Chapter 18

"Don't you have anything less revealing?" Spike asked Buffy as he followed her down the water the next day.

She looked over her shoulder and smirked at him. "No."

"Maybe we could look into that. Didn't birds wear those full length bathing
suits back in the day? You know, a bathing SUIT, covering all parts?"

Buffy giggled. "Spike, is my bikini making you nervous?"

"I don't like other blokes lookin' at you, kitten," Spike purred and grabbed
her round the waist, bringing her closer to him. "Maybe I should bite you,
mark you as mine," and he leaned in and bit down softly on her neck, growling
lightly.

She trembled at his words; no one had ever been possessive of her like that
before. It was equal parts thrilling and frightening. She did the only thing
she could think to do at that moment: cling to him.

Spike drew back and studied her. "You all right?"

"Did you mean it?"

He looked confused, "Mean what?"

She shook her head and shooed him away, "Nothing." She started wading
out in the water, letting the waves lap at her.

Spike was not one to be deterred though –and she should have known
better than to think he could be easily put off. He took her hand and kissed,
following her in. "Tell me."

"Spike—" she sighed.

"Buffy, just tell me."

"God, you're impossible!"

He grinned, unrepentant. "I know. It's what you like most about me."

"I don't know about that," she muttered. Though, she did like his
stubbornness when it came to her. Made her feel as if she were something
worth fighting for. He just never gave up on her.

He tugged on her arm.

She looked at him, "Okay, okay. When you said you'd bite to mark me as
yours . . . Did you mean it?"

"That I'd bite you?"

"Yeah," she said uncertainly.

He narrowed his eyes. "Or that you're mine?"

She averted her eyes and bit her bottom lip.

He tugged her to him and kissed her thoroughly. "What do you think?" he
whispered.

She pushed at him lightly, freeing herself. "I'm so pathetic!" she exclaimed
and ran into the water with gusto and then diving in.

She kicked and pumped, pushing herself through the water, wanting the
salt water to wash away her insecurities and the fear she had that she could
most definitely fall in love with Spike and lose herself in him. She wanted to
just cling to him and never let go and it scared her; scared her because if
she clung too hard, he'd grow tired of her and leave her.

Kicking and pumping, she swam hard until her lungs started to burn and
she burst through the surface, wiping the water from her eyes so she could
see. She couldn't quite touch, the tips of her toes just grazing the sandy
bottom.

Arms came around her and hauled her against a hard chest.

Spike.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I can touch, can you?"

She shook her head.

"Why do you think you're pathetic?" he asked huskily.

She paused, trying to find the right words so she wouldn't scare him off
completely.

"You might as well just tell me, luv. You know I'm not going to quit until
you do."

"Because I'm so insecure," she blurted out.

He tried to spin her around and she braced herself against him to stop him.
"No. I – I feel more comfortable not looking at you right now."

"All right then. What are you insecure?"

She rolled her eyes, "You do remember what I've told you about my ex
boyfriends right? I was a fool each and every time."

"It wasn't you, Buffy. It was them."

"How do you know? I could have driven them away."

"By--?"

"By clinging."

"You think you're clingy?"

She nodded. "Yes. I think I'm clingy." "Not possible," and she felt him
shake his head.

"How the hell would you know?"

"Because I'm laying myself out here kitten, giving myself to you—I'm the
one that's clinging and not wanting to let go. You're the one diving away
from me. Except right here; right here where you can't touch and you need
me because I can."

"I can wade."

"But for how long until you get tired?"

"Then I could just swim in."

"You could, but isn't it more fun out here with someone to share it with?
With someone to hold you?"

She nodded, swallowing hard.

"So you see, you can do it on your own, but I'm right here and I'm telling
you it's okay to lean on me when you need me or just because. You're not
clingy, Buffy. You're strong and fiercely independent."

"I ha-have been before when I knew they were leaving me," Buffy
whispered.

"Who doesn't try to hold onto something they love when they think it's
leaving?"

"Spike—" she gasped.

"What, Buffy? Tell me," he whispered.

"I—I want to cling to you."

He spun her around, his gaze smoldering, and looped her arms around his
neck. "Then cling to me, Buffy."

She kept her gaze on his and reached up to kiss him, wrapping her legs
around his waist and she heard him moan as she fell into the kiss with him,
letting it take her over. Letting him take her over.

When they split for air, Spike nuzzled the side of her face and made a path
to her neck, saying her name reverently.

"How did you happen to come into my life?" she whispered.

He looked down at her, smiling gently, "Magic."

She smiled, "I like that. Magic. I hope the spell doesn't end anytime soon."

"Me neither, Buffy, me neither."

*****************************************************************************************

Lying back on the beach, Buffy rolled onto her belly and looked up at Spike
who was leaning back on his elbows, gazing down at the surf. He looked
over at her and grinned. "What are you thinking kitten?"

"Oh nothing," she said innocently.

"Balls."

She laughed, "What does that even mean?"

"It means I know you're shitting me. What are you thinking?"

"I want you to tell me a story."

"About?"

"Something from your childhood."

His grin disappeared. "Why?"

"Because I want to know about you, Spike."

"You know all you need to know."

"I beg to differ."

"Maybe you should stop ‘differing' with me."

Raising an eyebrow, Buffy rolled over and started putting her things in the
bag they'd brought to the beach.

"Buffy," Spike started on a slight whine.

"You want me to tell you all this stuff, Spike. But when I ask you a simple
question about you, you clam up. How am I supposed to get to know who
you are if you won't share with me?" She stood and grabbed the bag.

"Buffy, don't go."

"I don't want to be around you right now," Buffy said and stalked off.

Spike sighed heavily and fell onto his back, closing his eyes tightly. Bugger
all. Why didn't he just lie to her? No. He couldn't. He couldn't look at her
and lie to her.

"Well, isn't this a fine pickle you've gotten yourself into."

Spike's eyes flew open and he groaned. "Hi Mom."

 

Chapter 19
"Don't ‘Hi' me. What do you think you're doing?"

Spike stared up at his mother, all trussed up in her sleek black bathing suit, her delicate features hidden by gigantic black sunglasses. She wore what Spike thought was akin to an umbrella on her head, but was really a ginormous straw hat.

"Are you wearing oil?" Spike asked, noticing how her skin was glistening.

"Well, I am out in the sun," she said as if he should have known that
already.

Spike rolled his eyes at her and sat up.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," she scolded him.

"Is there anything I can do?"

She slid her sunglasses to halfway down her nose. "You're pushing your
luck."

"What are you gonna do? Threaten to put me on the rock with Prometheus
again?"

She scowled at him and knelt before him, taking her glasses off and placing
them on the blanket. Her blue eyes bore into his. "I'm worried about you,"
she said seriously.

Spike started to laugh.

"I don't know why I bother to try and talk with you."

"I suppose it's because you love me."

She pursed her lips together.

"What?"

She shook her head, "Do you have to talk in that British accent? You're not
British!"

Spike scowled at her. "Dad is, remember?"

She rolled her eyes. "You've been around enough people that don't—you
know what?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Why do you torture your poor mother?" she demanded.

"Because I know you mother. You plan to interfere."

"I'm not here to interfere. I'm here to give you some advice."

"This should be good."

"You're so fresh!"

"I wonder where I get it from."

"You know," she huffed, "You could pretend to be happy to see me."

Spike sighed heavily. "Mom, I love you, you know I do. But I know you.
You were checking up on me. You were snooping on me weren't you?"

She didn't say anything.

"Come on, Mom."

"Fine," she said, letting out a breath. "I visited your uncle and
happened to see you in his crystal ball."

"Meaning, you conjured me up in the crystal ball."

"I wanted to see how my boy was doing!"

"And? How am I doing?"

His mother looked positively forlorn. "Oh honey, you've fallen in love with
that girl."

"I thought something like that would make you happy," he said dryly.

"How can it make me happy when you're so miserable?"

"I'm not miserable, mother."

"I heard you. That vile woman was yelling at you!"

Spike shook his head, "Mom, she yelled at me because she asked me about
my childhood and I wouldn't tell her anything."

"Why not? You had a wonderful childhood! You're not going to get into how
I coddled you—" She stopped abruptly and Spike waited for clarity to hit.
"Oh."

"Exactly. ‘Oh.' How am I supposed to tell Buffy that I'm really immortal, I
live on Olympus, and my uncle is the God of Love?"

"Can't you just … make stuff up?"

Spike sighed, "I'm not a good liar."

"You never were."

"It concerns me that you make that sound like a bad thing. Mom, I do love
her, that's the thing. Everyday it gets harder and harder to lie to her. I
don't WANT to lie to her. I want to . . I want to . . . "

"What honey, what is it that you want?"

"I want to be with her. I want to make her like you made Dad."

Her crystal blue eyes widened, "You want to make her immortal?"

"Yes, I do," he said resolutely.

"Oh, honey—"

"Don't tell me it can't be done. I know it can be. Dad is proof of that. Hell, so
is Aunt Psyche!"

"I know but dear, you were sent here on a JOB. You're not the one meant
for her. She's meant to be with another mortal," she reached out stroked
his arm soothingly.

"Then I want to be mortal. I want to be who she's meant to be with."

"Spike, dear—"

"I just need some time."

"Time for what?"

"For her to fall in love with me."

His mother smiled gently. "Oh honey, I think she already is."

"Mom, you think everyone is love with me—"

"Can I help it if I think my son is wonderful?"

He smiled at her, "Thanks, Mom."

"What would you like me to do, honey?"

"Nothing. I want you to go back home and do NOTHING. You say nothing.
Not even to Dad. I don't need it getting back to Uncle Eros that I've fallen in
love with my charge and want to make her like me. That's the LAST thing I
need. He might take me off the case, wipe out our memories," Spike
shuddered at the thought, "I couldn't take that."

His mother patted his knee affectionately, "I won't say a word."

"I mean it mom. You can't say a word."

She put her sunglasses back on. "You really have no faith in me at all."

"I know you."

"Give me a kiss now. Your father thinks I'm out having lunch with
Artemis. Now talk about a woman who needs a man—"

"Mom," Spike sighed.

"Fine, fine. Come on, give me kiss."

Quickly, Spike leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Goodbye
mother."

"I love you dear, be careful." And with that, she was gone.

"And I want another woman to please in my life," Spike muttered. "And I
better go about making my other woman happy before I am sent out to the
rocks to have my liver poked out on daily basis."

************************************************************************************************

This was one of those days when Buffy wished she had a girlfriend to talk
to. Just someone to vent to about what a pain in the ass men were. All she
wanted was to learn about the man she was – she was --- she screamed
into her pillow—the man she was falling in love with. Oh hell, who was she
kidding? She was more than halfway there already.

How the freaking hell had he managed to do that?

She blamed him, naturally. His stubbornness, his persistence, his way of
seeing into her soul, of knowing her heart and the uncanny way he had of
breaking down all her barriers and while she felt so overwhelmed and
frightened by it . . . it also felt so freeing. She felt with Spike that she could
just LET GO. She'd never just let go. She'd always held on and tried to be
what she needed to be for every man she'd been with. Tried to be what
they wanted her to be, what she THOUGHT they wanted her to be. How
was it possible that her whole business was setting couples up and spent
her time emphasizing to them that they just needed to be themselves when
she herself failed to do the same thing.

Until Spike.

He got it all, the poor guy. All the insecurities she'd already had since, say,
adolescence topped off with all the insecurities she'd accumulated from past
relationships. And he just took it. He took it all and was still THERE.

She shook her head, it did not excuse his refusal to tell her anything about
himself. She bit her lip and lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, a
horrible thought entering her mind.

The door flew open and Spike sauntered in. "Buffy—"

"Spike, wait," she said and held up her hand.

He took pause. "What?"

"If you were abused, you don't have to tell me. I understand how
something like that can be hard –"

"Abused?" he asked, knitting his brows together.

"Yes, you know, by your parents."

"Buffy, I wasn't abused--"

"And if you think you have to lie to me to protect yourself, I want to let
you know that you don't have to." She took a deep breath. Take the leap,
she told herself. Do it! "I love you anyway."

 

Chapter Twenty

Spike froze. "Y—you what?"

Buffy swallowed, feeling the need to back pedal. "I uh—that came out and I didn't—"


"Don't tell me you didn't mean it, please," Spike whispered, shutting his eyes.

"No, not that—" Buffy started and he held up a hand to stop her.

"Wait. Just hold on a bloody—Buffy. I don't want you tell me you love me because you think I might possibly have been abused and you feel sorry for me."

Her eyes widened in horror, "No! Spike I didn't mean it THAT way."

"Think about that one for a second."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not a child."

"Never said you were—seems we're both saying things we don't quite mean, yeah?"

Buffy sighed and climbed out of the bed. She took a deep breath and stood before him. "Spike, I care a lot about you. I . . . I'm . . . " she started to make like a guppy.

Spike reached out and took her hand in his gently, and kissed her palm. "It's okay, Buffy. You can say it."

"More scary when it's . . . "

"Real?"
"Yes," she said apologetically. She took another deep breath. "I'm falling in love with you Spike" she said in a rush of breath.

He beamed at her. "Say it again."

She furrowed her brow, "Why?"

Spike laughed and tugged on her arm. "Please?"

"I'm falling in love with you," she said this time, more resolutely.

"Can you look me in the eyes and say it?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this part of your psycho analyzing crap you like to do to me all the time?"

"Yes, it is. Humor me."

"I'm falling in love with you, Spike."

"It's also because, God, I love hearing that come out of your mouth," Spike rasped passionately and tugged her into his arms, kissing her ravenously. When they broke apart for air, Spike rested his forehead against hers. "Buffy."

"Hmmm?" she murmured, unable to think coherently at the moment.

"I can say with absolute certainty that I am desperately, hopelessly and deeply in love with you."

Immediately her eyes welled up in tears.
"Buffy?" Spike asked, concerned.

"I'm just," she pressed her face into his chest. "Those words fill me with dread and joy at the same time. Does that make sense?"

Spike gathered her close and held on to her tightly, "Yes it does. It makes me happy to hear you say it if that helps."

"You have the power to break my heart now," Buffy murmured, looking up at me. "Please don't break it," she begged. "I could stand it from the others, I don't think I could stand it from you."

"I won't break your heart Buffy. I promise," he whispered fiercely.

She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks unchecked, "You can't promise something like that. You can't even tell me about your family!"

Spike took a deep breath. "Buffy—"

"Despite that, I'm falling anyway," she told him softly.

"I won't ever let you go," he vowed passionately. "Never. I won't let you fall alone. I'm right here to catch you. Always, baby."
"I'm going to be difficult," she warned.

He chuckled, "I expect no less."

"I'm going to be a bitch and I'm going to get angry and scared—"

"If you're trying to scare me, Buffy—"
"I'm not, I'm just being honest with you. You know by now that I'm far from easy."

He reached out and caressed the side of her face, looking at her tenderly. "We're in this together."

She nodded, "Okay."

"And you know, you just proved me right."

"About?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.

"You have a big heart Buffy Summers and you are able to love," he smiled.

She smiled back, "And I said it first."

He chuckled, "Will wonders never cease!"

She playfully hit him.

"Though that could have to do with the fact that you like to be first in everything," he teased.

She laughed, then, "Spike, about your family—"

He took a deep breath. "Buffy, I want to tell you everything. Especially now."

She bit her lip. "I understand that people have dysfunctional families Spike. Every family is a little dysfunctional. I've just never seen someone – unless they have been abused – be filled with such dread and apprehension to tell someone—especially someone they claim to love—about them. I have to say, I almost don't want you to tell me."

"I have to though," Spike said, leading her to a chair and sitting down on it, settling her down on his lap. "It's. . . complicated Buffy."

"Oh God. You're father is really your uncle."

Spike laughed, "No."

"Your mother is really your aunt?"

"No. However both uncle and aunt are key to this story."

"How key?" she asked curiously.

"They can . . . let's just say that they have the ability to decide our fate."

Buffy started to get up from his lap and he held her there. "Just stay with me, kitten."

"You're scaring me."

"Buffy, do you believe in Gods and Goddesses?"

She blinked. "Come again?"

"Do you believe—"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. Trying to figure out—I've got it. You're heavily religious people. Oh! Oh! You're pagans. Spike that doesn't bother me. Truthfully, I lean toward those kind of beliefs than most of the organized religions out there—"

He shook his head, "That's not quite it Buffy. Close, but not quite. Just answer me, do you believe in Gods and Goddesses?"

"Like . . . Zeus and Hera kinds of Gods and Goddesses?" she asked carefully.

"Exactly that. Do you?"

"I—truthfully, I don't know. I've read about them in school and
stuff but it's not like I've ever come in contact with them and
can I just tell you how bizarre this conversation is?"
"Do you believe in Eros?"

"The God of Love?"

Spike nodded.

Buffy nodded thoughtfully. "I guess so. I mean I kind of feel about him the way I feel about Zeus and Hera. I've read about
him, but never had direct connection with him or anything."
She turned wide eyes to him. "Is this part of the test? If I don't
believe in the Greek Gods, I'm not fit to be with you?"

Spike shook his head, smiling, "Well, it's not that exactly," he
said slowly.

"Then what is it exactly?"

"Buffy how would you feel if I told you that my uncle is Eros,
and his wife, my aunt, is none other than Psyche?"

"I would say that perhaps you're the one we should have
been psychoanalyzing."

"Buffy, it's true. Eros is my uncle and Psyche is my aunt. My
mother is not a Goddess, but she was made immortal by my
aunt to keep her family together. And my father, he was
chosen by my mother for her mate and he was made
immortal. They made me, which makes me immortal." He took
a deep breath while Buffy stared at him,
expressionless. "Buffy, I love you with all that I am and I want
to spend eternity with you. I want to make you immortal so
that we can be together forever. What do you say?"

 

Chapter Twenty-One


Buffy stared at him and blinked. "Oh my God."

"Okay, I wasn't sure how you'd take to being immortal, so I'm
willing to become mortal in order to stay with you. Cause you
know I would do anything to be with you Buffy, I love you—"

She pushed at him, effectively making him free her and she
bounded to her feet, shaking her head. "I knew it."

Spike stood, eyes widening, "You knew?"

Buffy turned, "Knew what?"

"About my heritage."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not sure if that means you think I did a bad job of keeping
it secret or—"

"Spike, stop!" she nearly shouted and Spike froze. "You
escaped from a mental institution didn't you? That's why you
didn't have any identification for so long. That's why you
haven't wanted to talk about where you've come from and
what you were doing before you strolled into my business.
Just admit it."

Spike looked hurt by the accusation, God help him, he actually
looked HURT—as if she were making false accusations and
incriminating him into something that was completely false.

"No, Buffy," he said, shaking his head. "I was . . . this is hard."

"I don't even know what to say to that! Spike, you can't
expect me to – Do you really want to be with me or are you
just making this shit up to get away from me?"

"What? No!" he stalked towards her and she held up her
hands urgently.

"Don't come near me," she said.

"Buffy, how can you think I'm lying?"

"Spike, how can you possibly think I'd believe this outrageous
story! You're . . . completely crazy."

"Don't you dare call my boy crazy!"

Suddenly a woman was in the room with them wearing a
long white flowing skirt and a gauzy pink tank top with lace
edging. Her blond hair was pulled back in a long ponytail and
her blue eyes were blazing with venom. She was pointing a
finger at Buffy and Buffy was beginning to feel dizzy.

"Where did you come from?" she squeaked out.

"Mom, you were supposed to BUTT OUT," Spike barked the
woman.

"How can I butt out when she's attacking you this way?" The
woman asked innocently to Spike and then turned back to
Buffy, "Vile mortal."

"Hey! Don't you dare call her that," Spike hissed. "You're
talking to my future wife."

Now Buffy felt cold and all she could hear was the blood
rushing in her ears and everything was starting to blur and
spin. Her only thought was of how that woman had simply
appeared before she tumbled to the floor.

************************

Buffy's eyes opened slowly and she blinked up at the ceiling
fan and shut her eyes again. That was not her ceiling fan.
That was the hotel ceiling fan. She popped her eyes open
again. Okay, so she wasn't home, she was still at the hotel in
Kauai and vacation was not a dream. That didn't mean that
the other stuff wasn't a dream though. She didn't remember
falling asleep after her and Spike had talked about—because
it didn't happen. Because that was a dream. What really had
happened was she was mad at Spike for not telling her about
himself so she'd come up to get away from him and had
fallen asleep. Yes, that's what happened.

"You're awake," Spike's voice drifted to her.

She bent her head slightly and watched him walk across the
room, concern evident on his gorgeous face. "Are you all
right, sweetheart?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."

He shook his head, "No, Buffy it's okay, I understand," he
said and took her hand in his.

"I just want to learn about you Spike. I want to know about
your family and your childhood. So when I push you for
information it's only because I want to know all there is to
know about--"

"Buffy," he interrupted, his eyebrows furrowing, "What was
the last thing you remember?"

She swallowed, "Uh, we were on the beach and I got mad at
you –and why are you shaking your head?" She was
beginning to get afraid. Again.

"Is the mortal up?" A woman's voice broke through the room.

Buffy's eyes snapped to the door. Oh God. It wasn't a dream.
Scurrying away from Spike, and tugging her hand back,
Buffy moved to the head of the bed and stared at them wild-
eyed.

"You remember now?" Spike asked dryly.

"I wanted it to be a dream."

"It's not," he said, shaking his head. He looked over his
shoulder at his mother, "Mom, can you please leave us alone
for a few?"

The woman frowned at him and then walked out the room,
huffing. Spike turned back to Buffy. "Buffy, luv, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay. I've finally done it."

"Done what?"

"Lost it. I'm crazy. I'm definitely committed now."

"Buffy, you're not crazy. What I told you is true. You know it,
deep down you know it," he told her gently.

Buffy shook her head furiously, "No, I've cracked up. I'm
having . . . delusions. I've heard of it happening, I just never
thought it would happen to me. And on vacation of all things—
Oh God. Am I really on vacation or am I in some padded
room? When will the visions stop! Am I on drugs? Where's my
doctor? You don't exist, you're not real. I want to get well
again, you need to go. GO!" she yelled at him and buried her
face in her hands.

"Buffy!" Spike shouted to get her attention.

Her head snapped up and he grabbed her arm, pulling her off
the bed. "Buffy, you're not crazy. I'm real. You're real.
Everything is REAL. I'll prove it to you."

"How?" Buffy whispered.

"How indeed?" A male voice said.

Not another one! Buffy screamed inside her head. She shut
her eyes tightly.

"Uncle," she heard Spike say.

"I wager you're going to be needing my help?" the man said.

"Yes, Uncle, I'm sorry—"

"Just what were you thinking?"

Buffy covered her eyes with her hands and parted them
slightly, opening her eyes and peering through the slits her
fingers made. It was a move she adopted when watching
scary movies. There before them was a man with a golden
aura surrounding him. Looking at him, she felt her body relax
and she dropped her hands to stare openly at him. He was
so handsome he couldn't be real. He could see some
similarities between him and Spike. She had always thought
Spike the most beautiful man she'd ever laid eyes on and
wondered how someone as gorgeous as Spike could even
be real. Then, her eyes caught on to something that nearly
knocked her back. Wings. White, fluffy wings slightly spread
as this man Spike called ‘Uncle' stood before them in all his
golden glory with his hands on his slender hips and a white
loin cloth across his waist.

He did not look very happy. On closer inspection though, as
Buffy studied him, she found a slight spark of amusement in
his blue eyes. Slight, but there.

She looked over at Spike who puffed out his chest and
looked at his uncle with determination. "I love her Uncle and I
want to be with her."

"You weren't supposed to fall in love with your charge,
Spike," his uncle said.

"I couldn't help it."

His uncle rolled his eyes.

"Charge?" Buffy piped in.

The two looked at her as if they had just noticed she was in
the room.

Spike rushed in, "Buffy, I was going to tell you everything."

"Have you thought this completely through?" his uncle
demanded.

"I have," Spike said firmly. "Uncle, I know I wasn't supposed
to fall in love with her, that I was supposed to just help her
but I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with her."

"Would somebody PLEASE tell me just what the freaking hell
is going on around here?" Buffy yelled in frustration. "If I'm
not cracking up," she said, her voice calming. She pointed at
Golden Man with Wings. "If I'm not cracking up, then who are
you?"

Golden Man with Wings smiled. "Spike already told you dear,
didn't he? I'm Eros, The God Of Love. Spike is my nephew."

Buffy shook her head. "I'm not going to faint, I'm not going to
faint."

"You mean again?" Eros rumbled with laughter in his
voice. "I'm sincerely glad to hear it."

"You—you saw that?" Buffy asked.

"I did. I noticed my sister-in-law had taken flight down here to
see her son when I looked in my crystal ball—"

"Crystal Ball. You have a crystal ball?" Buffy asked.

Eros nodded, "Yes, I have a crystal ball."

"And I'm not cracking up?"

"No, you are not my dear Buffy. You are of sound mind." He
frowned at Spike. "My nephew has a knack for stirring up
trouble."

"Why are you here? Why are you ALL here?" Buffy asked.

"Now those are the right questions to be asking," Eros said
and smiled at her. Then he looked over at Spike. "I'll leave that
up to Spike."

Buffy turned to Spike. "For some bizarre reason, I'm going to
try and listen to you with an open mind though I can tell you
that SO many parts of me are warring over even
CONSIDERING this might be true. Before the parts take over
that want me to drive myself to the fifth floor of the hospital, I
think now would be a good time to explain yourself."

Spike nodded glumly, "I think you should sit."

"I'll stand."

"I'll be in with your mother," Eros said and disappeared.

Buffy closed her eyes and looked at Spike. "I'm listening."


 

Chapter 22:

Buffy looked around the room. "Are any more going to be popping in?"

"Any more?" he asked, confused.

"Your uh, relatives."

"Unless my Dad pops in—"

"Jesus," Buffy swore. "I got it! I've been set up. This is some kind of Candid
Camera thing, right? I mean, the show has been off the air for years, but
they're doing a return and—"she stopped when she noticed Spike shaking
his head slowly. "Damn."

She looked at him, gesturing weakly with her hand, "Go ahead, I'm
listening."

"This is hard."

"You're telling me," she snorted.

"Okay," he started and began pacing. "See, my uncle is—"

"The God Of Love, I got that part."

"So you believe?"

"I'm not sure what I believe. I've always thought of myself as somewhat
scientific. You know, needing concrete evidence to back things up."

"You can't really do that when matchmaking can you?"

She smiled at his astuteness. "No, you can't. That's more of a gut feeling."

"And what is your gut telling you now?"

She frowned, "Not a whole hell of a lot. It's kind of twisted in knots right
now."

"Buffy—" he said coming toward her.

"Don't," she said holding up her hand. "I'm just—God, Spike, it's not
everyday that you're told your boyfriend is immortal. Or that his uncle is
Eros. Or hey, that he wants you to be immortal too—"

"We can work around that. I'm willing to become human if you can't stand
the idea of becoming immortal."

"Such a giver," she quipped.

"I'm willing to do what it takes, Buffy."

"So you've said. So, let's say I believe in all this," she said gesturing toward
him. "Why are you here?"

"You see, I've been working for my uncle shooting arrows."

"Arrows? Oh. Yes, that's right. Eros shoots love arrows. Whomever gets hit
with the arrow falls instantly in love with their intended, right?"

"Right. It's not always easy though. Like you, we have to make sure that
the couple we're setting up is ready for the relationship with their soulmate.
We have to watch a lot of mortals stumbling around making bad choices for
themselves and then when they've had enough—and when we've had
enough of watching them suffer without their True Love-- we come in and
make the match. Sometimes we have to appeal to the other Gods now and
then too."

"Why?"

"Well, if say one person is in Detroit and the other is in California, we have
to sometimes move people around to be in the position to be with their soul
mate and get, well, shot. So, sometimes we have to speed up certain
processes to get them at the right place and time. Like say, a new job.
Sometimes it's something as simple as a vacation or business trip—or just
getting them down at the corner hot dog stand to meet their match."

"And here I thought it was all based on free will. You Gods have more say
in our lives than I thought."

"I'm not a God. I'm just a shooter. And there is free will Buffy. It's kind of
like . . . an intervention." His eyes lit up at the analogy. "Sometimes the
Gods have to step in and help now and again; especially when a mortal is
asking for help and needs direction. They like mortals to help themselves,
but sometimes they need a little shove in the right direction. It's the whole
basis for faith isn't it? To believe in something greater than yourself and to
be able to lean on that for direction when you need it?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right," Buffy said and sat down on the bed
wondering where her beliefs lied at the moment.

"And the business of love is the hardest task of them all." He sat down next
to her. "My friend Angel told me before I left that making matches wasn't
easy and I thought he was full of it. I wanted to be like my Dad and be able
to make the matches."

"Your dad works for Eros too?"

Spike nodded. "Those who work for my uncle start off as shooters and work
their way up to matchmakers. My Dad expressed an interest when he
became immortal for my mother—"

"Your FATHER was MORTAL?" Her eyebrows flew off her head.

"Yes. My mother saw him in a crystal ball and fell instantly in love with
him. She came down to Earth and pretended she was mortal. They fell in
love and she told him the truth. He was much like you in being a little
wary—"

"Little?"

Spike smiled, "Okay, a lot. But he eventually believed in her and he told her
that he'd do whatever he could to be with her and she made the pledge to
her sister—"

"Psyche?"

Spike nodded, "Yes, my aunt. Psyche spoke with Eros and, well, here I am."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No, it's just me. So far anyway. My Dad's been wanting more lately. He
said he's working on my mother."

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but how old is your dad?"

"Oh, he's not that old. He's one hundred and forty-five. Though he doesn't
look a day over forty."

"He was forty when your mom met him?"

Spike nodded.

"So he's been immortal for one hundred and five years?"

"Yes."

"And how does he like it?"

"He loves it. He says he's never felt better. He loves to watch the world
progress; he's very scientific like you."

"I bet."

"He gets a kick out of helping some of the Gods lend a hand in guiding
humans to make inventions and discoveries. And, at the same time, he
keeps a lot of his mortal qualities. I learned to cook from him. I learned
about the world not only from watching it, but from him. He felt it
important to teach me about it. He figured if I'm going to one day make
matches, I needed to know what humans were like and what the world
consisted of. It's not wise to be part of helping the human world and not
know anything about it."

"I can only imagine," Buffy murmured and lay back on the bed, pinching
the bridge of her nose. "So, you've been unhappy shooting arrows.""Yes. I
wanted to just hurry up and make matches. My friend Angel—"

"Actual Angel?"

"No. His mother is Iris; he works for her."

"Refresh my memory."

"Goddess of the Rainbow. She's a messenger namely to Zeus and Hera.
She's very kind and gentle. Everyone loves her because she has such a
gentle, understanding nature. I personally think Angel would be great at
matchmaking but he loves what he does for his mother. That day before I
came to you, I was telling him that I wanted to find someone for myself. I
was going through a bit of a dry spell," he admitted sheepishly.

Buffy couldn't help it. She laughed and sat up. "Your uncle is the God of
Love and you were going through a dry spell. Come on, you're pulling my
leg."

He looked at her indignantly, "I am not pulling your leg. I . . . I wasn't
happy with anyone on Olympus."

"You're surrounded by Goddesses!"

He shook his head, "Not for me, Buffy. Being involved with a God is not all
its cracked up to be. They're very busy and can sometimes come off as a
little self absorbed because of it."

"Oh," Buffy said, slightly disoriented.

"Very high maintenance, but that's just between you and me," he grinned
and nudged her with his elbow.

"Of course."

"I confided to Angel that day that I wanted to come to Earth the way my
Mom had and find a mortal like she had found my Dad. I was feeling
restless about not being able to have someone of my own and I was
convinced that the one I was meant for was not on Olympus," he said
pointedly, his eyes boring into hers.

She gulped. "Oh?"

"I was restless with everything. With not being able to make matches, with
not having someone to call my own," he took on a faraway expression,
remembering. "And Angel told me relationships were hard work. That
making matches wasn't just about putting two people together and
shooting. He said it was easy to fall in love, but not to stay in love. He was
going on about how you had to take in account friendship, compatibility,
and passion. He said it wasn't all cut and dry and I was so convinced that it
was." He shook his head. "Then I met you and saw how much work you put
into making matches and realized he was right."

"Get to HOW you met me, please."

Spike took a deep breath. "Right. So, Eros asked to see me and when I did,
he told me about you."

She pointed at herself, "Me?" she squeaked.

He smiled softly, "Yes, you. He'd taken notice of your work, Buffy. He was
impressed by you."

"Eros was impressed by ME?" she looked incredulous.

"Very impressed by you. However—"

"Here it comes," she said dryly.

"He'd taken notice that you were going through a dry spell of your own."

Buffy closed her eyes and flopped back on the bed. "Must have been pretty
bad for a God to notice."

"You're in the business of love, Buffy, how could he not notice?"

She turned her head slightly and looked at him." But he did like my work
until then?"

Spike nodded, "LOVED your work. You were helping us, Buffy."

"Wow," she breathed. She sat back up. "So then, if you weren't making
matches, then how come he sent you to me?"

Spike smiled softly, "I think he wanted to teach me what Angel had been
trying to tell me. My uncle is perceptive; I think he knew how restless I
was feeling. I think he figured we could help each other with making
matches. I'd always been the impulsive, follow my gut type and you . . . you
aren't. Put us together and, as Willow said, we make a great team."

She nodded slowly. "Until you had to leave that is."

His smile dropped. "I suppose that was the plan."

"You suppose it was? Of course it was. He surely hadn't expected you to
stay here forever."

"Well, I put a wrench in his plan didn't I? I fell in love with you."

Buffy sighed heavily and got up from the bed, running a hand through her
hair. "I'm feeling . . . invaded."

"Invaded?"

"Played with might be a better term. Eros, the God of Love, sends you to
me to help my failing business and then he planned for you to leave. You're
saying he put me with you to teach you about the complexity of human
relationships and to help me follow my gut again. He knew we'd make a
great--" She stopped abruptly and her eyes narrowed. Spike's eyes
widened and he bolted up from the bed. Spinning on heel, she stalked to the
door and flung it open.

Spike was on her heels. He moved quickly around Buffy and stood before
his uncle who had been watching TV with his mother. Eros, noticing the
urgency on Spike's face stood, a small smile curling his lips.

"You set us up, didn't you?" Spike demanded. "Buffy's my match isn't
she?"

 

Chapter 23:
“What do you think?” Eros asked him.

“Can’t you just be straight with me? Just tell me Uncle, please.”

“Well, you’ve figured out so much so far, I’m sure you
can figure out the rest.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, “Honestly, what is it with you
Gods? You never just give answers do you? You
give ‘signs’ that are not always clear. You’re kind of
sneaky you know that? It’s annoying. You can never
just be straight with us; you’ve got us mortals rushing
around like chickens with our heads cut off, running
into that thing or the other. Why can’t you ever just
tell us what we need to know?”

Eros smiled warmly at her. “How will you ever learn
anything if we give you the answers all the time?”

Buffy crossed her arms across her chest. “Yeah, that’s
always the reasoning behind making us miserable
isn’t it? To learn something.”

Eros smiled at Spike, “I really like her.”

Spike eyed him warily, “I do too. You’re not going to tell
me are you?”

“What do you think?”

Spike threw up his hands. “Stop saying that!”

“You know, I remember the myths—“ Buffy started and
Eros shot her a look of disapproval. “Sorry,” she
quickly covered, “But I know the story of you and your
wife. How much did you like Mommy Dearest playing
you? Not much, right? So how do you think we feel?”

Eros shrugged, “Ah, well, I don’t think you need an
answer from me. I think you know the answer.”
He looked at Spike, “Don’t you Spike? Don’t you feel
it?”

Spike stared at his uncle and then looked to
Buffy, “Yeah, I do feel it.”

“Oh for the love of Olympus,” Spike’s mother
muttered, “You are telling me that you set my boy up
with her?”

“Dee,” Eros started sternly.

“Mother,” Spike jumped in just as stern. “Don’t
start. You’re not even supposed to be here!”

“Honestly, Eros, if you’re going to set my boy up you
could let a mother know,” Dee said to Eros, hands on
her hips. “But no, instead you snatch him away from
me—“

“I wasn’t snatched mother. He gave me the option to
go and I took it.”

“Of course you took it. You do everything your
uncle tells you! You never listen to me, your mother,
the one who gave birth to you!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Mom, go home.”

“Yes, please, do come home,” a deep, British voice –
that did not belong to anyone in the room said.

Buffy looked over to see a tall, ruggedly handsome
man with brown hair and scattered gray with warm
brown eyes frowning at Spike’s mother, Dee. He was
dressed like a typical ‘mortal’, complete with blue
jeans, a t shirt and sandals. Buffy let out a sigh and
sat down on the couch. She looked up at Spike. “Let
me guess. Your Dad.”

Spike nodded, looking at her apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Oh don’t apologize. I figure it’s par for the course don’t
you? Your Dad was the only one missing.”

Spike’s eyes widened. “Oh don’t say that. There’s my
aunt and Aphrodite—“

Buffy held up her hand, “Say no more.”

“You’re taking this well now,” Spike said brightly,
hopefully.

“What choice do I have? If there’s a chance I might
really be going round the bend, I might as well just
accept my fate.”

Spike smiled, “You’re not going round the bend, Buffy.”

“This,” Dee gestured to Buffy in disgust, looking
at her husband, “Is who your son has chosen.”

“Well, Uncle Eros kind of set us up, mum,” Spike told
her.

Dee ignored him and kept her focus on her
husband, “Can you believe it?”

“You told me you were going out with Artemis,” Spike’s
father said to her.

“I lied,” Dee said unrepentedly.

“No kidding.”

“Dad, this is Buffy Summers,” Spike cut in politely.

The man came over and extended a hand to Buffy to
shake. Buffy stood and took her hand, “Nice to meet
you Miss Summers,” he said graciously, “You can call
me Giles.”

Buffy smiled, liking Spike’s father instantly. There was
something genuine and warm about him. And real.
Down – to –Earth, which was funny considering.

“Nice to meet you Giles. I’m Buffy, the mortal.”

“Oh fine, take his side over mine,” Dee grumbled
when Giles chuckled at Buffy’s introduction of herself.

Giles looked warily at his wife, “I’m not ‘taking’ a side,
dear. I’m being a gentleman.”

“And the next thing you’re going to tell me is that I
should be a gentleman too, right?” Dee exclaimed
crossly.

Giles blinked behind his wire rim glasses, “Well no
dear, I won’t tell you to be a gentleman.”

Buffy giggled, muffling the sound behind her hand,
looking away when Dee shot her a glare. Eros, she
heard, was chuckling. Though he made no qualms
about it.

Spike just looked at his father helplessly, “Can you
just please take her out of here Dad?”

Giles patted his son on the back, “Happy to, son.
Though I do wish to hear more about what is
happening. Think I might come back later and we can
have a chat?”

Spike nodded gratefully.

Giles smiled at him and then turned to his wife, his
expression no nonsense. “I think it’s time we left. It
appears Eros, our son and Buffy have some talking to
do. I really doubt you’re helping matters.”

“Rupert--!” Dee exclaimed.

“And I highly doubt Artemis would be pleased to hear
you used her to come down to Earth,” Giles told her,
peering at her over his glasses.

Dee pouted, “Fine. I’m coming. But I will be back.”

“We know, dear,” Giles told her calmly and took her
hand.

Buffy was amazed at the exchange between the two.
They seemed polar opposites of each other. It was on
the tip of her tongue to say ‘And your father chose to be
immortal to be with her forever?’ She knew
however that would get her in a whole heap of trouble
with Spike’s mother and she was already in a whole
heap of trouble with the woman already. Not that she
should care. Not at all. But she did, and that was
disturbing her.

This was crazy!

Dee studied her son with narrowed eyes, “I’ll be back,”
she said, apparently feeling the need to warn him.

“But not without Dad next time,” Spike told her.

Dee huffed at him and in a blink, they were gone.

“I have to ask,” Buffy said, “Dee?”

“Short for Desdemona,” Eros supplied.

“She’s um, she’s a . . . “ Buffy trailed off. “A firecracker.”

Spike laughed, “That’s a nice way of putting it. She can
be a right bitch.”

“Spike!” Eros scolded him, but there was laughter in
his eyes, and he was smiling.

Spike shrugged and reached for Buffy, taking her hand
and pulling her to him. “So, uncle, you want to explain
yourself now?”

“Not really,” Eros said smoothly. “You’ve figured it all
out haven’t you?”

“How did you know?” Spike asked him softly. “How did
you know Buffy, a mortal, would be the one?”

Eros grinned, “I am the God of Love, my boy. It’s my
job to make matches and to see what others can’t.”

“But—“

“The logistics aren’t important. Never are really when it
comes to love. Isn’t that right, Buffy?” Eros said,
looking at Buffy and smiling. And she noted when he
smiled, he positively shone.

Buffy nodded slowly, “Something like that.”

“I believe the two of you must have some talking to do.
I will be back later. With your father and without
your mother.”

“Yeah, right. Good luck with that,” Spike muttered.

Eros grinned, “Have some faith, my boy. I have ways of
making your mother obey.”

“Tying her to a rock with Prometheus? She’s awfully
fond of threatening me with that.”

Eros let out a loud belly laugh and it seemed the room
shook, Buffy noted with amazement. “I didn’t
think of that, but I will now,” and in an instant he was
gone.

Spike looked down at Buffy. “So . . .”

Buffy nodded, “Indeed.”

“You have my father’s approval,” Spike said lightly.

“Seems there’s more to think about than whether or
not the family accepts me, don’t you think?”

Spike nodded solemnly, “I know.”

Buffy sighed and freed herself from his grasp. Settling
back onto the couch, she patted the seat next to
her. “So, why don’t we start talking about those things
we need to talk about?”