day.”
“Actually, I hadn’t really thought about it. Most vamps don’t come to the school at night. No action.” He grinned unrepentantly at her pointed glare. “They mostly hang out at the Bronze or lurk in dark alleys, waiting for easy meals.”
“Yeah, well, Angelus isn’t ‘most vamps’.” His expression hardened. “Dru had a vision. Don’t rightly know what it means, but she was wailing about an old enemy coming to destroy our happy home. I was kind of hoping you lot might have a clue who she’s rambling about.”
She chewed her lip as she digested this new information. “An old enemy, huh? Like maybe the gypsy’s that cursed Angel in the first place?”
He raised his eyebrow in question.
“Jenny’s a teacher here. She’s the one Giles went to talk to. She was sent here to keep an eye on Angel, to make sure he was suffering. She and Giles were sort of…involved.”
“Piss poor job she did keepin’ an eye on the poofter. They’ll go after her, you know? If they feel she’s a threat, Angelus will want to take her out quickly. He’ll wait ‘til she’s vulnerable and strike. He won’t take you head-on. He knows you’re as strong or stronger than him, so he won’t take foolish chances. But one teacher- even a gypsy- against him? It’s like child’s play. He’ll kill her and then use her death to taunt you. It’s his way. I’ve seen it too many bloody times.”
“You’re right. I-I didn’t even think about that.” Buffy shifted uncomfortably and bit her lip. “I’ve been sitting here trying to think of a way to tell my mom why she needs to stay in at night and not invite anyone in. God, she’s going to either think I’m crazy again or not take me seriously and end up getting killed. Every time I think things can’t get any worse, there’s an extra scoop of crappiness added to my life.”
“Pretty big on the visuals, aren’t you, pet?” Spike chuckled softly, hoping to tease her out of her funk. The last thing he needed now was a slayer who was too depressed to fight.
“You should try a slayer dream if you want visuals,” she scoffed. “We’re talking living color and surround sound. It’s way freaky.”
“You really get those?” He realized his enthusiasm was a little too close to his inner William for his liking and he tried to cover as quickly as possible. “I mean; I’ve heard about slayers having prophetic dreams. I just thought they were a myth.”
“I wish. Dreaming about your own death is not on the top of Buffy’s list of favorite things to do.”
“I imagine not, pet.” Spike turned away and snorted as the watcher entered the library, he nose buried inside one of his dusty tomes. He swung around to smirk at the slayer before facing the older man and shouting, “Oi, Watcher!” He couldn’t help the deep throaty chuckle as Rupert fumbled the book before catching it against his chest and breathing heavily.
“Was that completely necessary?” the startled man huffed, straightening his glasses as he glared at the pair of blondes laughing at his expense.
“I don’t know; it seemed to lighten the mood around here. What do you think, luv?”
“It brightened my night. Of course, lately anything short of an apocalypse would be better than most of my nights,” Buffy pouted.
Giles looked pained. “Not a statement one should make when living on the Hellmouth.” Noting his slayers suitably chastised look, he turned to the vampire. “Right, do you have anything new to report, Spike?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I was just filling the slayer here in on a new development,” the vampire replied.
“Yeah, we may have a problem, Giles. Drusilla had a vision. Apparently an old enemy comes to take her daddy away, and we were thinking it might have something to do with Miss Calendar and her family.”
“Oh, um, right. She’s still in the computer lab; I’ll go down and tell her it might be best if she moves her research to a safer location until the Angelus situation is resolved.”
“She might want to take anything with her she needs, no staying anywhere after dark and especially not alone, even for a moment. Once he figures out who his target is, the Poofter will have minions watching and waiting. He’s not above sending in others to do his dirty work. Bloody cowardly, if you ask me.”
They watched Giles’ face as the information clicked into place and realization dawned. His expression showed his fear for the woman he had recently distanced himself from, both of what could have been and what could still come to pass.
“I’ll walk you down to get her, and then we’ll make sure she gets home safe,” Buffy offered grudgingly. She was still pissed about the teachers withholding of vital information, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see her dead.
“They’ll be busy tonight. Dru said she’d have to consult other sources to unravel the vision, or some such rot, and Angelus is trailing along behind her, afraid he’ll miss something if she gets too far away from him. I don’t think they’ll be ready to strike tonight, or even know who they’re looking for just yet, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Buffy was surprised when Spike fell in step beside her on the way down the hallway. It was sort of comforting not being the only strong one, even if she was still wary of his motives. She tried not to take to much enjoyment from the teachers’ fright, as she dismantled her computer and packed away the smaller pieces.
Before long they were walking down the sidewalk, Spike carried the monitor while Buffy hoisted the main unit. Miss Calendar and Giles walked behind them, the watcher awkwardly trying to balance his crossbow and a box of computer accessories and the brunette gypsy carrying her satchel of papers as she clutched her stake in a death grip.
“Did you ever think this is what you’d be doing when you first crashed into town?” Buffy glanced sideways at the vampire, taking in his profile bathed in moonlight. The silvery light gave him an otherworldly hue. Duh, Buffy. He’s a demon.
“No, but it’s better than sitting around listening to the Poofter and Dru shag themselves to death.” He cringed, realizing too late his mistake. He turned to see her eyes fill with tears.
“Oh.” She paused for a moment as grief washed over her anew from the loss of her first lover. That he had turned so quickly to a new- or actually, an old lover- was more than her fragile heart could stand.
“Sorry, pet. Didn’t mean to upset you. I’m a bad rude man.” The vampire couldn’t believe his instinctual need to comfort this girl. He tried to tell himself it was only because he was feeling the betrayal as well that caused him to react to her pain.
“It can’t be easy for you, either. Me and Angel were only together for a little while, but you and Dru…I mean; a century, wow.” Her awe was genuine. After witnessing the downfall of her parents’ marriage and her own miserable attempt at happiness, the fact that he was capable of over a century of love and devotion was astonishing.
Drusilla is a fool, Buffy thought bitterly. To have someone that loved her that much, but toss it all away for a monster that seems unable to care for anyone other than himself.
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t all wine and roses. We had our ups and downs, and she always loved her daddy best. It’s how he made her. It just hits hard, you know? After so many years, you forget how things really are sometimes.” He tried to laugh away his comments, to hide how much his sire’s betrayal from had hurt him, but he knew that even after all these years, he still wore his heart on his sleeve.
Buffy watched his struggle and her heart ached, not only for herself, but for the supposedly soulless demon beside her. His expression was one of such misery that it couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. “Yeah, well, I don’t think Angelus is going to let me forget anything anytime soon. He seems to enjoy throwing it in my face every chance he gets.”
“That’s how he gets his jollies, luv. Try not to let him get to you. He’ll use it to his advantage and try to throw you off your game. Don’t let him see how much he’s hurting you.” Spike vowed he would get Angelus for all that he had done. He would pay for all he had taken from himself and this wisp of a girl, a girl who had done nothing more to earn her misery than to have the misfortune to love the wrong person.
“That’s easier said than done.” She avoided his eyes as they cut across the lawn to the little white house that occupied the corner lot.
*****
Buffy watched on the porch as the door closed behind her, waiting for the final clicks to ensure that the older couple was as secure as they were going to get. The watcher had decided to stay through the night to ensure that Angelus didn’t attack before anticipated. Although Spike had assured them that Dru hadn’t received all the details with her vision, it had done little to alleviate their fear for her safety, especially from the older man who had been so thoroughly captivated by the dark Gypsy such a short time ago.
Buffy thought that maybe she and the estranged woman needed to have a chat before much longer. She hated that Giles was suffering because his guilty need to stand by her side. She had learned the hard way that love wasn’t something that should be taken for granted. Sometimes you had to grab a hold of it with both hands and hold on tight, because you never knew when it would be wrenched from you and trampled into dust. God, Spike’s right I am big with the imagery.
Slowly, she and the vampire who had reluctantly been forced to join in their fight made their way to Revello Drive. She still hadn’t figured out how she was going to explain to her mother about the dangers of inviting in people after dark. Not without sounding insane or giving away too much information about her calling, which would land her back in the ‘sounding insane’ column.
Buffy opened her mouth several times to break the silence on the way to her house. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, some that she was sure he wouldn’t answer and a few she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know the answer to. Finally, she settled on a asking a simple question. “Aren’t you afraid to be seen with me? I mean, you don’t want it known that you’re helping us. That’s the plan, right?”
“The Great Git has given specific instructions to all the minions. They’re to steer a clear path around you, pet. He’s even restricted their hunting grounds to make sure they don’t get anywhere in your vicinity. As far as the Poof is concerned, you and yours are his to torture and torment, or to kill, if and when he deems necessary. Plus, I’m old enough that I can sense when other vamps are about. If I think one is near, I’ll disappear right quick.”
“What about Angel? I mean, Angelus. What if he comes around?”
“Well, as much as I hate him, Angelus is family. You tend to recognize family even faster than minions. Trust me, Angelus is so bleedin’ busy trying to decipher Dru’s vision he won’t be out tonight. You can bet he’ll do all he can to cover his own ass before he resumes his fun.”
They had finally made it to her house and she stood there, intensely uncomfortable and fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “Well, thanks for walking me home.” She blushed under his smirking gaze.
“What? No good night kiss? Just the other night you were demanding my affection and tonight it’s the cold shoulder. I’m hurt, luv. Makes a poor vamp feel used.” He pouted mockingly; glad to bring a smile to her face.
“Ha, ha, Spike. Very funny. As much as this reminds me of one of my not so spectacular attempts at a normal life, this was not a date. Although,” she said with a self-deprecating little grin. “Technically this went a lot better than my last official dating disaster.”
“The Poof?”
“No, it was right before Angel. I tried to go the normal guy route and it didn’t work out so well. Me and Angel, we didn’t do the whole ‘dating’ thing with actual dates. It was more of a ‘show up, give cryptic info, and slink back off into the night’ thing.”
“He always did have a stick up his ass, soul or no soul.” Spike’s upper lip curled in disdain. “Always going on and on about having a passion for the kill. Bastard didn’t have a passion for the kill; he had an unquenchable desire to torment and torture. He had to drive them all insane before he killed them. Nothing but playing with your food, is what that is.”
“Okay, we’re putting that in the too much information file and closing the drawer.” Buffy shuddered at the images that flashed in her mind at his casual descriptions.
“Sorry, pet. I’m used to talking to myself, so I tend to forget who I’m talking to sometimes. Not like I want to talk to the minions, but if I do and don’t want it repeated, I just dust ‘em. It makes for a good confidentiality policy and lets ‘em know where they stand.”
Rolling her eyes, she replied with mock seriousness. “Yeah, never know when you’re going to need a good policy. Maybe the minions should form a union against the master vamps or something? No staking without representation and all that.”
“You want them to unionize or stage a revolution?” he chucked at her perplexed expression. He had to wonder if she was as ditzy as she led everyone to believe, or if she had played the part so long it was now just second nature.
“Um, is that a trick question, because that sound like one of those train traveling east questions on my math tests, and I never get those right.”
Spike shook his head. He was pretty sure now that he was being played. No one with as quick a wit as the slayer could be this dim. If he had more time to delve deeper into her inner workings, he was sure he’d find a bright and knowledgeable girl, but he had Dru and Angelus to worry about and time was running short. The formally brooding poof was growing more erratic all the time. Soon, it would be time for them to strike, to take the bastard down, get his princess back, and ride the hell out of Dodge.
“No, pet. No trick questions. I think there’s enough tricks and deceit going around without us adding to it, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, you’re right and I do trust you. Not in the ‘please-come-bite-me’ kind of way, but the ‘I-don’t-think-you-would-lie-to-me’ kind. I mean, even when we were trying to kill each other, we didn’t lie to each other.” She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. “Well, except for your delusions that you could ever take me on and win,” she snickered as she danced out of arms reach and up the stairs to lean on the porch railing.
“Please!” Spike snorted. “I think the same could go for you as well, kitten.”
He backed away slowly, already starting to blend in with the shadows as he ran his hand down his chest, stopping suggestively at the buckle of his jeans. “You just keep telling yourself it’s our well matched fighting styles and not your burning desire to test out my other ‘manly’ abilities that’s kept you from staking me so far.”
Buffy’s jaw dropped and she sputtered as he finally melted completely into the darkness. “Yeah, right! Like I would…o-or would even want to!” The slayer huffed and whirled around, muttering to herself. “Stupid vampire always having to get in the last word.”
Even as she closed the door, she could hear his laughter in the distance.
Ugh! Evil!
TBC…
| | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 4 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks to Tam for her endless patience with my scratchings.
Chapter 4 ~ Killed By Death (some snippets of dialogue taken from epi)
“Fancy seeing you here, pet,” Spike drawled, leaning casually against the door frame of the doctor’s office.
The blond groaned as the redhead gave a started yelp and moved slightly behind the slayer. Willow knew about the truce, but it didn’t mean she still didn’t feel tense around the vampire, especially with her friend being less than one hundred percent.
In fact, the truce with the aforementioned vampire was just about all her friend had talked about the last few days. Buffy went on and on about the spell gone wrong, how he teased her mercilessly, and about how confused she was by his request for the ceasefire and how it would affect the coming battle. If Willow didn’t know better, she would think her friend was crushing on her mortal enemy turned accomplice.
“I don’t have time for this right now, Spike. You want to banter and do the ‘lets make Buffy blush’ thing, you might want to pick sometime when I’m not already red from fever, because you know you’ll just be disappointed when you can’t tell the difference.”
“How do you know I won’t be able to tell the difference? Your blushes are very distinctive, pet, and pretty to boot.” The vampire cocked his head to one side and smirked at the definite rise in temperature he could sense in his target.
As the contrary couple began to banter back and forth, Willow tuned them out and continued to search the paperwork containing the physician’s research. She could tell that they were both enjoying the exchange. Thinking back to the night Buffy first met the devilishly handsome vampire- emphasis on the devilish- she remembered how her friend had complained about how sad it was that someone so hot had to be undead. Looking back now and adding in the almost wistful comments of the previous days had the redhead hoping that her friend wasn’t falling for another vampire. She tuned back into their conversation in time to hear Buffy ask how he knew she was at the hospital.
“I went by the library. Giles and the beauty queen said you were here.” He grinned at her pouting expression at the mention of the other girl.
“Hey, guys. I think I have something!”
They both turned to look at the redhead when she gave an excited squeak. The slayer released a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sherlock Rosenberg.”
“Okay, this makes sense. Dr. Backer was trying to inoculate the kids with a controlled dosage of the same virus they already had.” At the confused looks on the faces both blonds she added, “Oh, raising their temperatures to burn the fever out of them.”
“Would that work?” Buffy looked back and forth between her two companions.
Pointing at the paper in front of her, Willow answered, “According to this it was starting to. So he really was trying to help the kids.”
“Until that thing stopped him.” Before the vampire could ask her what was going on, she was on the phone, calling the watcher and arguing with the prom queen. From the sound of the conversation, it wasn’t good. He grew even more concerned when Buffy appeared to daze off in the middle of the exchange, seeming to pale right before his eyes.
When the slayer hung up the phone, she turned back to him once again before getting a determined look on her face and clambering out of bed. She stormed out of the room, only to be brought up short in the hallway when Spike caught her arm.
“You’re going to have to fill me in, Slayer. Seems like I’m missing some back story here. What thing stopped who?” The vampire was confused and irritated. Not only had the slayer ended up in the hospital while they should have been plotting Angelus’ demise, but it seemed she had landed herself right smack in the middle of another dangerous situation. What was it with these people? Couldn’t they keep their asses out of trouble for one soddin’ day?
“There’s something here- something killing sick children- and it got the doctor that had apparently found a cure to get him out of the way. I have to do something.”
“What you have to do is get back in bed and get well. We have an evil vampire to take down, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” she snarled. “As a matter of fact, he stopped by for a surprise visit earlier. He even brought flowers. Sweet, huh?” Once again Buffy tried to step around the vampire only to have him tighten his grip. “Let me go, Spike,” she ground out through gritted teeth.
“What, so you can go get yourself killed? Are you just trying to get out of fighting Angelus? Think if something else takes you out, then you don’t have to face the poof in a fight to the death?”
In spite of her weakness, her fist flew toward his nose, only to be caught in his hand and held loosely. “Bastard, you know that’s not it. I can’t sit back and watch these kids die while I can do something about it. I think this thing might have killed my cousin,” she finished in a whisper.
Spike held her hand firmly as she renewed her struggles for freedom. He looked over her shoulder at her young friend and pushed the wriggling slayer into her arms. “Take her back to her room and don’t leave her.”
“What? Spike I told you--” Her frustration was growing to the point that tears threatened to fall. Couldn’t he see how important this was to her?
“And I told you, now do as I bloody say. I’ll hunt your beastie.” He still held her hand in his even though she had stopped fighting him.
Confusion clouded her fever-bright eyes as she searched his face for answers. “Why? Why would you do that?”
“I told you; I need you in this fight.” The way he ducked his head seemed almost bashful.
“And the real reason?” she asked softly.
“Would you believe me if I said I like you and don’t want to see you killed?” She would have sworn that if vampires could blush he would have, but then his gaze turned cocky once again and the moment was lost. “Although seeing you all weak and kitten-y is kinda turning me on. Especially with your ass hangin’ out the back of that gown.”
Buffy squeaked and slapped her hands over her rear end. Finding it properly covered by her robe, she snorted disbelievingly. “You’re insane. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“It might’ve come up once or twice.” He grinned brightly, reaching up to push back her rumpled bangs. If his hand lingered for a shade too long on her flushed skin, neither cared to mention it.
She was touched that he wanted to kill this demon, maybe not for the children, but for her. At the thought of the kids still in danger, she turned serious once more. “He’s invisible, you can’t see him.”
“Maybe a human can’t see him, but demons can usually see other demons, and if not, I should still be able to sense him,” he assured her.
She nodded weakly, suddenly exhausted from her efforts. “If you’re sure. This isn’t part of our deal. You don’t have to do this, you know.”
Spike turned and swept out of the room, duster flapping behind him. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Slayer,” he threw back over his shoulder. “Get back in bed and drink some fluids or something. You’re looking a bit peaked.”
Buffy glared at his retreating figure before turning to her friend. “See what I mean? He always has to have the last word.”
*****
Spike tracked the foul odor to the children’s ward, his senses telling him that he was on the right trail. Finding all of the bed’s empty was a bit disturbing, especially since he could still feel the presence of their fear and desperation swirling around him. Sniffing the air, he couldn’t find any traces of blood and considered it a good sign.
He caught a glimpse of something moving past the window of the emergency door which led to the basement. He rushed to the door, only to find it locked. Slamming him shoulder into the metal, he hurried forward when he felt it give beneath his powerful shove.
Moving down the stairs, he could smell the stench even stronger in the stale air. He paused at the basement door, hearing several heartbeats thumping away frantically. The strong odor of the demon he was following was the strongest here.
He was close.
He tensed when he heard clumsy footfalls behind him, growling low when one of the slayers pals came barreling down the stairwell behind him. “What are you doing here, whelp?”
“Buffy wanted me to make sure none of the kids became a late night snack.” Xander tried to look calmer and more assured than he really was.
Spike lifted an eyebrow at the younger boy, staring at him intently but not saying a word.
Xander caved. “Okay, okay! ‘I’ wanted to make sure the kids didn’t become a late night snack. Buffy said I was worrying for nothing, but I don’t care if you did make a truce. Once a bloodsucker, always a bloodsucker, I say.”
“Actually, whelp, that’s exactly the way it works. Haven’t made a cure yet that I know of,” the vampire snickered as he turned back to the door and opened it cautiously.
Suddenly a young boy’s scream echoed through the cavernous basement and the blond vampire shot out the doorway in a flash, leaving Xander to try desperately to keep up. He rounded the corner just in time to see Spike in the process of throwing something off a young boy. If the situation weren’t so serious, he would have laughed at the sight of the blond vampire looking as if he was fighting an imaginary opponent.
While the two demons battled just a few feet away, Xander crept in and slipped his arms around Billy, dragging him to relative safely with the other children who were huddled together watching the fight. He was startled he heard Billy ask, “What is he?”
Xander looked up to see that Spike had slipped into game face. He didn’t want to freak out the children any more than they already were, so he bit his tongue before replying, “Don’t worry, he’s a good vampire.”
Across the room, the blond stopped fighting to turn and glare at the teenager. “Oi! You take that back,” he shouted before a sharp punch to the face brought him around to engage his opponent once again.
Xander rolled his eyes, “Okay, maybe ‘good’ was too strong a word. He’s kind of like…Blade? Yeah, Blade! You know, except paler and bleached, but they both have cool coats.”
He finally got tired of hiding with the children and crept out of the sunken hold, grabbing an abandoned tire iron on the way. He was just getting ready to swing, hoping he might be able to get the bleached vampire in the process and make it look like an accident, when Spike grabbed the demons head, tearing it clean off and splattering Xander’s face and clothing with blood and demon guts.
“Okay, I can not say ‘Eww’ too many times to cover this. You just had to rip his head off, didn’t you?” His face contorted with disgust and he tried to wipe the slime from his face, only managing to make it worse.
“Well, yeah. I did.” The vampire smirked as he walked back toward the smiling children. “Come on kiddies, time to get you back to your beds.” He lifted the smallest in his arms and took the hand of one of the others and began to lead them back to the stairs. He rolled his eyes when he saw that the whelp was watching him like a hawk.
A gut covered hawk, he thought and his grin broadened.
*****
Back in Buffy’s room, Spike leaned back in the chair as he finished his tale of the children’s rescue. Willow and Xander were long gone, the red headed witch figuring the stench coming from Xander would be enough to keep most beasties away on the walk home.
“Sounds like you had fun.” The slayer smiled at the animated delight on the vampires face.
“Bloody fantastic, it was. Haven’t had a good rough and tumble for a while now. Have to keep a low profile so I don’t alert Angelus that I’m walking again.”
“Well, I’m glad our little crisis fit neatly into your need for violence.” Her amused expression lessened the harshness of her words.
A knock on the door had both blonds turning in wary anticipation. The excitement of the evening had both blonds still buzzing with expectancy. They relaxed when a nurse poked her head in. “Hey, Buffy, one of the kids from the children’s ward sent something up for you.” She handed the folded paper to the bed-bound slayer and hustled back out the door, blushing shyly as the sexy blond seated next to the bed made eye contact with her.
Buffy opened the paper before folding it once again and holding it out to her companion. “I think this is for you,” she grinned.
Confused, the vampire took the paper and smiled when he looked at the contents. Inside Billy had signed the bottom of a picture showing Spike holding the head of Der Kindestod- which they had found out later was it’s name- with one foot one it’s chest as he grinned triumphantly.
“He’s a bleeding artist, that one is. I’ll have to go home and hang it on the fridge,” the vampire teased, but Buffy could tell he was delighted by the gift.
She was disappointed when he finally stood, indicating that it was time he left. “Angelus will be getting back soon, need to get back into the wheelchair before he does. Don’t want to give the game away now do we?” he said as he made his way to the door.
“No, we don’t want that,” Buffy sighed, wishing she hadn’t told her mother that she wanted to stay another night.
“Don’t worry, kitten. You’ll be out of here tomorrow. We can get back to planning, and just think; you’ll get to ogle more of my manly bits.” He chuckled as he walked out the door. Glancing back he saw the slayer’s bright red face before she grabbed her pillow, slamming it over her face and giving a muffled scream.
Yup, he was still evil.
TBC... | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 5 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks as always to Tam for the incredible support and help she gives with each and every chapter! *hugs*
Chapter 5 ~ I Only Have Eyes for You
"You called me." Buffy’s shocked voice echoed in the library.
The vampire’s bemused chuckle sounded over the line. "Yeah, so?"
The slayer frowned deeply. "I don't know. It's just weird. Demon’s doing something as ordinary as making a phone call."
Snorting loudly he replied, "You don't think the phone can be used for evil? Look at telemarketers, now that’s evil."
"It just seems so...un-evil. Like demons are just sitting around calling each other saying, ‘What did you do tonight?’ ‘Oh made some calls to some old friends. What about you?’ ‘Oh, just tried to find a new long distance provider, these out of town calls are killer on my phone bill.’ It just sounds kinda lame if you ask me."
“Has anyone ever told you you’re really strange, pet?” he leaned on the pay phone, one hand propped above his head in a casual stance.
“Um, just about every other day. It’s the curse of teenager’s life and the Slayer calling being un-mixy.” She forced herself to stop twirling the phone cord, realizing she looked like a boy had called her to ask her out. She blushed and was immediately disgusted that he could bring about a response from her when he wasn’t even in the room. “So, did you call me for a reason or just to girl talk?”
“Oh, ha bloody ha, Slayer. Just wanted to let you know Angelus is moving operations. He’s decided that we need to relocate to more accommodating surroundings. There’s an old mansion over on Crawford Street, He’s got the minions packing everything up as we speak. They’re moving everything slowly, trying not to draw attention. It will probably take several days at least.”
“Okay, any chance of thinning out the minions?” she tried to force her mind back on business and not the way his voice rumbled sexily in her ear.
“Maybe, but you need to be careful. They’re traveling in pairs at least, sometimes more.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. I’m so touched you care.” Her own saccharinely sweet voice was almost too much to stomach, but she was satisfied when she could hear his teeth grinding on the other end of the line.
He growled through clenched teeth, “Just don’t get yourself killed, alright? Angelus wouldn’t be moving us if he wasn’t getting ready to stage his big coup.”
“Fine, so when do you think you’ll be able to get away again?” She told herself that she just wanted to know so there would be no unexpected surprises, but that stubborn little voice inside that refused to be quiet whispered that she had missed the blond vampire the last few days.
It helped having someone around that she didn’t have to pretend that things were okay with or to act more confident in her ability to take down Angelus than she actually was. To snark and to tease or just let her be quiet. All things that she lacked in her tense relationships with her friends at this point.
Willow was continually trying to reassure her that things would turn out alright, while Xander insisted on taking every opportunity to say something negative about Angelus and vampires in general. She was sure he felt threatened by Spikes new role, but she really didn’t have the strength left to care. Giles seemed to be constantly watching her, as if waiting for her to stand up and declare she was ready to kill her first love, the first person she had been intimate with. The vampire who, had it not been for her, wouldn’t not be running around sans soul.
“Pet? Are you still there?”
She shook herself out of her inner musings when she realized he was speaking to her again. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I said it will be a few days before I can slip out again. With all the minions running around and carting stuff out, I can’t take a chance of them seeing me leave or they might come in to move my stuff and notice me gone.”
“Oh okay,” she replied trying to hide her disappointment, but knowing he always read her too well.
“Don’t worry kitten, maybe I can come around soon to tuck you in bed nice and tight.” His chuckle was the last thing she heard before the dial tone sounded loud in her ear.
She dropped the phone on the cradle as she brought her head heavily on the library counter, moaning when it hit with more force than she intended.
*****
From his vantage point, Spike could see both of the figures arguing in hallway. Their loud voices rang through the corridor, but neither of them was making much sense. He had seen Angelus leaving the factory as he was sneaking out. He had paused indecisively before following him at a safe distance.
The brunette never strayed from his path. His determination to get wherever it was he was going worked in the younger vamps favor. He was sure that if the poof hadn’t been so distracted, he would have been discovered.
When they stopped at the school the blond vampire hadn’t been surprised about the wasps circling the building. One of the minions had laughed about the events that had caused the evacuation of the school. He was surprised, however, when the stinging buggers had parted to allow the great git entrance. The blond had snorted in disgust and followed as close behind as he dared. That’s all I need, he thought. The poof running around saying he’s the bloody Moses of the demon world.
Spike was shaken from his musing’s when he heard Buffy yell, “don’t walk away from me...bitch!” Looking up, he could see she had drawn a gun. What the buggering hell is going on around here?
They ran down the hallway away from him and he followed cautiously, not wanting to blow his cover this late in the game. He could see that Angelus had stopped next to the balcony. He could hear him trying to reason with the little blond, but Spike had a feeling it wasn’t them in the drivers seats.
Buffy started screaming again and Spike decided, cover or not, something had to be done. He moved forward only to stop in shock when the gun fired. He watched Angelus topple over the railing, cringing when he heard him land on the floor below. He slid gingerly around the slayer, not wanting to startle her and chance getting shot, and glanced down at the base of the stairs. There next to the last step lay Angelus.
He turned to find the slayer gone and followed her scent into the music room just as she was turning on a record, the gun still clutched in her hand.
“Buffy?” he called softly. “Kitten?”
He caught the signature of his grandsire moving closer and slipped back into the room behind a cabinet. He hoped that whatever had the poof’s body was still in control, or else he’d be found out for sure.
Spike was forced to watch as the two shared a tender moment, complete with heartbreakingly sappy music playing in the background. He turned his head away in disgust as they kissed, clinging tightly to each other. He swung around in time to see the light show that swirled above their heads and quickly disappeared.
He waited anxiously to see what would happen next. At the slightest hint that the slayer was in trouble, he would step in. He hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary. He had worked too hard to conceal his regained ability to walk and his subsequent alliance with the slayer. It would be a shame to have to give up the plan now, but a dead slayer would be of no use to him.
The blonde vampire pushed down the feelings of remorse that he felt for the young girl. He was developing feelings for the chit that no self respecting vampire should ever feel for a slayer. He had tried his best to ignore the longings he felt to be near her, the intense need to comfort her in her misery. He would fulfill his end of the bargain, grab Dru, and get the hell out of Dodge before things got any worse.
Hatred swelled swift and fierce within him as he watched the bastard push her away before growling and storming off. Angelus must have been very distracted not to notice him in the room, but Spike guessed that spirit possession might do that to a bloke. He was no doubt on his way back to Dru to work off his frustrations; it had become the git’s favorite new pastime.
She stood there in shock, tears streaming down her face. Spike wanted nothing more than to grab the dark vampire and tear his head off for hurting the girl once again, but she was in no shape to offer any assistance and he knew he was still no match for Angelus when he had been existing on bagged blood to heal his wounded body.
He waited until he was sure the other vampire had left before stepping away from the cabinet. “Are you alright, pet?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice, “H-how long have you been here?” she asked sniffling as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“Long enough. That was some show the two of you put on." Moving slowly so as not to startle her further, he rested his hands on her upper arms and rubbed softly. "Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” she answered harshly.
He dropped his hands immediately and backed away a step. “Oh, okay. Sorry”
Shooting him an incredulous look, she cried out, “no, I’m not okay! I am so far from okay; it might as well be on another planet.”
“Bloody hell, Slayer, I’m just trying to help. Don’t take your anger at the poof out on me.”
“Well, what if I don’t want your help?”
“You know what? Fine! I don’t need this.” He stormed to the doors only to be stopped by a single word.
“Don’t.” she spoke quietly and the vampire was sure without his enhanced hearing he would have missed it. “Please, don’t go.”
He turned his head to look back at her defeated form. Her head was lowered and her arms crossed, wrapping around her body as if to hold herself together. He growled inwardly. Bloody ponce. Just give it up, you know you’re gonna go back. His shoulders dropped in defeat and he walked back to stand in front of her once more.
“Why am I staying again?”
“Because you like being around someone more pathetic than yourself?” she asked, trying to hide her hurt with mockery.
Sighing heavily he grabbed two chairs and turned them around, pushing one close to her before settling in the other. “You’re not pathetic, pet. Angelus is just a nasty piece of work who likes getting off on others pain.”
“Just for a second, I thought he was back, you know? He was kissing me and just for a second, I thought this was all just a nightmare. Then he looked at me and his eyes—” she paused to shudder. “His eyes were so filled with hate. I’ve never had anyone look at me that way before.”
“It’s because he felt it, too. What you felt with the spirits, I didn’t catch it all, but I caught enough to know their story didn’t end with happily ever after. The emotions and the love, even though it ended horribly, were still there and he got to feel that first hand. I imagine it made him feel a bit like he had a soul again. You can bet he was more disgusted with that than he was about you and the kissing.”
She gave him an assessing look, trying to gauge if he was being sincere. “Are you just saying that because you really believe it, or are you just trying to make me feel better?”
Giving her a small grin, he replied, “depends. Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, a little.” She couldn’t resist his that smile or the cute tilt of his head that accompanied it and found herself returning it.
Spike chuckled. “Then I’d have to say both.” His eyes crinkled in the corners as his smile grew and she couldn’t help but notice how young and attractive he was. Of course, she had been aware of that even when he was trying to kill her.
“How old were you when you were turned?” she asked abruptly.
“Twenty-seven. Why do you ask?”
“You seem much younger when you smile like that.”
“Would it get me a stake to the heart to say you do, too? You carry the world on your shoulders most of the time, Buffy. You need to let some of that go once in a while and realize that you can’t do it all. You need to think more about what you do accomplish than what you don’t. You’ll be a much happier person.” He noticed her frowning once again. “What’s wrong?”
“You called me Buffy.”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t call me that very often. It sounds different when you say it.”
“Different how?”
Oh, God, that head tilt again, and doesn’t he look so yummy when he does that, Buffy thought, her heart jolting pleasantly.
“Just…different.” She blushed under his scrutiny, “Sorry, it’s just been a fairly wiggy night and I’m still a little disoriented. It’s probably the vertigo talking.”
“Come on, kitten; I’ll walk you home. I’m sure Angelus is locked away scrubbing all the emotional cooties off right about now. It’ll take a while since he has to get through the ego layer first.”
“Thank you, for what you said, it really helped.” She was embarrassed when her eyes filled with tears once more, spilling out onto her cheeks. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m just a big baby. I just can’t seem to stop being all weepy girl tonight.”
He felt for her, knowing the emotional roller coaster that she had to have experienced through the ghostly encounter must have been horrible on top of her already tattered heart. Her tears moved him and before he realized what he had done, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest and stroking her hair in a soothing rhythm.
Spike’s unexpected gesture of comfort caused an overwhelming wave of grief to flow out. Her great sobs and rush of tears soaked the front of his shirt and still he stroked her hair and whispered words of reassurance and sympathy in her ear.
You’ll get through this. You’ll survive this heartbreak. You’re strong. You will not let this break you. His soft words went on and on, causing a feeling of warmth to spark inside, a feeling that had been nearly snuffed out so many weeks before. Her sobs quieted and her tears slowed.
Buffy raised her head, intending to give him a smile of thanks, but she was instantly mesmerized by the emotion and caring in his clear blue eyes. Slowly moving as one, they closed the gap between them, their lips brushing softly together in a tentative caress.
She shivered as his tongue swept across her lips, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth to accept him and the kiss deepened as he pulled her body impossibly closer, his hard erection pressing against her.
She brought her hand up to tangle in his slicked back hair, feeling the gelled down curls soften under her probing fingers. His hands lowered to her waist, his fingers clutching so hard they were sure to leave bruises.
Both groaned, fighting a sense of loss when they separated and rested their foreheads together while they struggled for a semblance of control. Finally, Buffy she thought she might be able to pull off an intelligent statement.
“What are we doing?” she gasped.
Okay, maybe not.
“Thought that was obvious, kitten.” He began to rub his hands in small circles at the curve of her ass, not showing any desire to move away.
She bit back the moan of pleasure that his skilled hands brought forth. “I mean…I know what we’re doing, but why are we doing it?” Closing her eyes she tilted her head to the side, lost in the feel of his strong embrace.
The vampire couldn’t resist the unspoken invitation and lowered his head to nibble at her neck, sucking softly before using his tongue to trace along her pulse. He nipped slightly, pleased when she shuddered but didn’t pull away.
“I don’t know. You just felt so good in my arms, I couldn’t resist. I had to taste you,” he murmured his lips still sliding along her skin.
Buffy shivered; the longing behind the words more intense than she had ever heard. Never, even with all her heavy petting with Angel, had she heard such need. It made her feel sexy and wanton. It made her feel like a woman instead of the inexperienced girl that the brooding vamp had always made her feel like. All in all, it was a heady experience.
“B-but you love Drusilla.” She wanted to kick herself for speaking when she felt him pull away. His eyes burned her with his look, his desire, his need, all lay bare in his gaze.
“And you still love Angel,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Right, I still love Angel,” she answered hoping her voice sounded more assured to him than it did to her.
Spike reached out brush her hair back, dragging his thumb along the side of her face and across her swollen lips. “Guess we should be heading out then.”
She moaned as his digit ran along her sensitive skin. “Yeah, um, like you said; Angelus is busy. I’m feeling better now, so you don’t need to walk me home. We shouldn’t take the chance on being seen together.” She fought back the urge to step back into his arms and let the world melt away with his kisses.
“Are you sure?” He was hesitant to leave her, his reasoning having very little to do with her safety.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Thank you for, you know, the comfort and stuff.” She blushed under his smirky grin.
“My pleasure, pet,” he chuckled grabbing her hand and walking toward the door.
They walked out of the room slowly, both reluctant to part ways. Stopping when they reached the stairs they stared at each other for a long moment before he raised her hand to his mouth, his lips moving in an unhurried caress.
“So I guess I’ll see you when I see you then?” he asked, knowing that they had changed something that night with their kisses. Deep down, he knew that this night had changed something monumental, but he was unsure how it would play out in the upcoming confrontation.
“Yeah, if you get some news or anything you can call, o-or come by, whatever works best.” She squeezed his hand tightly before taking a step back. Her chest tightened when he began his descent down the steps. She thought her heart would stop when he paused on the middle landing to look back up at her.
“By the way, I know what the great git told you. The bit about not being able to hold the attentions of a man? I just want you to know its all complete bollocks. You’re bloody amazing, Summers.” The vampire grinned at her flushed but pleased face and started down the stairs once again.
Buffy leaned on the railing. “Hey Spike,” she called. When he turned back, she gave him her own version of his cocky grin. “You might want to take care of that before you go back.” Flicking her hand in his direction, she watched as he looked down at where her finger was pointed at his crotch. “You don’t want Angelus to think you’re too happy to see him.”
She laughed when she heard his muffled ‘bloody hell’ as he stumbled down the last few steps and out of sight.
I finally got the last word! she thought gleefully.
TBC...
Let me know what you think. | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 6 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks as always to the wonderful Tam, she's awesome!!
Chapter 6 ~ Go Fish (some dialogue taken from the episode)
“So then I said, ‘Any demons with high cholesterol’?” Buffy grinned at the blond vampire perched on the library table when he gave a husky chuckle.
“Bet the watcher didn’t find that too amusing.” Spike could imagine the watchers frustration at having someone like Buffy as his slayer. Her quick wit and ditzy schoolgirl routine must drive the stoic Englishman around the bend.
“No, I only got a dirty look, but you’re old and British and you got it,” she said pouting.
“Hey now! Watch it missy!” he exclaimed wagging his index finger at her like he was scolding a child.
He had shown up to finalize their plans to raid the mansion, with him as their inside vamp. The conversation had started out a little awkward after their kiss the week before. It was the first time they had seen each other since then because Angelus seemed to be keeping a closer eye on his incapacitated grandchilde these days. Spike had called Giles on two occasions to inform them of Angelus’ movements, but had not contacted the slayer herself.
She was explaining their current situation with the swim team and had him laughing out loud as she described Xander’s aquatic debut. “We searched the sewers, but it was a bust.”
“So that’s what that smell is,” he teased.
She glared playfully. “Jerk.”
“Where’s the watcher now?” Spike tried telling himself that he wasn’t nervous being alone with the slayer and the fact that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off her lips was nothing to worry about.
“Oh, he went to change clothes. He’s all stiff upper lippy until he gets a little goop on his shoe and then he’s like Cordelia at a discount store with lots of crying and screaming in terror.” She whirled around when a sudden throat clearing sounded behind her.
“Thank you for your analysis, Buffy. I can assure you I kept the crying to a minimum.” Giles glared at her while cleaning his glasses. “Good evening, Spike. Did you have something new to report?”
She turned back around to scowl at the smirking vampire. “You could have told me he was there!” she hissed.
“But that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun, pet!” He chucked her under the chin before answering Giles’ query. “No watcher, just wanted to see about planning our final move, but it appears you have your hands full at the moment.”
The library doors burst open as the rest of the scoobies plus Cordelia entered, rushing toward the table. Xander was obviously freaked since he didn’t even bother giving Spike a second glance. “We have a problem. Strike that. We have a huge problem.”
“What’s the problem?”
Cordelia huffed before throwing herself in the nearest chair. “Xander’s one step away from ending up in a can of tuna. Ugh, God must hate me,” she cried dropping her head back dramatically.
“Huh? When did this become about you?” Xander shot her an incredulous look.
“Hello, I’m dating a fish!”
“I’m about to be a fish!”
Buffy stepped between the arguing couple. “Okay, calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
Xander’s eyes glazed over as he recalled the reason he was panicked in the first place. “The steam room. That’s where they’re getting the steroids; it’s in the steam.”
“They’re absorbing it into their bodies? It must be very potent.” Giles removed his glasses, his mind working on possible solutions.
The brunettes apprehension continued to rise. “Not they. We. Me! We have to find an antidote, don't you think? The clock is ticking, people!” he cried ignoring Spikes snort of laughter.
The slayer rolled her eyes. “I wouldn't break out the tartar sauce just yet. I mean, it's not like you were exposed more than once…twice?”
“Three times a Fish Guy,” he said hugging his arms around himself.
Buffy moved to whisper to Giles and Willow, “I think we'd better find the rest of the swim team and lock them up before they get in touch with their inner halibut.”
“Yes. We also need to know exactly what's in this, this steroid gas so that the hospital's toxicology lab can develop an antidote.” Giles slid his glasses back on and started for the door.
Buffy looked around the room. “Sounds good, I think I'm gonna go have a little talk with our coach. Somehow, I doubt all he's been giving these boys is inspiration.”
“What me to come with, luv?” Spike asked, sliding off the table to stand next to her.
“Sure, but you should probably stay out of sight. I don’t think he’ll do much talking if you’re glowering over my shoulder.” She ignored the traitorous little voice inside that whispered that time alone together was the last thing they needed.
*****
She was shocked when he pulled the gun on her and wondered if this was some kind of karma payback for shooting Angelus the week before. Buffy moved slowly, weighing her options when a voice sounded near the door. “Don’t think so, mate.” The blond vampire grabbed the coach’s arm holding the gun and wrenched it away from him.
She eyed her rescuer in astonishment. She had forgotten about him in her argument with the insane coach. She was thankful now that he had accompanied her.
He nodded briefly before stepping back, knowing she wouldn’t want his help now that she was strong enough to fight her own battles.
Coach Marin looked back and forth between the blondes that blocked his escape before deciding the girl would be the easiest target. He tried to rush her, counting on his larger size to move her quickly out of the way. He was surprised when her arm swung out, catching his in the throat and sending him down. He struggled to his feet, watching her warily while rubbing his bruised collarbone.
“Got out of my way,” he snarled hoping to intimidate her into moving. He was a legend in this school and no snot-nosed kid was gonna take it all away from him now.
The slayer pretended to consider his request before stating calmly, “um, how about…no.”
The coach’s anger replaced common sense as he barreled towards her once more, his force driving her back several feet.
Buffy struggled against him, his bulky frame making a chance of subduing him tricky at best. From the corner of her eye she saw Spike watching the fight closely. Any another time she would have found his observation worrisome, but now it only gave her a sense of relief.
She backed away, trying to get enough room to land a kick when she felt the floor slipping from beneath her feet. The grating they had been standing on was sliding away due to their movements. Buffy scrambled back, her feet finding purchase along the edge. As the coach fell into the hole, he reached out grasping in the air. He latched on to her ankle as he descended, causing her to slip in after him. She barely managed to seize the edge of the hole and was thankful when his fingers lost their grip on her.
A strong hand reached down and grabbed her wrist, hauling her to safety. She sat on the edge with her feet dangling, looking down as the coach fought against his own creations. She ducked her head into the vampires shoulder when the sight became too gruesome. Seeking comfort in his strong embrace, Buffy wondered how the events would have turned out if he hadn’t tagged along.
She lifted her head, her only intention to thank him for his help, but was lost as soon as her eyes met the burning intensity of his gaze. They tried to fight it, but all thought of resistance was lost when each could see their desire reflected back. Their lips touched and the world was swept away once more.
The rush of adrenaline from the fight quickly turned into something more primal. His mouth was soft yet demanding and his hands tangled in her hair as he pulled her closer. Buffy felt lightheaded, drunk from his seductive kisses and moans of pleasure.
Breaking away breathlessly, she pressed her forehead to his as she panted, “we’re doing it again.”
Bewildered, lust filled eyes gazed deeply into hers. “Doing what again?”
“That thing we’re not supposed to be doing.”
“Why was that again?”
Buffy paused to enjoy the sensation of being in his arms just a tiny bit longer before replying, “Angel. Dru.”
“Oh, right.” Spike released her slowly, his eyes and body screaming his reluctance.
She tried to act casual as she stood and brushed herself off, but her body was trembling with frustration. “So, I guess we need to go let Giles know about Coach Marin and try to figure out what we’re gonna do about the rest of the swim team.”
The walk back to the library was made in silence, neither knowing what to say to make sense of their unexpected attraction. It was crazy. It was insane. It was burning hot and animalistic. Buffy bit back a groan when her thoughts turned on the porntastic freeway once more. Bad Buffy! Spike’s frequent knowing glances told her he must have sensed her renewed arousal, but he refrained from commenting, for which she was thankful.
When they arrived back in the library and explained what happened, she had to scold the blonde vamp several times for teasing the locked up swim team, all the while making sure to keep as much distance between them as possible.
Buffy hated that he smirked every time she moved away when he got too close. Damned cocky vampire!
All too soon, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia called it a night, leaving her with Giles, Spike, and what was left of the swim team to wait for the lab techs to finish their search. She had moved up into the stacks to get away from the leering looks of the still hormonal boys.
Of course this led exactly to what she was attempting to avoid. She shivered as she felt Spike step up close behind her, his voice a cool whisper in her ear. “Gonna head out, kitten. Need to get back before I’m missed, but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
“Um, bye,” she said, swallowing hard.
His husky laugh caused goose bumps to erupt along her neck and arms. “I’ll be in touch later about storming Angelus’ palace.”
Her sigh of relief that he was leaving without tormenting her further quickly turned into a harsh gasp of want when he leaned into her purposely. His obvious erection pushed against her backside, eliciting a ragged moan from her before he pulled away and disappeared between the bookcases.
It took a few moments to compose herself before returning to the library table to wait with her watcher. She was reluctant to leave Giles alone in case Angelus decided to attack without warning.
“Buffy, all you alright?” The watchers worried tone shook her out of her dazed musings.
“Yeah, just a little shaken up by all the excitement. It’s not everyday you get a gun pulled on you.”
“Yes, I daresay that would be a frightening experience.” He still looked concerned as he sat down beside her.
“Lucky for me Spike was there, or things might have turned pretty ugly.”
“Yes, it seems he’s been quite the asset these last few weeks,” he agreed as he contemplated the unusual vampire’s behavior.
“Hmm? Yes, he’s got quite an ass.” The slayer’s face turned an unbecoming shade of red when she realized what she had said. “I mean; he’s been quite the asset. Yes, very assety with the helpfulness and stuff.”
Giles merely lifted an eyebrow at her babbling.
“You know what? I think I’ll study while we wait. You know what they say; ‘a mind’s a terrible thing to waste’.” She grabbed the first book on the table, not knowing or caring about the title or subject, just needing something to get her away from her watchers penetrating look.
Spike watched Buffy from the upper window as she hid in her book. He couldn’t say what it was about the chit that drove him to distraction and had since the first time he saw her, but he was determined that if she landed in his arms again, he was going to make sure she didn’t run away before he had his fill of her.
TBC...
Hope you liked it. | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 7 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks to Tam for being an awesome beta!! and thanks to everyone for the wonderful support for this fic! You guys are awesome! *sniff* gonna go now before i get all weepy, lol
Chapter 7 ~ Becoming 1 (some dialogue taken from the epi)
Buffy slammed out of her watchers house, wondering when the world had completely turned upside down. She had no clue where she was going, all she knew was that she had to do something to make things right. She cut though the park, counting on the darkness to hide her from watching eyes.
She watched nervously as a police car approached. Keeping her head down, she continued to walk, hoping they didn’t notice her. Luck was obviously not on her side as the lights start to flash and the siren sounded briefly. The car pulled to the side and stopped. She ignored it all as she walked past, her face staring at the sidewalk. The officer stepped out, slamming his door closed as he drew his gun and shouted, “hold it right there!”
Buffy turned to face the policeman, shocked when she saw the gun in his hand.
“Put your hands on your head! Do it,” he yelled when she didn’t respond. The frightened slayer stared at the gun and began to raise her hands.
She watched in horrified fascination as the gun was kicked out of the officer's hands. The first kick was quickly followed by another to the mans face and then to the shins before he was thrown violently back onto the hood of his car where he lay unmoving. Only then did she look into the glittering topaz eyes of her savior. Shock turned to tears at the sight of his familiar face.
Spike.
“Hello, cutie.” He smiled sadly when she rushed to him and threw herself into his arms.
Once again, Buffy found herself crying out her tears on his shoulder. Through her sobs she haltingly told him the basics of that last few days; Willow deciding she was prepared to do the soul restoring spell and the fight that followed, Kendra showing up, and the demon Whistler with his cryptic messages. She cried through the telling of finding Kendra dead, Willow still being in the hospital, and not knowing what happened to Giles.
Spike brushed back her hair and wiped her tears away. “Angelus has your watcher, pet. He’s safe for now, because he has information the poof wants, but that doesn’t mean he won’t hurt him a bit. I wanted to warn you, but Angelus was having me watched pretty close. The only reason I got away tonight was because he’s got a new toy to play with.”
“Oh my God, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t fallen for his stupid trap none of this would have happened.” She tried to pull away from the vampire in her distress, becoming frantic in her struggle to get free.
“Buffy, stop,” he yelled, shaking her slightly to get her attention. “You couldn’t have stopped it. All that would have happened would be that you’d be lying dead on that floor, too, but you’re not. You’re here and we will get your watcher back. We’ll make Angelus pay for what he’s done. I promise.”
“And Drusilla? She’s the one that killed Kendra. What happens there?” She couldn’t get the anger and hatred out of her voice. She knew she was placing him in an impossible position, one that went directly against their earlier agreement, but that was before the crazy ho had killed her sister slayer.
“You leave Dru to me. You just worry about the poof,” he assured her.
Shaking her head, she argued, “I can’t just let her walk away, Spike.”
“Buffy, I don’t know how much time your watcher has left before Angelus decides he’s got what he wants. They had him tied up when I left, but the party was about to begin. We don’t have time to argue about Dru. She won’t be a threat when you make your move. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can promise you.” He stared her down, unwavering in his decision. He had made many concessions in his deal with the slayer, but on this he would not budge.
She could see in his eyes that he was determined and no amount of fighting would change his mind, but the slayer promised herself if she got a clear shot at the dark haired vampiress, she was taking her out. She owed it to Kendra.
Spike looked around the area nervously, “We need to take this indoors, pet. Too many eyes in the night and we’re too close to screw up now.” Taking her by the arm he led the way down the street, only speaking to ask where they could talk that was safe. When she indicated her home was the safest place, he let her take the lead, his eyes and ears attune to the surrounding darkness.
*****
They had just entered her yard when her mother pulled up in the drive, the car barely stopped before the door was open and she was rushing toward them.
“Buffy, where have you been? Are you okay? The police were here! I've been looking for you.” The older Summers’ eyes darted back and forth between her daughter and her companion. Joyce prayed that her daughter hadn’t gotten mixed in with a bad crowd again, but she was unable to justify her behavior any other way.
“Mom, let's…let's go inside, and I can explain.” The slayer noticed Spikes concerned look as he scanned the area around her house.
“Who is this man?” Turning to the vampire she demanded, “Who are you?”
“Mom, this is-” she paused, unsure what to tell her mother. She was greatly relieved when he stepped forward.
“My name’s William, Mrs. Summers,” he informed her, holding his hand out in greeting. “Buffy and I have been working on a project together.” He knew from they’re talks that the older woman had no clue what her daughter did with her nights.
Her deeply ingrained manners forced her to respond, “Hello, William. Buffy, some terrible things have happened. Where were you tonight?”
“Why don't we go inside, a and we can talk about this.” She tried to usher her mother in as quickly as possible, but she saw Spike stiffen beside her, she twisted around to see a snarling vampire rushing across the porch at them.
Pushing Buffy and Spike aside, he jumped down the steps at Joyce. The older woman stumbled away from the snarling figure and watched in horror as her daughter grabbed him from behind. Buffy swung him around to face ‘William’, who landed several brutal punches. The disfigured man spun around with the last blow and staggered towards her daughter, who thrust something into his chest. Joyce cried out in disbelief as the creature dissolved right before her shocked eyes.
Spike stepped down from the porch, looking at the pile of ashes. “One of Angel's boys.”
“Do you think he was watching me or you?” she asked, concerned that his cover might have been blown.
“Don’t know, kitten, but it doesn’t matter now. He won't get a chance to tattle on us and I don’t sense anyone else around.”
“Buffy... what... is going on?”
She could tell her mother’s patience had been stretched to the breaking point and that the scene she had just witnessed had her questioning her own sanity.
Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, silently communicating. She finally sighed and looked at her mother, searching her eyes and hoping against hope for understanding. “Mom...I'm a Vampire Slayer.”
She watched as her mother slowly blinked her eyes before what her daughter had said sank in. The disbelief and horror were expected, but hurt nonetheless.
*****
The silence was deafening.
Spike looked around the living room, curious about where the slayer lived. It was everything he imagined it would be; a clean, neat, suburban home.
Joyce looked over at the blond vampire with a small spark of recognition on her face. “Have we met?”
Spike turns to look at her “Yeah, briefly. Your daughter, she’s a good girl, you should be real proud of her. She’s an amazing person.” He cursed his wayward mouth silently, grateful when he saw the slayer returning from the kitchen.
Buffy walked into the room with her arms, almost smiling as the both of them shot nervously to their feet.
In spite of that ghost of a smile, Spike could see the strain in her eyes, “Is Red alright?”
“Yeah, but Dru and her raiding party did a lot of damage. Willow’s awake, but they think she has a concussion. Miss Calendar was at home at the time. She’s at the hospital now, but she’s worried about Giles. She got a backup orb from a local dealer a few weeks ago. She wants to try the spell tonight, but I’m just worried that she’ll be too distracted to do it right.”
“So you didn't kill that girl,” Joyce breathed in relief, trying to make sense of their conversation.
“Of course not,” the slayer cried out, upset that her mother would be so quick to believe the worst of her.
Joyce’s head swam with all that had happened and all she had seen. “Did she explode like that man out there?
“She was a Slayer, Mom.” Buffy was trying to be patient, knowing it was a lot to take in, but she was running out of time.
“Like what you are.”
Buffy nodded at her mother before turning back to the vampire beside her. “There’s a demon that showed up at Giles apartment, claiming that he was here to help. I’m going back to see what he has to say. Be ready for when I make my move.” Her eyes were dark and fathomless as she gazed up at him. “I’m counting on you to keep him safe.”
She closed her eyes when he brought his hand up to caress her cheek. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances. Keep your head down and your guard up.” He dropped his hand as she nodded her acceptance. “Don’t let him goad you into foolish mistakes. Stay safe, kitten.” He walked to the door, stopping when he heard her voice again.
“Please don’t let him die, Spike,” her voice was soft but her words seemed to ring out in the silence of the room.
“I’ll do my best, pet. And Joyce?” He paused, waiting until the woman turned his way before continuing. “Your daughter…she’s a real hero. You should real proud of her.”
*****
Buffy left her watchers apartment tightly clutching the coat covered sword. Between Kendra’s death, the fight with her mother, and the Whistler’s cryptic messages and half assed riddles, she felt ready to explode.
She wished she could take a breather, take a break and be able to have Spike reassure her again that they really could win this thing. When had her life become so weird that the first person she wanted to turn to for comfort was a soulless demon? She shook her head at the irony of having friendly relations with one soulless demon while they plotted out the demise of another.
She wondered about the possibility successfully performing the gypsy curse. She didn’t even know how she felt about that anymore. Sure, she had fought with Xander over the return of Angel’s soul, but not for the reason he thought. She felt such guilt over her part in releasing Angelus into the world, she couldn’t not try to help him if the means where there to do so. She was sure that Angel would want to have his soul returned even if the soulless version wanted nothing to do with it. She owed it to him to try, if for no other reason than she was half to blame.
She was halfway up Crawford Street when Xander barreled though the bushes. After trading his rock for a stake he asked nervously, “Are you sure we can trust Spike with this? What if it’s all just an elaborate trap?”
Rolling her eyes she replied sarcastically, “Xander, with as many opportunities as he’s had, don’t you think he would have tried something before now? You saw him help the kids at the hospital. Do you really think he would go though all that trouble just to set us up when he’s had all kinds of chances the last few weeks? Hell, he was alone with me at the hospital when I was so weak I could barely stand and he did nothing.”
Buffy knew her tone was harsh, but she couldn’t help herself. She was still miffed with Xander about the fight over Angel’s soul and his accusations about just wanting her boyfriend back. Not waiting for a reply, the slayer continued down the street toward the imposing mansion. Mouth a thin, determined line, she tossed the coat aside and gripped the hilt in her right fist. She looked like an avenging angel with the early morning light shining brightly around her.
It was a beautiful day for an apocalypse.
*****
She walked into the main foyer in time to see Angelus slicing his palm. Needing to distract them from the ritual and allow Xander to sneak in and find Giles, she decapitated the minion by the door with one deft swing of the sword. She smirked when the two dark vampires turned toward her. “Hello, lover.”
Angelus tired to adopt a bored attitude at her arrival, but she could see the nervous tick in his cheek. He and Angel might be totally different on the evil spectrum, but they both used many of the same mannerisms and that telltale little movement showed he wasn’t as confident as he appeared. “I don't have time for you.”
The slayers smile was a stark contrast to her threatening words. “You don't have a lot of time left.”
“Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some deep odds here. Do you really think you can take us all on?” he sneered as several minions moved closer to the petite blond, hoping to jump her all at once.
“No. I don't.”
She watched, her detached expression giving nothing away as Spike rose from his wheelchair and landed the first blow. At that same moment, she lashed out with the sword at the advancing minions, causing them to split up and making it easier to deal with them one on one.
From across the room she heard the blond vampire’s words as he continued to smash the tire iron into the form sprawled out on the floor. With every blow, Spike called out the wrongs that had been committed by the older vamp. Buffy couldn’t help but smile when she heard her name shouted as loud as the rest.
As the dust from another minion settled, she caught a flash of movement. She watched helplessly as Drusilla tackled the bleached blond. She is so going down, she promised herself before another vampire stepped up to take the place of the last one dusted and the fight continued.
*****
Spike struggled to subdue his sire. She fought him like a wild thing, clawing and ripping everything she could reach with her sharpened nails.
Drusilla snarled as she faced him. “I see her, floating all around you. Disgusting light, you burn for her and it sickens me.” She lashed out, clawing at his face and leaving four bleeding scratches along his cheek. “Do you think she longed for anyone other than Daddy? She didn’t want you, my Spike. She wanted a knight- just like Princess- for when Daddy wasn’t there. She was never yours and she never will be,” she hissed in rage.
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, pet. I did it for you, so we could be together again,” he shouted in frustration.
She reeled back from his in disgust, “Lies! You yearned for her light, dreamed of her, ached for her. She’s there,” she screeched pointing at his chest. “Burning away, shoving Princess out!” she screamed the last. She assailed him like the mad vampire she was, fangs and claws twisting and biting seemingly everywhere at once.
Spike tried to defend himself, but found himself quickly losing ground. He twisted away only to receive a vicious blow to the back. Roaring in anger, he turned on her. Finally, he had her backed against the wall, pressing her hard against it.
Drusilla laughed insanely. “She’ll never be yours, William, just as I never was.”
He searched her eyes; even through her madness he could see the truth. She had never been his even when he had her. Spike gazed upon the face that held a century of lies and silently said goodbye.
He stood frozen long after her body turned to dust.
*****
Buffy finished off the last minion in time to see Angelus pull the sword from Acathla. They squared off against each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.
“You almost made it, Buff,” Angel mocked, oozing confidence in his victory.
She stared him down, determined that he wouldn’t let him rile her. “It's not over yet.” She kept repeating Spike’s words over and over, No foolish mistakes.
“My boy Acathla here is about to wake up. You're going to Hell.”
The Slayer stared at him dispassionately, knowing she didn’t have the time to wait him out. “Save me a seat.” She struck out hard causing him to move back swiftly. They were evenly matched, meeting each others blows and progressing quickly around the room in a flurry of moves.
She ignored his taunts as he tried to throw her off, only stumbling when he asked what she had offered his errant grandchilde as payment for his betrayal. He laughed and she was sure her guilt over their kisses and the lusty thoughts that followed must have shown on her face.
Both gained and lost the upper hand, until finally Angel knelt before her, clutching his bleeding hand. She raised the sword to land the killing blow, only to stop short when his eyes filled with light and he gasped in pain.
Looking at her though tearing eyes, he whispered softly, “Buffy? What's going on?” He sobbed softly as the soul filled him once more, washing him in guilt.
Buffy eyed him warily, unsure if it was just a trick, or if her Angel was truly back.
“Where are we? I-I don't remember.” He looked around apprehensively for a moment, unwilling to take his eyes off of her for long.
Finally, it sank in that the curse had worked. She lowered her sword slowly before asking tentatively, “Angel?”
“What’s going on? Everything's so muddled. I...” he broke off when she laid a finger gently on his lips. Acathla give a low rumble and his stone face contorted, jaws gaping to reveal a vortex growing steadily behind the newly re-souled vampire.
With a sudden epiphany Buffy realize that her misgivings had no place here. Her feelings toward Angel no longer mattered in the drama being played out. The spell, the soul, had come too late to save him.
She couldn’t let him go with words of regret or anger, knowing it wouldn’t serve any good purpose. She knew she had loved him, even if the past weeks had taken their toll on that love. Trembling, she removed her fingers from his lips and whispered softly, “I love you.”
Angel’s eyes shone with tears as he replied, “I love you.”
She touched his lips again. “Close your eyes.”
Buffy gently pressed her lips to his, saying goodbye without words. Stepping back, she drew back her sword and thrust it deep into his chest. His eyes flew open wide in shock and pain as he reached for her, confused when she backed away.
“Buffy,” he whispered. Her name was the final word on his lips as he exited their world and was sucked into the swirling vortex that was Acathla.
Dropping her weapon, she stared at the now dormant statue, unable to tear her eyes away. | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 8 | | | | - - - abc | | | Beta'd by the wonderful Tam!
And you might recongnize the first part here, it's what started out the fic. That little piece is what this whole story started from, lol. Thanks to everyone who's reviwed!
Chapter 8 ~ Becoming 2
Love.
It’s such a funny little word. It can mean so many different things. Friendship. Affection. Attraction. It can be an endearment or a way to describe your emotions.
Or love can mean pain. Gut-wrenching, soul-devouring pain.
The kind of pain that one feels when they’re forced to watch as their first love dies before their eyes. The kind of pain that comes from being the one that lands the killing blow.
The light faded, the vortex closed, and there was silence.
*~*~*
There was a soft scrape of movement behind her, but she didn’t bother turning to look. She already knew who it was. The gentle touch on her shoulder is all that’s needed to bring the tears.
Turning quickly, she buried her head in his chest, crying her heart out onto his shirt. He arms wrapped tightly around her. His soft, “you did what you had to do,” had the tears flowing even faster.
Sometimes love even shines through the pain.
She didn’t want to leave the comfort of his arms. “Oh God, Spike he was-” her voice broke, her entire body sagging under the strain of the last months.
“I know, luv. I heard.” The vampire stroked her hair as he made little comforting noises. He could feel her pain as if it was his own.
“I didn’t want to. I was so ready to take out Angelus, but it wasn‘t him I killed,” she cried. Her arms held him so tight he would have been crushed had he been human.
“Shh, now. I know, Buffy. I’ve got you kitten. It’ll be okay. Not right away, but eventually it will get better; I promise you.”
“Don’t let me go,” she clutched at his shirt, afraid he would reject her even now. Her eyes begged for understanding. “God, I feel like I haven’t been happy in forever, like I’m just supposed to sit here and wait for the next apocalypse to take my mind off how horrible my life is.”
Spike was drowning in her tears and weighted down by her sorrow. He wished that he could steal her pain, lessen the grief of having to send her first love to hell. He cursed the meddling teacher and the band of do-gooders that thought the best way to deal with the situation was to muck about in the dark magic’s that were the whole cause of the situation in the first place. Sending Angelus to hell would have been bad enough, but to stuff the soul back in him just in time to send him on his way to eternal torment? Well, that had to be just pure torture.
“Can we just go somewhere…anywhere?” she pleaded tearfully. “Please, Spike, take me away from here.”
Unable to do anything but comply with her wishes, he gave in and crushed her mouth to his. The kiss was brief but passionate, hinting at the fires that had lain too long dormant in both of them.
He broke away. “Let‘s go, luv,” he whispered to the devastated girl cradled in his arms. Kissing her softly on the forehead and tucking her under his arm, he led her to the garage where the Desoto was stored.
Spike looked at the ashes that were scattered along the far wall and hoped that his Sire’s tortured mind had finally found relief. Perhaps whatever God or Powers that waited beyond knew her for the broken little girl she was, and not the vicious monster Angelus had created. Maybe they had seen her as the child ready to devote her life and love to the Lord Almighty that she had been prior to the bastard driving her insane, before finally sinking in his fangs and creating a stranglehold on her that could not be broken even in her final moments.
He held the car door open as Buffy slid inside, smiling as he watched her scoot toward the middle even before he had the door shut. As he made his way around to the drivers’ side he thought about all the changes that had happened over the last few weeks.
Spike shook his head. Siding with the slayer, keeping her and her little friends safe, and helping to save the world. He would never have believed anyone if they had told him how this tale would be played out. He would have probably killed anyone who suggested such a thing, but here he was driving off into the sunset with his sworn enemy.
Spike felt her silent look as she pondered the closed garage door. With a grin, he gunned the engine and threw the car into gear. He delighted in her startled yelp as they shot forward, bursting through the flimsy wooden panels. He was still evil after all. Flinging his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her closer until her weary body rested alongside his.
He felt some of the tension drain from her slight form he drove through the streets of Sunnydale. It’s inhabits slept on, oblivious to the events that had taken place the night before that meant their continued existence, all thanks to the brave girl at his side.
They stopped at her house and he watched as she quickly climbed though her bedroom window. A few minutes later, a small bag flew out the window followed by a tree-scrambling slayer. Spike had to smile. He could tell she’d plenty of practice with that particular tree.
When she returned and he asked what destination she had in mind, his heart tugging painfully as she gave a mighty yawn and snuggled closer.
“Anywhere but here, Spike. Anywhere but here,” she replied as she drifted off, days and weeks of restless sleep finally catching up to her. She didn’t even notice as he mowed down the Welcome to Sunnydale sign, lost in her peaceful slumber.
They stopped at a motel after sunset. She had slept most of the way, stopping only once for a bathroom break and to grab some much needed food, since she couldn’t remember the last time she had actually eaten.
Spike paid for the room, resisting the urge to punch the leering clerk as his gaze moved from the car and the sleeping girl inside and back to the blond vampire. He settled for a low growl and a flash of golden eyes to cower the man.
Stomping his way back outside and around the car, he marveled at how just a few weeks ago he would have eaten the man instead of paying for a room and scaring him into pissing himself. He checked the number on the key ring, amused that it seemed to be the farthest away from the office as possible. Sliding in, he turned the ignition once again to move the car directly in front of their room.
“Come on, kitten. Time to wake up, we’re here.” He nudged his sleepy slayer gently.
“Huh? Where’s here?” she turned her eyes, still bruised and weary, to the vampire before taking in their surroundings with a sleepy gaze.
“Anywhere but here,” He stated, scooping her groggy body into his arms before kicking the door shut behind him.
She giggled as she clutched at his neck. “Please tell me you didn’t get the honeymoon suite.”
“Don’t think they have suites here, luv. It’s the first place I found when the sun went down enough to get out of the car,” he explained as he juggled her and the room key, trying to do both without dropping her.
Crossing over the threshold, he carried her over to the bed and laid her gently down. “It’s dark out. Did you want to get something to eat?”
She yawned and stretched her cramped limbs. “Not really, can we just rest a bit longer?” she asked tiredly.
“Sure, anything you want, kitten.” Spike pulled off his t-shirt and kicked off his boots before he crawled onto the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Buffy snuggled into his embrace, resting her head on his chest. Shyly, she raised her head to look in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re with me. I don’t think I could have made it through this without you,” she admitted before ducking her face into his shirt.
He kissed the top of her head. “Me neither, pet. Me neither,” he sighed before drifting off to sleep.
TBC... | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Chapter 9 | | | | - - - abc | | | Thanks to my wonderful beta Tam!
Chapter 8 ~ Becoming 2, part 2
Spike awoke to the feel of a soft, warm hand sliding down his bare chest that stopped only when it reached the covers at his waist. He sensed her eyes on him, checking for signs of waking and held himself still, anticipating what she would do next. They had danced around their attraction for weeks now and his body was practically humming with desire.
He felt her tentative fingers as they moved the sheet downward, toying with the top button he had undone to allow for a bit of comfort. Spike found that willing his body not to react was a losing battle. His arms ached to wrap around her, his lips throbbed in need to touch her skin, and his cock strained against the denim, screaming to be released. Still, he waited. He didn’t want to frighten her off and he damn sure didn’t want her exploration to end anytime soon, so he held off and waited for her next move.
His resolve was sorely tested when her hand eased beneath the sheet and traveled the length of his zipper, softly caressing his erection and cupping it gently before dragging lazy fingers back up his muscled abs.
She leaned in closer and he felt her hair brush across his chest. Her breath was hot against his ear as she whispered, “I know you’re awake, Spike.”
“Is that right? And how did you know I was awake, luv?” He opened one eye to see her smiling down at him.
“You stopped breathing, silly.”
“And just what would you have done if I didn’t wake up?”
“Hmm. Maybe something like…this,” she said, lowering her mouth and flicking his nipple with her tongue.
His gasp gave away his surprise at her action; with all their teasing he hadn’t expected her to actually make the first move. “You’re playing with fire, luv. You shouldn’t start something you’re not prepared to finish.”
“I’m prepared, Spike. I’ve very prepared. Just call me Preparedness Girl.”
“Right and the fact that you’re babbling like a scared virgin is showing how ready you are.” He gently lifted her hand from his chest and made as if to get out of the bed. He stopped when that same strong little hand wrapped around his bicep.
“I’m not scared, Spike. Maybe a little nervous, yes, but not scared. This has been building for weeks. Hell, since the first time I saw you, death threats and all. I’ve never been more sure of something in my life. I wasn’t even this sure with Angel. I want this…whatever it is, and if this is all we can have, then I don’t want to waste a second of it.”
“Buffy, I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “And I’m definitely not a replacement for the poof.”
“No regrets, Spike,” she assured cupping his cheek. “Absolutely no regrets for what we do here, I promise. As for replacing Angel, I don’t want you to think like that. You could never be anyone’s replacement, Spike. In fact, aside from the whole vampire thing, I don’t think anyone could be more different than the two of you.”
His jaw clenched, “I’ve been his replacement since I was turned. Just something to occupy her time while daddy was busy, and then later when he got the soul and left for good.” He wanted badly to pace but her hands on him stopped his movements. Only his fear of hurting her feelings kept him from jerking away from her touch.
“Don’t,” she replied heatedly. “I don’t compare you to him, so don’t you dare compare me to her. I’m not Drusilla, Spike. Is that why you want me, because you can’t have her?”
He was obviously horrified by her assumptions. “Wha? No! Of course not. I wanted you since the first time I saw you, dancing at the Bronze and driving all the little boys crazy.”
“And I want you, so why is it wrong?” Moving closer, she tried to reason with the blond vampire. “Even if Angel was still here, it wouldn’t have worked. There’s too much badness down that road to make me want to sail that ship again, and it wasn’t Angel kissage I’ve been dreaming about for weeks and-”
“Buffy, luv?” he chuckled softly. She really was adorable like this.
“What?” she asked, pouting because she thought he was laughing at her.
Spike grinned as he pulled her to him, “You’re babbling again, and what‘s this about you dreaming about me?”
She blushed brightly at her slip-up. “Well, I said I was nervous. It’s not everyday I find myself trying to proposition a man into my bed.”
“Since you put it that way, how can I resist?”
Tilting her head back to look into his eyes, she asked, “Spike? Can you just shut up and kiss me now?”
“I think I can do that.”
Their lips meet in a soft caress, gliding against each other and renewing memories of tastes and texture. Buffy slipped her arms around his neck, her fingers diving into his sleep tousled curls.
Spike growled when she nipped at his lower lip. Dropping back onto the bed, he dragged her with him until she was draped across his lap. The desire that he had tried so hard to suppress overflowed and he fought hard to keep control.
Breaking away from her mouth, his lips moved with deliberately slowness down her arched throat, suckling at her skin like a man starved. Leaving faint red line to show his trail from the hard pulling of his mouth, he reveled in the small marks that showed the world that- if only for a time- she belonged to him. He wanted to mark her as his, to make a permanent claim on her tiny body, but knew could never take advantage of her inexperience.
He didn’t know what her plans were. He knew she’d want to return to her home eventually, but had no clue what her thoughts about his place in her life where. He feared that she would turn him away after their brief encounter but his biggest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to leave, not after tonight.
When her shirt impeded his exploration, he grasped the hem and pulled it quickly over her head. Her pert breasts were framed in white lace with her hardened nipples straining against the fabric. His eyes roved her body greedily, measuring reality against fantasy and finding that fantasy was sorely lacking.
His prolonged stare was beginning to make her self conscious. Did he change his mind? Did he not find her desirable? Insecurity filled her and she moved to cross her arms to shield her body.
He caught her halfway, bringing her arms back down to her sides. His lust darkened eyes finally lifted to meet her embarrassed look as he expertly opened the front clasp of her bra and slid it from her shoulders. “No hiding. You’re bloody perfect, kitten.”
She ducked her head shyly. Her one night with Angel had done little to prepare her for tonight. Open appraisal and lustful whispers hadn’t been part of the part of that dark and disastrous night. It had been filled instead with bashful glances and awkward silences.
She was growing more anxious. She could feel the hardness of his cock beneath her ass and began to squirm slightly before he reached out cupping her chin and forcing her to look at him.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want, pet. We can go at your pace,” he assured her.
“I’m fine, just a little nervous. I want to do this, I want to be with you but I’ve only done this once before and it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, both during and after.”
“I promise you pet. This time will be more than bloody pleasant. It‘ll be orgasmic.” His sexy leer made her rub her legs together as she felt the dampness in her panties.
“Pretty sure of yourself, there, aren’t you?” she teased knowing full well his ability to turn her legs to jelly with a single kiss.
“I’m incredibly full of myself and with any luck, soon you will be too.” he smirked as he tossed her onto the bed, hoping to put her in a less serious and more playful mood. He doubted she had much enjoyment in her one experience with the poof and wanted her to have fond memories of their first time together. He laughed at her outrage shriek as he pounced and pinned her struggling body down.
“I can’t believe you just said that,” she cried out through her laughter.
“Wha? It’s the truth and soon you’ll be begging me for it.”
“Begging? I don’t beg.” She tried to be serious but his waggling eyebrows made it difficult to keep a straight face.
“Is that right? Well have to see about that,” his eyes narrowed dangerously as he began to move down her body placing wet kisses along the way.
Sighing, she watched him suck her pert nipple into his mouth. He smiled against her skin when he heard her throaty moan.
She reached her hands down and buried them in his hair, groaning as he licked a line down her stomach. Circling her bellybutton he stuck out his tongue he dipped it teasingly earning him a giggle.
Reaching her jeans, he deftly undid the clasp, sliding them down quickly, his eyes devouring her golden body every inch of the way. He paused to take in the glorious sight of his naked slayer spread before him before once again resuming his worshipful attentions to her body.
He moved past her center, ignoring her disappointed sounds, stopping at her knees. He took his time kissing and licking his way back up her body. She squirmed beneath him desperate for something, not knowing what it was, but knowing whatever it was her body was instinctively craving he hadn’t done it yet.
She gave a loud gasp, her head and shoulders jerked off the bed when he ran his tongue along her slit. He wrapped one hand around her thigh bending it slightly while using the other to press her upper body back down to the soft pillows. “Easy, pet. Just relax.”
Her breathy moans were all the noise in the room as he continued his exploration of her body. Nuzzling her silken folds his tongue lapped at the juices flowing freely. Her excitement and scent filled him and he fought back the urge to plunge into her body, to feel the warmth surround him that instant.
He lowered the hand holding her down. Gently he slipped in one cautious finger, groaning against her as the heat from her core seemed to burn into his skin. “Bleedin’ hell, you’re like an inferno, luv. Burning for me, just for me,” he murmured against her. He added another finger stretching her, readying her for him.
She arched her back, crying out, “Oh, God. Spike!”
He chuckled, the movement vibrating against her. “Not exactly God, sweetness,” he said stilling his movements.
Shaking her head at his teasing, she pouted. “You stopped. Why did you stop?”
His evil smirk was in full force. “Just waiting pet.”
“Waiting for what?” she demanded in frustration.
“For you to beg of course,” he ducked his head when he saw her indignant look and began to nip at her skin along her thigh.
Gasping at the sensation of his love bites over sensitized skin, she asked, “You’re kidding right?”
He schooled his face in a serious expression before lifting his head and replying, “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Spike if you think I’m gonna…Oh, God!” she cried out when he nipped gently at her clit.
“What was that slayer?”
“Please, Spike. Please.”
He couldn’t hold back any longer, their dance of mutual attraction had gone on too long as it was. He moved back up quickly, his hand cupping her breast, his fingers pinching her nipple as he hungrily devoured the other. Her body arched into his as he continued suckling her. She wrapped a leg around his hip trying to draw him closer.
He positioned himself over her before whispering, “Are you sure pet?”
She looked up to find him observing her, searching for signs of doubt or fear, but she knew there were none to find. Her hands gripped his waist and she pulled him down, his cock pressing at her slick opening. Their lips meet with crushing intensity. Her lip split slightly under the force and his tongue flicked out to capture the small trace of her blood.
He tried to ease in gently, to take his time and allow her to adjust but she was having no part of it. Still holding his hips, she dug in her fingers hard enough to bruise before using slayer strength to force him in deeper, gasping for breath when he was fully embedded within her.
Their foreheads rested together as they both struggled for air, even though his was unneeded. He felt her inner muscles ripple around him and he swore between clenched teeth, “Bloody hell, pet. You’re gonna be the death of me.”
She panted as he began to move above her and reached out to pinch his hardened nipple. “But you’re already dead.”
“Alright, you’re gonna make me dust, is that better?” he asked pausing his rhythm.
Her heart ached with the idea of him no longer being around. “No dusting until I’m done with you.” She hoped her teasing words covered her seriousness.
“Is that right? Then maybe I should make it where you never want to be done with me.” He cringed even as the words slipped out, hiding behind a smirking façade. He hoped that she would come to care for him as much as he had come to care for her, but didn’t want take the risk of another heartbreak. Deep inside he feared that this was just a brief interlude for her, something to distract herself from the pain.
I already do, she thought as she fought back tears, not wanting him to see. I don’t want you to leave. Ever. She bit back the words not wanting to scare him away. “There you go all full of yourself again,” she tossed out instead. God you’re such a coward.
He pulled back only to push back into her swiftly making her moan harshly, “I think we’ve already had this talk, luv.”
“Less talk, more action,” she demanded lifting herself to meet his powerful thrusts. His mouth moved around her neck, nibbling gently in contrast to his harsh movements. Her fingers dug into his flesh as she felt her release build.
He felt as her walls began to tremble and whispered hoarsely, “Come for me, pet.”
“Spike,” she cried out as the intense sensations washed over her. The waves continued to crash around her as his thrusts came faster.
He could feel his impending release, could feel her wet heat as it vibrated around him, could feel her labored breathing on his neck as she tried to regain her voice.
He heard her whisper his name in awe and he roared in completion, her simple gesture his undoing. They clung to each other tight, both fearing that their time together would be painfully short.
He propped himself on his elbows, still buried inside her, unwilling to give up the feeling until he absolutely had to. He brushed her dampened hair from her face and wiped away the few stray tears that fell despite her efforts to hold them back.
“Are you alright, luv?” he asked concerned. “Did I hurt you?”
She took his hand and kissed it tenderly. “No, Spike you didn’t hurt me.”
He reluctantly slid from her body, moving to the side and pulled her against him. He kissed her softly on the lips before placing small kisses where the tracks of her tears remained.
“Can you just hold me?” she whispered.
He smiled and tightened his arms around her. He waited until her breathing evened out and her soft snores were the only sound in the room before replying.
“I’d hold you forever, kitten.”
*****
“You know I have to go back right?”
He was startled by her words coming out of the blue like that. They had been at the motel for over a day and were cuddled up and relaxed watching the crappy old television in their motel room when she had broken the silence. “You mean back to Sunnyhell?”
She refused to meet his gaze, afraid that she could look into his blue eyes and beg him to take her far away from her life, her problems, and her chosen destiny. “Yeah. I mean; I can’t just leave mom and the gang wondering what happened and I can’t leave the Hellmouth unprotected. If something happened to my mom because I wasn’t there-”
Her rushed words were cut off by his finger pressing against her lips. “It’s alright, pet. I didn’t think this was anything more than a short getaway. I knew you’d wanna go back, I just didn’t know when you’d be ready.”
She raised worried eyes to his, afraid that their time together would be over much faster than she had thought. “I don’t mean tonight. Maybe tomorrow night…or the next night. I just don’t want to stay away too long. It‘s usually quiet for a couple of weeks after any big apocalypse, but things will pick back up. I wonder why that is.”
He smiled at her rambling musings, “I’m sure most of them skip town. You’ll find that most demons may be evil but they’re still sane enough to know that ending the world is a pretty dumb thing to do.”
Lowering her voice she finally asked the question she had worried about since leaving Sunnydale, “What about you? What will you do?”
He watched her in silence for a moment, unsure if he was ready to lay all his cards on the table but he had always been terrible at the waiting game and she had given him the perfect opening. “Well, pet I guess that’s up to you.”
“Huh?”
He chuckled at her confused expression, “I thought I might stick around for a bit, I’ve got nowhere else I need to be right now.” He rushed to add, “If you’d rather I didn’t, that’s fine too. Just let me know and I’ll disappear. It’s whatever you think is best.”
“Spike?” she whispered.
He couldn't seem to make himself meet her gaze. “Yeah?”
She continued softly, “I’d like it very much if you stayed.”
“Yeah?” He looked over at her finally, giving a shy smile.
“Yeah.” Returning his grin, she reached out to take his hand.
His expression turned serious once more and he had to ask the question burning in his mind. “In what capacity? Slay buddy? Friend? Arm candy?” He gave a sexy sneer at the last option.
Her eyes burned into his as she answered solemnly, “What if I said all of the above?”
He released the breath he didn‘t need but had held nonetheless. “I’d say that sounds like a right fine idea, but what are you’re mates gonna say about your new boy toy?”
She snuggled in closer before answering, “Would it be totally horrible to say I don’t really care? All I care about is that you want to stay. I need you here. I want you here. I think we could have something great if we just give it a shot.”
“Sounds like music to my ears, kitten.” He leaned in to gently press his lips to hers before quickly becoming more urgent.
The Hellmouth would just have to wait a bit longer.
TBC...
Author's note: Okay, there it is, my first pRony type smut, hope I didn't do too badly. *goes to hide in a hole* | | | | |
| Somewhere In Between - Epilogue | | | | - - - abc | | | First off, I'd like to thank Tam, my wonderful beta, my stories are so much better (readable) with her input. I'd also like to thank Mary and Jack for their endless support *coughnaggincough*
Chapter 10 Epilogue
He stood outside the suburban home, waiting for a response to his knock. The door opened cautiously and he smiled at the face peeking through the small gap before quickly throwing it open. “Hello, William. Is it that time already?”
“Hello Joyce. Yeah, I thought the day would never end,” he grinned sheepishly before moving inside.
“You shouldn’t stay cooped up in that little windowless apartment all day, it can’t be good for you,” she chided him, her mothering instincts kicking in.
He was delighted with her concern, it having been so long since anyone had worried about him besides Buffy. “It’s a basement apartment and the no window thing is actually why I picked it. I tend to stay less dusty that way.”
She blushed faintly surprised how easy it was to forget the handsome young man was much more than he appeared to be. “Oh right. Did you want so cocoa before you go? Or do you want some b-blood? Buffy picked some up this afternoon.”
“The cocoa sounds great. I’ll just let Buffy know I’m here.” He watched the older woman make her way into the kitchen before he took the stairs two at a time, anxious to see the slayer.
In the months after the averted apocalypse they had settled into a routine. She went to school during the day, after Rupert had ‘encouraged’ the principal to let her back in. They patrolled at night, sometimes with the help of her friends and sometimes not. On the nights when they were alone, after a few good slays, they usually ended up snogging against the nearest crypt or stumbling their way back to his apartment.
The Scoobies hadn’t been happy at all when they had learned that he was sticking around, but all had to admit that he had been a great help during the Angelus affair and the different crisis’ prior to the grand finale.
The watcher had threatened him with painful torture and a dusty ending if he ended up breaking the slayer’s heart and trust. The witch had offered truth spells to show if he was really on bagged blood and not killing. Well, not killing humans anyway. Luckily the Hellmouth was a breeding ground of demon activity and he got his dose of fists and fangs nightly.
The whelp had been the most reluctant of the bunch, his attitude sullen and wary anytime the vampire showed up. Catching him at the Bronze alone one night, he had bought the boy a beer and taught him a few pool hustling tricks. They had talked well into the night and while they weren’t the best of friends, they had reached a mutual toleration level they could both live with.
He watched as his girl pimped in her mirror, looking for all the world like a teenager about go out on a date with her high school sweetheart instead of about to take on the monsters of the night with her undead boyfriend. “When are you gonna learn that those high heels are nothing but a danger on patrol.”
She didn’t bother to turn around as she quipped, “The same time you figure out that the Billy Idol look died in the eighties.”
He silently slipped his arms around her, sliding his hands under her shirt as he watched her expression in the mirror. “You almost ready for patrol?”
She brushed his hands away before hissing, “Quit before mom sees you, and yes I’m almost ready.”
Chuckling he sat down on the bed and pulled her to him, “Your mum’s making me hot chocolate and she wouldn’t do anything to me. She loves me.”
“Correction…she likes you. If she catches you fondling her teenage daughter in her room…let’s just say I bet she still knows how to swing an ax.” She grinned when he dropped his hands immediately.
“You Summers women, always quick with the violence.” He leaned back on his elbows and watched as she gathered her stakes, tucking them discretely in her waistband. “Don’t you think your mum has an idea of what her daughter does when she doesn’t come home until almost light?”
She leaned down to place a soft kiss on his lips before pulling away to say, “Not when your happily living in denial and just thankful that your daughters supernatural boyfriend might help her live through another night. You tend to overlook things, and you should be grateful she does or no more post patrol snuggles.”
“Snuggles? Is that what they call it these days? I thought they called it-” he was cut off by her hand slamming down on his mouth.
“Watch it, mister, or your ’snuggling’ days are in grave danger,” she threatened, eepping and jerking her hand away when she felt his tongue trace a line across her palm.
“That would be a shame, luv. And here I wanted to try something different tonight.”
“Different? Different how?” she whispered, her curiosity getting the better of her.
He stood to lean and whisper in her ear, delighted when he heard her heart begin to race and felt her body heat rise.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “Well, we better get to patrol, then. Early to slay, early to…well, you know.” She blushed brightly as she grabbed his hand and rushed out the door and down the stairs.
Buffy had just opened the front door as Joyce came back from the kitchen carrying a tray with three steaming mugs.
The eldest Summers set the tray down on the table, “Where are rushing off to? I made cocoa.”
Her mom’s concerned voice stopped her daughter in her tracks, her mind whirling with excuses and alibis. “Um, demons. We have to get out there now. You know, save innocents and all that.”
“Are you sure you don’t have time for one cup?”
“No!” she yelled. “I mean, we don’t want anyone to get hurt while we’re sitting around doing nothing.”
Bewildered Joyce replied, “Oh, okay. If you’re sure you have to go now.”
“Bye mom, don’t wait up, lots of slaying to do.” Buffy rushed out the door, dragging the snickering Spike behind her.
Joyce followed them to the door and leaned against the frame. “Well at least it’s not a school night.”
Buffy turned to answer, sensing a possible cover for future ‘snuggling‘ activities. “Yeah, weekends are notorious for baddies. They love the nightlife.”
The blond vampire snorted. “They are the nightlife, pet.”
Turning back to glare at him, she hissed, “Shut up, Mr. Smarty-vamp.”
Joyce watched as her daughter dragged her vampire boyfriend off into the night to fight the forces of evil. She didn’t want to think about what went on after the slaying was done. She closed the door softly. She knew her daughter would never have an easy life and her doubts about her newest boyfriend were fading slowly. She could tell they were very happy together, and if he helped to keep her safe to come home another night, then she couldn’t complain.
Her biggest concern had been their different stations in life. With her being the slayer and him being a vampire, she expected more problems than had so far surfaced.
Maybe things would work out in the long run. Maybe he didn’t need to be in the sunlight to make her happy and maybe she would be all he needed to keep him from returning to evil.
Maybe they could find some middle ground between their two worlds. Not in the dark. Not in the light. But somewhere in between.
~*~*~
Well, that's it. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. My first completed, non-oneshot fic, YAY!! lol. | | | | |
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