"The Subtle Notes In-Between"
Chapter 2
Spike
kept his eyes shut and sniffed the air. It was a
mixture of hospital smells and burnt hair. He
reached up and checked his head-- his hair was there
but his eyebrows were gone!
"It's still there and looking a bit
curly," a deep male voice announced, causing
Spike to reluctantly open his eyes.
"YOU!" Spike bellowed and tried to get up.
"Me," The Immortal replied with a grin. He
leant forward and cupped his chin in his hands and
watched as the vampire tried to crawl up the wall
and away from him.
"YOU?" Spike realised that the nit was
probably the reason he was here and alive.
"Bugger me." Spike slumped back against
the pillows and glared petulantly at the smirking
man.
"Lovely offer and if it weren't for the Slayer,
I would take you up on it!" Paolo replied
ambiguously. Unable to resist teasing the vampire a
bit for all the sorrow he had put his friend
through, not to mention the foolishness of taking on
the Black Thorn and pulling them all into the
battle.
Spike lurched forward and grabbed Paolo around the
throat, trying to throttle him.
"Spike! You're awake!" An excited and very
familiar female voice trilled from the doorway.
"Why are you doing that? You know Paolo's
immortal, right? He can’t die, doofus!"
The ridges on Spike's face shifted and azure chased
amber out of his eyes-- unknowingly in his anger
Spike had vamped. He let go and turned to face his
goddess. "Buffy? What happened to your
hair?"
Her hand shot up to the back of her head and she
blushed bright red. Her usually long hair was now
cut about an inch long all over and was rumpled from
her running her fingers through it, while she had
sat by his side and worried at least ten years off
her life. Her lower lip jutted out miserably.
"Cara Mia, don't fret. You look so beautiful,
it's so chic!" Paolo leapt gallantly to his
feet and managed to forestall another bout of tears
and hysterics. It had been hard enough cutting her
hair and trying to style it; there was barely
anything for him to work with once they had managed
to put the flames out. But the two of them had
managed to salvage as much of her hair as possible,
and in his opinion, she looked just like Mia Farrow
with her famous urchin haircut In other words,
androgenous and stunning!
"Goldilocks." Spike stared at Buffy in
shock. She looked so small without her crowning
glory. But the git was right and that really chaffed
his willy. The Immortal pain in his arse was right,
she looked gorgeous.
"That's all you have to say?" Buffy
stomped over and kicked the hospital bed hard and
glared at the now penitent vampire. "No, I
missed you? Sorry I didn't come and find you or at
the very least call you! Or hey, even better, what
about saying thanks for saving my skinny white ass
AGAIN!" Buffy crossed her arms over her chest,
unconsciously pushing her breasts up.
Spike stared at the succulent mounds and tried very
hard not to whimper.
"Are you staring at my breasts?" Buffy's
voice rose to a higher pitch.
"Cara, I think he is not what you say?
Functioning on all cylinders?" Paolo sauntered
up and placed a calming hand on his friend's tense
shoulder. He knew that her emotions were getting the
better of her and he had to help. All those nights
they had spent curled around each other on her couch
talking about Spike and what she had lost were going
to result in nothing if she staked Spike.
"Firing," Buffy supplied absently as she
glared at Spike. "And Spike FYI, the new do is
because I was saving you and Angel."
"Did Peaches make it?" Spike surprised
himself by asking.
"Sorta." Buffy walked over and pulled back
the curtain next to Spike's bed to reveal what was
left of Angel.
Spike's eyes widened at the sight of his one-armed
Grandsire who was covered in burns and missing large
patches of his much treasured hair. He looked like
he had mange and had been dipped in cooking oil and
set fire to. Spike stared at the mess and then
frowned. "Hang about!"
"Yeah, he's alive." Buffy gestured at the
bleeping machines and the ventilator that was
helping Angel to breath. The expression on her face
was neutral, unreadable.
"Alive?" Spike echoed glumly.
"Right." He sank back into the bed and
stared up at the ceiling. The bastard had Shanshued
and despite the makeover from hell, he'd get Buffy
and they could live happily ever after. Well as long
as Buffy did the opening of jars and stuff. He
slammed his eyes shut. Damned if he was going to
break down and cry like a baby in front of the
Immortal or Peaches. Buffy, yes he could cry in
front of her...but not two of his greatest
competitors. The humiliation would be too much--
worse than anything Angelus could have ever dreamt
up in the past.
He rubbed his face with his hands, and then froze.
"What bloody soddin hell happened to my
eyebrows?" He ran his fingers over and over and
found nothing but the indent where his scar was. The
one branded on him by the Chinese Slayer.
"Umm, they got burned off," Buffy supplied
hesitantly. Her soft gaze was riveted on his face,
in her opinion-- despite the missing eyebrows—he
was still very handsome, albeit a bit pink from the
bridge of his nose upwards.
"Wot did you do? Shave em off when I was out
for the count?" Not hearing her quiet
confession, Spike jabbed an angry finger at Paolo,
who by know was giggling loudly at Spike's antics.
"Hey." Buffy stomped her foot and smacked
Spike's feet, "Paolo wouldn't do that! It's my
fault...I...I'm too short! I couldn't cover all of
you!" She glared at Spike, "don't you dare
laugh!"
Spike deflated in front of them, guilt coloured his
eyes and his soul shone through brightly. "Oh
luv, m'sorry." He stared at her with wide eyes
and mentally berated himself for acting like a
petulant child. She had risked life, limb and hair
for him and all he could do was pout over his
eyebrows.
Buffy flew to the bedside and tentatively ran her
fingers over his face, tracing the familiar lines of
it and recommitting them to memory. She ran her
fingertips over the place where his black brows
should've been and let her index finger repeatedly
trace the lines of his scar. Her own eyebrows were
knitted with concentration and her tongue peeked out
of the corner of her mouth. Spike tried to suppress
a purr of contentment and failed miserably.
'Oh god, her fingers are on my face, I never
thought I would feel them again.' Spike pressed
his face into her hands and groaned softly.
The Immortal watched the tender moment between the
star-crossed lovers with a broad smile on his
handsome face. He sighed with relief. He knew it
would be all right now that Spike was back, he could
save Buffy from her melancholy. Now, if only he knew
what to do with the newly humanised vampire.
He didn't want him to come between the two lovers.