Chapter 14
“So much to lose, so much to gain
So much to fight for, so much to change”
-Cock Sparrer
The light streaming out of the open bathroom door woke Buffy up. She stumbled into the room to see Spike staring at his lack of reflection in the mirror. Tentatively, Buffy shuffled into the bathroom and slid her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispered, kissing the side of his neck.
When he didn’t answer, she started to unwrap herself and pull away. Spike stopped her by grabbing her wrists and stepping back into her embrace.
“Don’t go,” he replied, turning his head to look at her.
She relented and let him pull her arms all the way around his waist.
“200 years we’ve been together. 200…and every time I wake up with you in my arms I feel as giddy as I did the first time…” Spike said, staring into the reflection of her eyes. “I spent a long time thinking that it was all a dream, that I had died and somehow been granted access to Heaven.”
Buffy stiffened and he felt her start to pull away.
“No, don’t,” he muttered. “The point is, I did go to Heaven, but I wasn’t as happy as I am in your arms…and I know I said this before, but I want you to understand that I know what I’m giving up by being brought back here, but what I’ve gained is so much more.” Spike turned around in her embrace and slid his arms around her. “I have eternity to be with the woman I love…and the soul to understand her.”
He watched the play of emotions flicker across her face. She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes.
“Could you repeat that last part,” she asked, licking her lips. Her throat was suddenly very dry.
“Which part, luv?” Spike asked, smiling down at her. “The part where I said we have eternity-a true eternity this time-or the part about my soul. My soul, not a demon’s soul, MINE…William’s.”
Buffy’s mouth dropped open, and Spike took the opportunity to lean in and steal a kiss.
XXX
“That’s…disturbing,” Xander shuddered.
“But very useful in your line of work,” Anya added.
“No, I’d go with disturbing…not that I’m knocking it though, could have lost my girl.” Spike said.
“I think we have firmly established that I’m not going anywhere,” Buffy said, her hands rubbing the sides of her neck.
“You know, being able to come back from a decapitation is a very rare trait. You should be thankful for that. Just think of all the fun games you could play knowing that information,” Anya said.
Spike growled. “No one is decapitating my wife…again!”
“But you could hide her head in places that you can’t go, and she could gather information. It’d be all covert, like a spy movie,” Anya insisted. “And I can always stick it back on again, it’s not a big deal.”
“Okay, my head is now staying firmly on my body and Anya…that is so creepy,” Buffy said, placing her hands on her hips.
“On that note, it’s time for the Missus and me to be taking our leave,” Spike said, standing up and pulling Buffy to her feet as well. “Xander, see you Wednesday. Anya, see ya next month.”
Buffy sifted through her pockets looking for the transporting dust that allowed them to travel between the Harris’ house and their own. She dropped it in a circle around them, muttered a few words, and in a poof of smoke, had them in their own living room.
“Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been so glad to get away from Anya,” Buffy muttered, stretching her arms above her head.
Spike grabbed her around the waist and pulled her taunt against him. “Almost lost you tonight, luv,” he murmured, nuzzling the side of her neck.
“Spike, I’m immortal. I’m not going anywhere,” she replied, tilting her head to give him better access.
“Don’t care. All I know is that my life stopped when I saw that creature…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Buffy snorted. “Your life stopped? You weren’t the one holding your own head in her hands.”
Spike framed her face in his hands. “You don’t understand. You are my life, my reason for living. Without you, I’m dust.”
Buffy’s face softened. “Oh, Spike. You’re my reason for living too.”
He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“Promise,” she whispered. “So long as you’re by my side, I will never try and get decapitated again.”
XXX
Lenore came into the kitchen and startled Xander.
“I’m sorry, I was, er, spacing out. You have a window,” he said, pointing toward it. “I don’t have one in the library and I always tend to revert to high school form when I see one.”
“I did not mean to startle you. I merely came to tell you that you must be leaving soon.”
“Oh, did we wear out our welcome? I know Anya can be a handful sometimes, but-“
“No, you are always welcome here,” Lenore interrupted. “But the time is almost upon us.”
“It moved up again, huh? Damn planets,” Xander joked.
“It moved neither up nor down. As I stated before, the planets keep their own time,” Lenore said.
“It was a…um, never mind. So, what do we do know?” Xander asked.
Lenore shook her head. “That I cannot tell you. You must let the stars guide you to your destiny.”
“Oookay, and how do I do that?”
“If you listen very hard, they will tell you,” Lenore answered and walked out of the room.
“Oh that’s just great,” Xander muttered. “It’s Drusilla the second.”
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“Daddy, the stars want us to gather our forces,” Drusilla said.
“Do they now?” he asked, knocking her over so that they landed on top the dead nun that lay on the floor.
Drusilla whimpered, “Not here. Never here. He whispers in my ear. Calls me back to the fold, he does. Lost little lamb, all caught in the blackberry patch. Nasty thorns sticking in my side.”
Angelus growled and pressed down on her. “We will be where ever I decide…unless you want me to punish you. Would you like that, Dru? Have me wrap your pretty wrists in chains while I fuck you?”
She closed her eyes and Angelus stood up, yanking her by her hair. “Fine, Dru. We’ll leave, but when I get you home…”
“But the time has almost come,” she said. “Time for darkness. Time for ruling. Time for family. William and the sunshine will be family with us again. The stars never lie…Miss Edith never lies.”
“Fine, stars and Spike and Buffy. Now, get out of here before I lose me temper…and when we get home, I’m going to chain you up and do despicable things to your body.”
XXX
“Will you stop fussing? Everything will be fine,” Dawn said, hands on her hips as she watched her fiancé reset the table.
“I know. I just-I want them to like me. I mean, they’re the only family you have,” Brian said. “Plus, I find it a little weird that we’ve been dating for two years and I’ve never so much as talked to them on the phone.”
“Well, my sister and her husband are kinda…they’re different. They move… a lot,” Dawn answered. “But, hey, you’ve met Willow and Tara and they’re just like family…and-and Xander-“
“Who I’ve only talked to on the phone,” he interrupted.
Dawn winced, “Yeah, well, his job doesn’t let him get away much.”
Brian walked over and wrapped his arms around Dawn’s waist. “Baby, you know that I love you, but I sometimes get the feeling that you’re hiding something about your family from me. I mean, you’ve met my family and you gotta admit they’re a bit strange.”
Dawn couldn’t raise her eyes to meet his glance, “Yeah, well, my family’s just a bit…different.”
Brain smiled, “You mean like how you can read those tarot cards so accurately? Do you come from a family of psychics?”
“Um, no, not so much-“
The doorbell cut her off and Dawn took the interruption to run down the hall. She flung the door open and squealed as she gathered Buffy and Spike in a giant hug.
“Oh my Goddess! I can’t believe you’re here. Come in! Come in, both of you!”
“Hey, Dawnie,” Buffy said, squeezing her sister tight.
“Bit! Look at you, all grown up,” Spike said.
Brian cleared his throat and when the two blondes looked at him, he swore that his heart stopped beating. It wasn’t that they were both deathly pale or that the man’s hair was so white it glowed. No, it was the look that radiated from behind both their eyes. It screamed power, strength, and a million other things that used to give him nightmares as a kid.
“Guys, this,” Dawn made a point of walking over and taking Brian by the arm. “Is Brian…my fiancé.”
“Hi Brian,” Buffy said. “I’m Buffy, Dawn’s sister, and this is my husband, Spike.”
“Uh, hi,” Brian managed to shake both their hands, noting how cold the man’s touch was. Also, he was sure that Buffy was a full five years older then Dawn, so why did she look younger? “Welcome. Can I offer you something to drink?”
“Do you have any Diet Coke?” Buffy asked.
Brian nodded and turned to Spike.
“Beer if ya got it, mate.”
Somehow they made it through the small talk and to the dinner table, although Spike didn’t eat anything, just drank some red wine that Dawn had mysteriously produced. Brian hadn’t seen it in the house earlier. Maybe that’s why Dawn was so reluctant to talk about her sister and her husband. Maybe the man- Spike, what kind of name was that-was an alcoholic. Maybe he beat Buffy. Brain watched as the man finished off the mug-yeah mug, not even a wine glass-and Dawn got up to get him another glass.
“Hope you’re not driving home,” Brian said.
Spike laughed, “’Course I am. Have you ever seen this woman drive?”
Buffy pouted, “Hey, I am not that bad. I mean, those curbs come out of nowhere.”
Dawn laughed, “Hey, remember that time when you convinced Mom to let you drive us to school, and you-you put the car in neutral and couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t drive.” Dawn doubled over in her laughter as she handed the new mug to Spike.
“Will you guys be staying here tonight?” Brian asked.
Buffy shook her head. “No, we have a hotel.”
“Trust me, honey, a hotel is way better for them,” Dawn added.
“Hey, I resent that,” Buffy said.
“And I resent that you guys broke my guest bed last time you visited me.”
“That was like three years ago. Get over it,” Buffy answered.
“Dawnie, can I talk to you in the kitchen a moment?” Brian asked, setting his napkin down on the table.
“Sure,” she smiled and followed him. “What’s wrong?” Dawn asked once they were out of view.
“Babe, I just don’t think that we should let him drive. I mean, he had three beers before dinner and that’s his second MUG of wine,” Brian looked at her worriedly. “Dawn, is he an alcoholic? Does he hurt Buffy?”
He looked so concerned that Dawn held back the laughter that was tickling the back of her throat. “No, no, no, Spike is not an alcoholic and trust me when I say that he doesn’t do anything to Buffy that she doesn’t like. She is perfectly capable of handling herself.”
“Sweetie, my uncle was an alcoholic and my aunt, she let it go for years without telling anyone because she though she could handle it. We only found out when he put her in the hospital.”
“Something wrong, bit?”
Brian jumped and spun around to find himself face to face with the man in question.
Dawn sighed, “No, Spike, nothing’s wrong.”
“No,” Brian surprised himself by speaking up. “Something is wrong, and dammit Dawn if you won’t speak up I will.”
“Now, hold on a moment here. Don’t appreciate you talking to the girl like that-“
“No, you listen here. You may think you’ve got it under control, but if you don’t get help for your drinking, then-then I will make you get help because you are Dawn’s family and that makes you MY family.” He poked Spike in the chest with his index finger to drive the point home.
Spike looked over at Dawn, who was busy looking at the floor. “You didn’t tell him, bit?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head.
“Hey, what’s with the yelling?” Buffy asked, coming into the kitchen.
“Brian here thinks I’m an alcoholic that beats his wife, pet.”
Buffy snorted, “Puh-lease, I can so kick your ass.”
“She hasn’t told him, luv,” Spike said, softly.
“What-OH,” Buffy gave Brian an odd glance.
“Dawn what are they talking about? What haven’t you told me?” Brian demanded.
Dawn looked up at him sadly. “I meant to tell you, I did, but…”
Brian grabbed her in a tight embrace, stroking her hair as he held her. “Dawnie, I love you and nothing you can say will make me change that.”
Dawn sniffled and nodded. “Spike, just-just show him, get it over with.”
Spike waited until he had Brian’s attention and vamped out.
“JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?”
“Vampire, mate,” Spike answered.
“And you,” Brian turned to Buffy. “Are you a vampire too?”
“Nope,” Buffy shook her head cheerfully. “I’m a vampire slayer.”
“Wha-huh?” Brian managed.
“You better sit down, this is gonna take awhile,” Dawn said.
XXX
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