Rating: Ummm, I'll go with R to be on the safe side, for suggestive (and suggested) situations. It is Spike we're talking about after all. I'm not great with ratings, so R is just to be on the safe side.
Pairing: Willow/Spike with mentions of (shudders) Buffy/Spike and Willow/Tara. Past tense, I swear.
Summary: Willow and Spike commiserate about the misery love has caused them.
Spoilers: Post-season 7 of BtVS, and Season 5 of Angel, but AU (Author's Universe) - Some things will be mentioned from both series, but this takes place down the road in Season 5 of Angel in my own little world.
Distribution: Red's Soulmates, Near Her Always, WLS, and anyone else who wants, please ask.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I wish I did, but I don't. Joss does...greedy S.O.B. He can afford to share them with me so I can play. The song Misery, which inspired this whole evil plot-bunny that hopped on my head until I sat down and wrote, is off the CD Missundaztood by Pink.
Feedback: If you want to, I won't say no.
A/N1: Super-special big thanks to my beta Jenni, who, it appears, not only shares with me a love of W/S fics, but a love of Richie Sambora as well. You've got class and great taste sweetie!
A/N2: There will be a sequel.
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Misery - written by R. Supa, performed by Pink and featuring Steven Tyler and Richie Sambora (yumm) - BTW this song has a very bluesy tempo to it.
Shadows are fallin' all over town
Another night and these blues got me down
Oh, misery! I sure could use some company
Since he's been gone I ain't been the same
I carry the weight like an old ball and chain
Guess its all meant to be
For love to cause me misery
Oh misery! Oh misery!
Tell me why does my heart make a fool of me
Seems it’s my destiny
For love to cause me misery
And, oh! I've been down this road before
With a passion that turns into pain
And each time I saw love walk out the door
I swore I'd never get caught again
But ain't it true? It takes what it takes
And sometime we get too smart too late
One more heartache for me
Another night of misery
Oh! And oh misery! Oh misery!
Tell me why does my heart make a fool of me
Oh misery! Oh misery!
Tell me why, why, why, why, why, why does this
heart make a fool of me
Seems its my destiny
For love to cause misery, oh
Misery
Guess its all meant to be
For love to cause me misery, oh, no, yeah
Misery
~~~*~~~
Willow swayed on the barstool, and luckily for the tipsy witch, a cool hand reached out to steady her. She threw Spike a drunken grin of thanks.
She came to help Angel fight a powerful sorcerer that was trying to remove the vampire's soul. A few binding spells here, a bolt or two of energy there, and poof! No more evil-meanie. Spike decided she needed a night out on the town to relax before heading back to her new duties as Watcher-in-Training. That, and he wanted to pump the redhead for information on one beautiful blond Slayer.
"So you and the Slayer bird, over then, eh, Red?" The vampire downed another shot of whiskey, stacking the empty shot glass on top of the other dozen or so sitting before him on the bar.
"Kennedy? Pffffttttt!" Willow snorted and waved her hand dismissively. "Over. Oys. Done. Kaput. Kerplewie. Finis. Put a fork in it, we're done..."
"Uh, right. Gotcha, pet. What happened? The two of you seemed to be gettin' along smashingly. I seem to remember the Niblet mentionin' somethin' about girlfriends with pierced tongues." Spike waggled his eyebrows at the redhead suggestively.
"Oh, yeah. That was great." Willow seemed to zone for a minute, a dreamy smile emerging. She shook herself free of her memories, and called for another drink before returning her attention to the blond at her side. "It was all great, or so I thought, until I came home with this new Slayer from Australia, Bonnie."
"Want to take a shot at a threesome, Red?" Spike leered as he drew an erotic image in his mind of three lithe, firm bodies writhing together on satin sheets.
"Eeewwww!" Willow's nose crinkled up in disgust. "Potty-mind. I meant that I found Bonnie, and brought her back to Scotland to train. Kennedy felt the two of them had more in common than she and I did." The redhead pouted miserably. "She never got my magic, never trusted it." She sighed sadly. "I guess she never trusted me."
"Ehhhhh," Spike slurred, "wasn't good enough for ya anyhow, pet. You deserve someone that'll put ya up on a pedestal and kiss your cute little witchy toes."
"I had the whole pedestal thing with Oz. Then he slept with that skanky, ho werewolf and left me." She swayed again, saved once more by Spike's steadying hand. Her voice softened, and her eyes grew misty. "Then I had Tara. She was my everything, and before I even had a chance to get near a pedestal, she was gone," Willow sniffled. "Ken was...well, Buffy and Athol came across the two of them making out in the cellar...Wait. You think I have cute toes?"
Spike's mind spun, trying to follow the witch's rambling. "Toes? Yeah, cute. Who's Athol? And what the hell kind of name is Athol, anyway?"
"Oh! Scottish name, I think." Willow's eyes went wide, then she avoided Spike's gaze by taking a few long draws on the pink swizzle straw in her drink.
"Reeeeeed? Who. Is. Athol?" He could hear her heart pounding, and didn't like the fact that she was ignoring him.
The vampire squinted, and moved closer, invading Willow's space. She leaned back, almost falling off before being caught by said vampire. "Reeeed," he urged.
"Umm, Athol is one of the other WIT's...umm, that's Watcher-in-Training, by the way. He's nice. His father was one of the Watchers killed by the Bringers..."
Spike stared at the girl next to him, trying to figure out what she was trying so hard not to say, and hoping he was wrong. "And this...Asshole..."
"Athol," Willow corrected with an emphatic nod, which shook long bangs into her eyes.
The vampire reached over, and without thinking, tucked the wayward hair behind her ears. "He's how old? Rupert's age?"
Willow shook her head no. Her eyes seemed to become a bit glassier with each sip of her Sea breeze. "Oh, no. Athol's father was a little younger than Giles. Athol's actually just a few years old then me."
Spike felt his unbeating heart clench in his chest. "Good lookin' bloke?" He tried to ask casually.
"Athol? Well, I guess if you're into that tall, rugged, dark eyes and auburn hair...ummm, not helping here, am I?"
"She's datin' him?" He asked quietly.
"Well," Willow blinked up at the blond, taking in the hurt look on his face, "dating is such a strong word, ya know? They, uh, work well together. And after work, they ummm, well, they mingle. Yeah. That's the word, mingle, not date. Nope, no dating at the OK Watcher Corral." She smiled weakly, and seeing he didn't believe her, took another long draw on her straw.
Spike turned his attention to the new shot glass in front of him. Snarling at the demon behind the bar, he ordered the bottle be left behind. He downed the whisky in one gulp and poured another quickly. The vampire began to mumble to himself.
"Bloody hell. Gone for three months and already found a new ponce to go all googley-eyed over. Thought she wasn't done bloody bakin'. What she told Peaches, it was."
Willow looked confused. "Baking? Buffy doesn't bake. You know that. Everything she bakes burns. That's why Tara always used to make the pancakes." Her face softened, turning wistful. "Round or funny shapes. Dawnie always loved the funny shapes."
Spike ran his finger around the rim of the glass. "Never was good enough for her. Said I was 'beneath her'."
"I never felt more loved than when Tara held me. Then she was gone." Willow stared into her half-empty glass.
"Wasn't good enough for Cecily either. Course I was a bleedin' Poof myself back then."
"Oz used to hold me, tell me how much he loved me. Then he left me."
"Wasn't 'Daddy' enough for Dru. Not even after almost a century of it bein' just the two of us."
"Xander never even noticed me until I was with Oz. What is it with you guys and the unattainable?"
"Harmony...now that was just a mistake. Wasn't thinkin' with the right head there."
"What does Bonnie have that I don't? Okay, so she's pretty well set in the chestal area, but if you ask me, something there isn't kosher, ya know?"
Spike turned his attention back to Willow. "Not kosher? Think they're fake, pet?"
Willow shook her head, and downed the rest of her drink. "Not fake like implants; I'm thinking padded. We're talking sweat socks too, not just tissues." She nodded to herself, confirming her theory, then waved the bartender over for a refill.
"Must hurt, that. Watching your bird snoggin' someone else."
"Snogging?" Willow searched her foggy British-to-English inner-dictionary. "Oh, kissing! Not so much hurt. Maybe more like stung..." She turned flashing eyes on the vampire at her side. "Did you know Bonnie had ugly feet? Her big toes were...well they were really BIG. Her round house kicks were sloppy, too. She probably couldn't balance right, what with her toes being so BIG and all."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Can't possibly love someone with ugly feet and a sloppy roundhouse. Don't know what your Slayer was thinkin'."
Willow's lower lip stuck out, quivering, and her eyes started to tear up. "You're laughing at me," she accused, then sniffled.
Spike's eyes widened. He'd spent enough time around Druscilla to know when a chit was ready to turn on the waterworks. If there was one thing neither Spike nor William knew how to handle, it was a blubbering female.
"Aw, Red. Didn't mean nothin' by it, honest." He put his arm around her in an awkward attempt at comfort. "That stupid Slayer didn't know a good thing when she had you. Chit like you gives her heart right over, no holding back for my Red."
Willow leaned her head on his shoulder and sniffled a bit more. "I could say the same about you."
Spike thought about his words, and realized they would fit both Willow and himself. "Yeah, guess you could."
"You know what they say, Spike." The redhead turned her face, staring up into his stormy blue eyes.
"What's that, pet?" He scanned her flushed face, and met her vibrant green gaze.
"Misery loves company."
Witch and vampire stared at each other, and time seemed to stop. Spike leant in, watching Willow's face for any sign of protest. When she nudged her lips toward him, it was all the encouragement he needed. Lowering his mouth, he seized her lips, tasting the fruity drink as his tongue swept in, exploring, probing.
Willow's arms snuck around his neck as she leaned into his embrace. That was her undoing as she toppled off her barstool, pulling Spike to the floor with her. They landed in a heap on the sticky beer-and-Goddess-only-knew-what-else-coated floor. She made a face, feeling her hair stick to the ground. "Eeewwww. Icky."
Spike began to laugh, stood, and pulled her to her feet. He ran his hand through her long red tresses, fingers becoming trapped as he encountered a sticky matting of her hair. He used it to lever her head back to accept a quicker, less intense kiss. "Think you need a shower, Red."
Willow's hand brushed over a questionable stain on his arm, finding it equally as tacky. "So do you."
Spike's eyes sparkled with devilish delight. He wrapped his arms around the redhead's waist, pulling her close to his body. "We should share a shower, conserve water and all that, you know?" He placed a quick kiss on her lips again before grabbing her hand and his duster from the bar, then leading her out into the night.
"I didn't know California was conserving water," she called, hurrying to keep up with his brisk pace, and stumbling occasionally.
Spike looked over his shoulder at Willow, and smirked. "We're not."
Her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh."