Title: Fluffy Halloween (Ep 2 of The Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: This is part of a series I have lovingly titled The Fluffy Files. I'm taking every Ep that Spike has appeared in and twisting it to give it a nice fluffy B/S ending. The eps are not meant to be read in sequence (unless you want to). They are all stand-alone fics which I have just grouped together, sort of a 'how they might get together' thing. In other words ignore any other Fluffy File fics and just pretend this is the first. For each Ep just assume that the show has gone more or less as normal up until the point where I start.

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Buffy's scream pierced the night and Angel's heart. She was afraid of him, and that was something he couldn't bear. She backed away from him; her eyes wide and filled with terror.

"Buffy, no!" He called, but it was too late. She had run out of the door and into the night.

* * *

Spike was loving this. Total chaos had ensued and people were screaming and running around in a blind panic. He'd always known this town had something special about it, and this was just one example of how much fun living on a Hellmouth could be. He was definitely going to enjoy living here. Another scream pierced the night and he grinned.

* * *

Buffy ran. She didn't know where she was or where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get away from that vampire, who was no doubt in pursuit and eager to drink her blood. Everything was so strange; she didn't understand what was happening or how she came to be in this strange place. She just wanted to go home.

The streets were deserted but she could hear screams ringing in the night. She gave a small sob of fear and sped up a little. She had to find someone, anyone. There! There was someone up ahead, a man. She almost screamed with relief, he would protect her. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"Please, sir." She sobbed. "You have to help me. There is a demon chasing me."

Spike looked down in surprise at the young woman clinging to his waist.

"What the? Hey, let go of me."

He made a move to disentangle himself when she looked up at him. He found himself gazing into the most beautiful pair of green eyes he had ever seen. Even though they were red with tears and filled with fear, he was transfixed. She suddenly buried her face in his chest and began to sob. Something touched him about the vulnerability of this young girl. Maybe deep within him some small part of his human self remained, whatever it was caused him to tentatively reach out and stroke her hair. Her sobs slowly died into sniffles, but she made no move to pull away from him. Spike gave a small smile. This felt surprisingly nice.

* * *

Angel was frantic. Buffy was alone and vulnerable in a town that was currently populated by monsters and demons. He had to find her, fast. If anything decided to attack her, there was no way she'd be able to defend herself. His eyes hurriedly scanned the streets as he ran, looking for any trace of her. Suddenly he stopped, his whole body freezing as his mind tried to process what his eyes were seeing. It was Buffy. It was Buffy with her arms around another man. It was Buffy with her arms around Spike. What made it worse was the fact that rather than killing Buffy, he seemed to be comforting her.

She ran from you but feels safe with him. The demon inside him sneered. Angel felt his rage boiling and his vampiric visage slid back in place

"Spike." He hissed through clenched teeth. "Get away from her."

Spike looked up and Buffy let go of him, turning around to see who was talking. Seeing Angel still in his vamp face she screamed and hid behind Spike. Spike was mildly amused by this. The irony was not lost on him that this girl was seeking refuge with an evil vampire whilst fleeing from a good one. Nevertheless, he felt obliged to do what she asked and keep Angel away from her. Besides, kicking his ass was always a plus.

"Sorry, mate. But the lady seems quite happy where she is."

Angel's anger increased and he growled deeply, causing Buffy to whimper.

"You touch her and I'll cut your head off."

Spike sauntered forward. "I'd like to see you try."

Without warning, Angel lashed out and punched Spike, the blow sending him flying face first into a nearby tree. He cursed softly for not seeing it coming before launching himself at Angel.

"This has been long overdue." He spat as he rained punch after punch down on the man who had been the vampiric equivalent of a father too him. Nothing would take away the feelings of betrayal that had pierced him when he found out that Angel had turned against him.

Angel did his best to fend Spike off but his childe was merciless, not letting up for a second. Finally Spike got bored with the pummelling and grabbed Angel's head, slamming it hard into the concrete floor and knocking him out cold. He stood up and took an unneeded but deep breath. He felt better after that.

After a few minutes he remembered why he'd started fighting Angel in the first place. He turned back to where the girl had been standing and froze. She now lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, her eyes closed. He walked over and knelt beside her, a puzzled frown written across his features. He couldn't see any visible injuries and he couldn't smell any blood. Finally he pulled on his vampiric senses and listened carefully. There. He could hear her pulse beating slowly and steadily and her chest gently rose and fell as she breathed. She must have just fainted.

He couldn't very well leave her lying in the street. He gathered her in his arms and carefully picked her up, amazed at how little she weighed. Looking around he realised they weren't too far away from his apartment. Time to go home.

* * *

After discovering that opening a door with an unconscious girl in your arms isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Spike finally managed to make it into his apartment. He placed the girl on the bed and walked into the bathroom. He wetted a washcloth and walked back into the bedroom, sitting on the bed beside her. He looked down at her. She really was exquisite. Finally, he reached out and placed the damp cloth over her forehead. After a few minutes her eyelids quivered and finally opened. She blinked blearily at him for a moment before her head cleared and she remembered who he was. She sat up quickly and looked around for the vampire. He was nowhere in sight and she sighed with relief.

"You defeated him?" She asked.

Spike smiled, still relishing in the memory. "Yeah, pet. I thrashed him good."

She frowned a little. "You speak very strangely."

Suddenly her eyes widened. "You're wounded!"

Spike glanced down at his body. He didn't feel wounded. The girl removed the cloth from her forehead and shuffled close to him.

"Let me tend to you." She said softly. Taking the cloth, she uncertainly reached up and dabbed it just over his eye. It stung. Spike realised he must have gotten cut when Angel had thrown him into the tree. He sat still and allowed her to work. It was easier this way; not having a reflection did have its downside. He was amazed that despite all the crying, screaming and fainting, she didn't seem fazed by the sight of his blood. She finished after a few minutes and put the now bloody cloth on the bedside.

"Sir, I just want to thank you for coming to my assistance this evening."

Spike reached out and gently stroked her hair.

"You're welcome, love."

Buffy knew that perhaps it wasn't appropriate behaviour to allow this man to touch her in such a way, but so far he was the only thing in this strange place that made her feel safe.

* * *

Giles glared coldly at the beaten and bloody form of Ethan Rayne.

"Now, tell me how to stop the spell."

Ethan knew when it was time to give up; this was such a time.

"Janus." He said weakly. "Break its statue."

Without giving him another look Giles walked over to the statue and picked it up. Raising it over his head he threw it to the floor where it shattered.

* * *

As Spike continued to stroke the girl's hair he suddenly became aware that it's texture had changed. He glanced at her and gave a yelp of shock. There was now a brunette wig in his hand, and sat on the bed looking at him was The Slayer. He dropped the wig and jumped to his feet.

"What the hell?" He asked. Now is not the time to be asking questions. He thought to himself. He looked back at Buffy. She still hadn't moved from the bed and was now looking intently at him.

"A spell." She finally said. "Someone cast a spell and turned me into my Halloween costume."

Spike said nothing, but began to edge his way towards the door. This was just great; the Slayer had seen his soft side and was now probably going to stake him for being a pathetic excuse for a vampire.

"Spike, wait." Said Buffy when she saw his not-so-stealthy escape plan. She climbed off the bed and walked over to him, taking hold of his arm gently. "Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?"

Spike looked at her for a moment, wondering if she was just trying to bait him before she killed him. However, he saw nothing but sincerity written on her face. She really wanted to know, but he wasn't sure he had an answer. He shrugged.

"Didn't know it was you; you look different as a brunette. The outfit isn't really your style either."

Buffy frowned. Was he saying that he would have killed her if he'd known who she was? Somehow she didn't think he would have. He'd been so gentle with her, had kept her safe and looked after her, even though she was just a regular girl.

"Besides." Spike continued. "I was going to kill you, I was just working myself up to it."

Buffy smirked. "How? By loving me to death?"

The room fell silent. Buffy couldn't believe she had mentioned 'love' in a conversation with Spike. He couldn't believe she'd done it either.

Finally Buffy spoke. "Spike, I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest. Do you...have feelings for me?"

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment. To be truthful, he didn't know what he felt anymore. "What does it matter?" He finally said. "You've got Angel."

"We're not talking about me and Angel." She replied. "We're talking about us. Answer the question."

"I don't know." He admitted. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, not with a human, not with a Slayer."

Buffy stepped closer towards him, so that their faces were only inches apart. She leant up and kissed him softly. "Did that help?"

Spike stood in numb shock for a moment. In that brief moment when their lips had met, it had felt as though his whole body had been consumed by fire. Heat, desire. Love.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back to him, kissing her with more passion than he had ever thought he was capable of feeling. This was insane but he didn't care. After what seemed like hours they parted once more, Buffy gasping for breath. She raised her hand to her mouth, her fingers brushing her now tender lips.

"Wow." She breathed.

"I think the answer to your question is 'yes.'" Said Spike with a grin.

Buffy laughed. "Took you long enough to decide."

The End