WITH THIS RING...





By Lilachigh



Following on from Something Blue, Willow has reversed all the spells - except one! Hey, don’t tell me we haven’t all dreamt about this at some time!





Chapter One 24 hours



‘Sorry, folks, couldn’t resist the chapter title. Don’t worry, I’m not going to write 24 episodes - although it‘s tempting’





‘Well all I can say, Willow, is that you’re obviously not trying hard enough!’ Giles rubbed his glasses with the end of his tie. Since his sight had been restored, he was greedy for every little detail to be absolutely clear. Being blind had been terrifying, but the situation he found when his sight came back was the most terrifying he’d ever experienced in his whole life.



‘Giles, I am!’ In the late evening gloom, Willow sat cross-legged in the back yard of Buffy’s house and stared in despair at 24 brightly flickering candles standing in a circle, linked with a trail of bright pink and green powder.



‘It’s the strongest breaking spell I know, but it just won’t work.’



Xander was pacing backwards and forwards, wearing a path through the grass. ‘Look, Will, in 24 hours time, Buffy is going to come out of that door wearing a floaty white dress, stand under that flower arch and- and - marry William the Bloody! You have got to stop it!’



Anya was sitting on a bench, filing her nails. ‘And then her name will be Mrs Buffy Bloody? It sounds very odd. And a flower arch in the garden in the dark! No one will be able to see. When I get married - ’ she cast a sideways glance at Xander, ‘Oh, my wedding will be very special. I’ll need far more room than there is in this yard.’



‘Yes, Anya, I’m sure we can hire St Paul’s Cathedral in London for you,’ said Giles in his most sarcastic tones.



Anya sniffed. Sarcasm, she knew sarcasm, but it rolled off her like water off a duck’s back. She glanced up Buffy’s bedroom window. ‘Well, if they’re doing what I think they’re doing up there at the moment, it is very silly of her spending all that money on a white dress, floaty or not! What? What?’



She saw the appalled stares directed at her and shrugged. ‘There’s no need to look at me like that, Xander Harris. You’re all thinking the same thing. I just have the courage to say it out loud.’



Anya was quite right. Upstairs you could cut the tension with a very blunt knife.



‘You are not wearing your leather duster when we get married, and that’s final!’ Buffy stood, hands on hips, glaring at her fiancé.



Spike was lying stretched out on her bed. He’d taken off his boots and she wondered vaguely if that was the first time she’d ever seen his bare feet. Obviously socks didn’t feature in his wardrobe.



He wiggled his toes at her and grinned. ‘What else do you want me to wear, sweetheart?’



Buffy pouted. ‘I don’t know. How about a tux? A nice pale blue one. ’



‘How about washing out your mouth with soap?’



Buffy sighed. ‘OK, a new shirt, then. And some smart pants. No jeans. No T-shirt.’



‘I could come in my birthday suit,’ Spike said suggestively and held out his hand to her.



Buffy launched herself onto the bed and wriggled up next to him. She was so looking forward to her wedding; she wanted it to be absolutely perfect. But at every turn she was facing problems. It wasn’t fair. Everyone was out to spoil it for her and her beloved vampire.



‘At least Mum isn’t causing any problems,’ she said, nibbling at Spike’s ear.



‘Ummm. Joyce has been sweet about it. Did you hear the row she had with your Watcher Wanker?’



Buffy frowned at the language and turned her attention to Spike’s mouth. She ran her finger round the outline of his lips, giggling as he kept trying to nip her finger with his teeth.



‘Giles seems so odd since Willow reversed his blindness spell. Don’t you think he’s odd? All condemny and doomy. Did you hear what he said to me? ‘It can never be. It goes against nature. It’s the end of the world as we know it.’ Why does he think we shouldn’t get married? He’s mean. A big old meanie. I think it’s because he‘s very, very old and doesn’t remember what it was like to....’



‘To do this!’ Spike whispered and ran his hand up her leg, under the skimpy cotton skirt she was wearing.



Buffy giggled and pushed his hand away. ‘Stop that! They’ll hear!’



Spike pulled her closer. ‘Not my fault if you scream, Slayer. I bet you can’t keep quiet for the whole time while I make love to you.’



Buffy sat up. ‘Could too. Bet you couldn’t!’



‘Try me!’



She grinned. ‘Later. Do you realise how much I’ve got to do before tomorrow evening? I still haven’t persuaded Willow to be my maid of honour. Every time I ask her, she splutters at me and runs off to hide in the garden to play with her candles. So, who’s going to be your best man?’



Spike frowned. Male friends of the acceptable variety were a little sparse on the ground. ‘I’ve got a mate called Clem,’ he said slowly. ’He’s OK. Good-hearted. A demon, not a vampire, but we get on. I’ll ask him,’ he decided.



‘Well, don’t leave it too late.’ She glanced at the clock on her dressing-table. ‘This time tomorrow, we’ll be out in the garden, the moon will be shining, there will be flowers everywhere, soft music playing and everyone - ’



‘Everyone will probably be attacking me with pointed wooden objects to stop me putting the ring on your finger.’



Buffy swung herself off the bed and looked out of the window at the little group huddled together in the back yard.



‘They‘re still there,‘ she sighed. ‘Why won’t they go away? They could be helping with the arrangements. Xander could go and collect the cake. Anya could cut the grass. Giles could just go and sulk. I’ve got to patrol in a minute and I want to have a happy killing evening. They’re spoiling everything.’



Spike got up and stood behind her, wrapping his arms round her and holding her tightly against his chest. He buried his chin in the nape of her neck and kissed her.



‘Don’t get upset, Goldilocks. Giles will come round. I’ll try talking to him again, man to man. After all, we’re both English. You’d think he’d be pleased that a fellow compatriot was marrying his Slayer.’



Buffy leant against him, loving the strength that supported her so effortlessly. This was what she needed, what the others didn’t realise. With Spike she felt secure - for the first time in her life she felt safe. And of course she loved him to bits and fancied him like mad...but then who wouldn’t.



Well, to be fair, she thought as she gazed out of the window, my friends aren’t keen. My friends really don’t like him.



‘They’re prejudiced, that’s what it is,’ she said. ‘It’s because you’re a vampire. They should be ashamed. If you were black or disabled or impotent...’



‘Watch it, missy!’



‘Sorry, I meant an immigrant, then they’d be all, ‘Oh yes, that‘s a really good thing you’re doing Buffy,’ but no, they just stand around looking miserable and saying ‘Why, Why, Why,’



Down in the back yard, the Scoobies were in despair. ‘Why is this happening? I don’t understand why Mrs Summers won’t stop it?’ Xander said.



‘God knows, I’ve tried to talk to her,’ Giles replied. ‘She just keeps telling me that it’s all for the best and in the long run will be the right thing to do. I don’t understand what she means and she can’t tell me. Are you sure you didn’t put a spell on her as well, Willow.’



‘Yes! I mean, no! Of course I didn’t. And anyway, all the spells have been reversed, except for - ’



‘And Anya, you tried to speak to D’Hoffryn again?’



Anya nodded brightly. ‘I tried calling him, but he‘s refusing to answer. I think he’s in a snit because Willow refused to become a vengeance demon. He’s very sensitive, you know. He may not look it to you, but he has feelings, too.’



Giles buried his head in his hands, then, ‘And you spoke to Riley, Willow?’



‘He‘s not around. Apparently after Buffy told him she was engaged, he went off on leave. By the time he gets back it will be too late.’



‘So we’re back to square one,’ Xander groaned. ‘Tomorrow evening, Buffy and Spike are getting married.’



Giles looked round at the Scoobies. ‘And we can’t allow that to happen,’ he said firmly. ‘Right, from now on it’s war. This is a Big Bad that must not take place. Whatever happens, we have to stop this wedding!’



to be continued


 

Chapter 2 Enough Time?


Veering away from end of Something Blue, Willow has reversed all the spells except one. Spike and Buffy are getting married - and who can stop them? The problem is, where magic is concerned, as Spike knows, there are always consequences.....


Disclaimer: Just playing, Joss. All yours really.
Distribution: Take if you want, but please let me know where .



The Scoobies were gathered together in Giles’s house for a council of war. The Englishman looked anxiously at Willow. ‘So you reckon you’ve found the right spell to reverse Buffy and Spike’s strange, unnatural attraction to each other?’

Willow nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yes, it was in one of your very oldest books. It isn’t actually very difficult, but it needs a load of different ingredients. I’ll need a bit of time to get them altogether. Penguin eggs aren’t that plentiful in Sunnydale.’

‘Well, we‘ve got until nine tomorrow evening,’ Xander said grimly. ‘Is that enough time?’

‘I...I’m not sure,’ Willow stuttered, hating to be the one everyone was relying on. Since Oz had left, she’d reverted to a very unsure Willow.

‘It’s got to be!’ Xander replied, banging his hand on the table and making everybody jump.

Anya glared at him. Honestly, she thought, you’d have thought Xander imagined he should marry Buffy instead of Spike, the way he was carrying on,

How many men did Buffy need falling at her feet? She had that nice Riley boy, already, why couldn’t she leave Xander alone?

‘So, what we need to do is split them up and keep them apart,’ said Giles. ‘As long as they’re not together, they can’t get married, can they?

‘Right, Anya, you’re supposed to be going with Buffy to collect her dress tomorrow, aren’t you? Right, keep her there as long as possible and Xander and I will find a way to get Spike away from Sunnydale.’

‘Why not just get rid of him altogether,’ Xander said in disgust. ‘He’s nothing but a problem the whole time.’

‘Xander, he’s got that chip in his brain,’ Willow said. ‘It would be like putting down a dog who used to bite and now has had all his teeth extracted, if you ever do extract a dog’s teeth, because, hey, not sure about dogs’ dentistry and...’

‘Yes, yes, Willow. We get your point,’ said Giles. ‘So we won’t kill Spike - we’ll just remove him until you do the right spell. All agreed? Fine. Then that’s the plan. We’ll stop this wedding. Buffy will thank us one day.’

‘Right.’ Xander sounded happier. ‘You start working on the spell, Will, and I’ll go and keep an eye on the happy couple. If I’m there, then they can’t...won’t....well, I’ll just go and keep watch.’

Buffy, at that moment, was wandering hand in hand with her fiancé through the local graveyard. ‘One thing we haven’t sorted out,’ she murmured, gazing at him with love.

‘What’s that, pet? I thought everything was under control.’

‘The wedding, yes, and you’ve said the honeymoon will be - ’

Spike pulled her close and kissed her long and hard. ‘Exciting, sweetheart,’ he muttered, running his hands up under her sweater to cup her breasts.

Buffy gave a little moan and wriggled closer. ‘Promise?’

‘Oh yes. Have you ever....’

He bent to whisper in her ear what he was going to do to her and was delighted to see the hot colour flood up into her cheeks.

‘Spike!’ she squealed. ‘That’s...that’s rude! And impossible?’

He gave that lazy grin she loved so much. ‘I’ll teach you, pet. You’ll love it.’ He couldn’t quite believe that this gorgeous girl was going to be his alone, but he knew from the past few days that she was almost untouched sexually.

Whatever she and Angel had done, or the other couple of idiots who’d managed to get into her bed, it had hardly touched the deep well of passion he sensed bubbled just under the surface.

‘So what else needs to be done,’ he went on.

‘Where are we going to live? Your crypt is OK, and I could really do a lot with the downstairs part - paint it all off white, maybe, with pale primrose drapes and...’

‘Joyce said we could stay with her,’ Spike said hastily, swinging her round to sit on top of a tombstone as visions of his gothic hidey-hole being girlyfied swam before his eyes.

Buffy stared at him in astonishment. ‘Do you really want to live with your mother-in-law? I mean, what about, well... privacy... and things?’

Spike grinned and nuzzled his mouth against her neck. He hated the scar that marred it and wished he could dig his own teeth into the tender skin and put his own mark on her.

‘Well, sweetheart, unless you want to run naked through the house at odd hours, screaming, ‘take me, Spike, take me now!’ I reckon we’ll be OK.’

Buffy punched him in the ribs and felt a sweet satisfaction as she heard the air that he didn’t need, escape from his lungs in a grunt. ‘I suppose it will be more convenient and we can make my room really cosy for you during the day.’

‘I’ll get a TV just for us,’ Spike agreed and they cuddled together in companionable silence, both savouring the vision of a future together.

‘Buffy,’ Spike murmured a few minutes later.

‘Ummmm.’ She was twirling one of his blond curls round and round her finger, loving the feel of it on her skin. He must have curls everywhere, she thought, suddenly and buried her face harder against his shoulder to hide the flood of red that rushed through her.

How on earth had she become so besotted with this man so quickly, she wondered. She vaguely remembered a time, oh, days ago, now, when she violently hated him.

Maybe I was under a spell, she thought dreamily. Yes, that was what it was, a spell to make me hate my lover. I wonder who cast it? Thank goodness it’s been broken. I could never, ever live without Spike.

‘Buffy...’ Spike repeated. ‘Why is the boy lurking behind that tree, pretending he can’t be seen? Is it some sort of game?’

She raised her head and looked across at where Xander’s shoulder and arm were in plain view. ‘I’ve no idea. Oh yes!’ she said with a giggle. ‘I know. He’s come to collect you for your stag night!’

‘What?’

‘You know, where all you men go out and get very drunk and there are strippers and....Spike, don’t go with him!’

He tightened his arm around her waist and grinned. ‘Sounds fun, but with Xander and Giles? Bloody hell, I’d end up carrying them home and having to fight off every demon in Sunnydale who wanted to take a bite out of their dainty arses.’

‘Xander!’ Buffy yelled. ‘We can see you. Come out of there. What’s going on?’

‘Ah...hey, Buffy, Spike...just passing by and....Giles said.....’

Embarrassed, he shuffled towards them, gazing at the ‘get a roominess’ of their body language, angry, jealous, bewildered by what was happening.

Then there was a long sizzling sound..... Phuttzzz!!!....and a flash of orange and purple almost blinded him.

Blinking, he rubbed his eyes and stared. ‘What the heck!’ He was gazing at an empty tombstone. Buffy and Spike had disappeared.

to be continued





Chapter 3 Just Come Home


Veering away from end of Something Blue. The problem with magic - there are always consequences. Willow has made Buffy and Spike disappear!




‘But Xander, they couldn’t have just vanished!’ Giles was sounding thoroughly exasperated. He was polishing his glasses so hard, the others were afraid the lens would fall out.

‘Giles, believe me - not a joke - in the cemetery, watching them, then big flash, all orangey-purpley with fizzing sound effects and then poof, they’d gone.’

Xander had stumbled back from the to Giles’ house to tell a horrified Scoobie gang what had happened.

Willow’s face was whiter than pale. ‘It must have been some reaction to the last spell. Maybe it was too soon to mix it with the first one. I thought it seemed a bit unstable towards the end. Maybe one of the penguin eggs was bad. It can happen. They don’t travel well.’

Giles was almost tearing out his hair in exasperation. ‘But where have they gone? Was it a time warp of some sort? Have you sent them, I don’t know, back a couple of centuries, perhaps?’

Willow shook her head doubtfully. ‘I don’t think so. I wasn’t moving time at all; you know I can’t do that yet, Giles. This was just a spell to make them dislike each other again. Wipe the slate clean of the getting-all-cosy effect and bring them back to what they ought to feel for each other. But something’s gone wrong, obviously.’

‘So what do you do to get them back?’ Anya asked. ‘I’ve had a lot of experience of these sorts of spells. They always have nasty consequences if you’re not very careful. You might have turned Buffy into a fish, or a toad, or something slimy.’

She went very pale. ‘Oh no, you might have turned Spike into a bunny. You didn’t see any white haired, blue eyed bunnies in the graveyard, did you Xander?’

‘No, An, no bunnies, no toads, no fish. Nothing. Nought. De nada. Just a great big empty nothing.’

Willow jumped to her feet. ‘I’ll hit the books again. What we need is a locator spell. If I can see where they are, I can probably open a portal and then work out how to get them back.’

Giles’s face was grim. ‘I just hope you can, Willow. I keep telling you how dangerous it is to play around with witch craft when you’re not very experienced. I just hope
Buffy is OK. And Spike, too, I suppose, although I must admit, if he’s lost in the past, he’ll feel quite at home!’

‘Oh, no,Spike has to come back, too. He went with Buffy; I don’t think I can bring one back without the other.’

Xander looked gloomy. ‘Well, Giles, there is a bright side to all of this. At least we don’t have to worry about them getting married! Let’s just hope Willow can magic them back. And let’s hope that wherever they are, they’re not in any danger.’

Buffy came downstairs in her pyjamas, yawning widely, her blonde hair tousled, tied back loosely in a ponytail. She stretched luxuriously as she came into the kitchen. She was tired. Well, it had been quite a night! She vaguely wondered if it had all been a dream, but then she remembered quite clearly the marks she’d spotted on her body when she woke and knew that it had been no dream.

She poured herself a glass of juice and perched on a stool, wondering what to do with the rest of her day.

Suddenly there was a loud sizzling noise and a bright purple and orange flash and Willow appeared in the kitchen, her face screwed up, eyes shut.

As the sizzling stopped, she opened her eyes, saw Buffy and gasped. ‘Buffy! I’ve found you! Where have you been? Oh, it’s your kitchen. You mean you’ve been here all the time? I just sent you home? ’

Buffy’s lips twitched. When her friend went into rant mode, nothing made a lot of sense. ‘Willow. Slow down. Yes, my kitchen. My home where I have been in bed all night. And why are you transporting when you could just walk down the road or pick up the phone and speak to me?’

‘We couldn’t find you, Buffy. We were so scared. Well, I was scared. Xander is just upset because he saw you go and Giles is angry, in that dreadfully British, stiff-upper-lippy way he has.’

Buffy stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. ‘Willow, have any of Oz’s weird friends been giving you anything odd to eat or drink? You haven’t tried any peculiar looking cigarettes, have you? You’re out of it.’

‘Oz?’ Willow’s voice trembled. ‘That’s mean, Buffy. You know Oz has gone. Don’t bring him up, please.’

‘Oz has gone? Gone where? He was sitting in your family room playing guitar yesterday. He didn’t say anything about going anywhere.’

‘Buffy, what are you talking about. Oz left Sunnydale because of the wolfy business. You know he did. And what family room?’

Buffy was beginning to get irritated. ‘Look, Will. Is this some sort of game, because if it is, then I don’t know the rules. Oz has never left Sunnydale. And never owned a wolf, as far as I know. You and Oz are engaged, living together in your parents’ house while they’re touring Europe.’

Willow sat down abruptly, as if her legs wouldn’t hold her up. ‘Buffy, it isn’t true. I’m not engaged to Oz. He left town. And he’s a werewolf.

‘I think...Buffy, in my world - that is our world - I did a spell because I was unhappy that Oz had left me. Then I reversed it, but it didn’t work and I think I must have sent you into an alternative reality.

‘But it isn’t too late. I’ve done a spell to open a sort of portal. You come through it with me, then I can just do the reverse magic and this reality will disappear and things will be back as they ought to be. All we need to do is find Spike and take him with us, because, well, he was there when I did the spell in the first place...and you do know where he is, don’t you?’

‘Someone talking about me?’

Willow spun round. Lounging in the doorway, wearing tight dark jeans and a red shirt open to the waist stood Spike. His hair wasn’t gelled back as normal, but rioted over his head in tight blond curls. Bare-footed and yawning, he looked as if he‘d just rolled out of bed.

To Willow’s astonishment, Buffy walked across and wrapped her arms round the vampire. ‘Sweetheart, Will’s got the weirdest ideas about alternative reality thingies and Oz being a werewolf. Can you understand what she’s talking about?’

Spike dropped a kiss on her forehead. ‘Doubt it, pet, never can on a good day, but after last night - ’ He gave her a slow, lascivious smile and Willow felt she should glance away, because this was an emotion that wasn’t for a third party to witness.

Oh god, no, she thought. In this reality, Buffy and Spike were still in love. She had to get them back and fast.

‘Buffy, you both have to come with me. You don’t love each other, not really. It’s all down to a spell I did - ’

‘Not love each other? That’s an odd thing to say about a husband and wife,’ Buffy broke in.

‘H-husband and - what?’

‘Wife. You know, trouble and strife, the old lady, the old Dutch, the old chain and ball, whichever saying you like,’ Spike drawled, sounding very English.

‘You’re married’

‘Will, this is silly. Of course we’re married. It was magical. Midnight under an arch of white roses. You were there, you and Oz and all the Scoobies. You wore your green and brown outfit and Oz and Xander were ushers. Xander got very drunk, as usual - we’re going to have to do something about his drinking, you know - and Giles gave me away and Mum caught my bouquet when I threw it and got all giggly about it. You can’t have forgotten the wedding!’

‘Buffy, there hasn’t been a wedding,’ Willow whispered. ‘Not in my reality.’

Spike pulled Buffy closer still and nuzzled her neck. ‘Seems like a damn stupid one to me, Red. Can’t be any better than what we’ve got here.’

‘What about Riley?’

Buffy looked puzzled. ‘You mean Riley Finn, the psych guy at college? He left to join the Marines. You know he did. There was a big party and a load of demons invaded the room and we had a marvellous fight. Remember?’

Willow shook her head. ‘Buffy, none of this is true. You’re not married to Spike. You hate him. He’s your arch enemy. This is not how things ought to be.’

The Slayer reached up and ran a finger across her husband’s lips. He sucked it into his mouth and she giggled, remembering....

‘It all seems very true to me. How can I not be married to the man I love?’

So, are you saying you won’t come back? I can’t dissolve this reality unless you do.’

‘Look, as far as I know, my Willow is a quarter of a mile away, in bed with her fiancé. We’re going shopping later today, to the Bronze tonight, then Spike and I are going to patrol until very late. Then supper and bed. Lots of lovely bed. A good day all round. Why would I trade that for a place where you say Spike and I hate each other ?’

And as Willow watched them, entwined, their bodies melting together, she knew she would never win. And for a long moment she wondered about her other self, living with Oz, being happy. All that would vanish at her command.

‘But what about your Mum,’ she said at last. ‘She’ll be frantic when you don’t come home.’

Buffy hesitated as if she didn’t know what to say, then, suddenly, the strange sizzling noise started again and little purple and orange flashes began slanting through the kitchen.

‘It’s the spell working, taking me back,’ Willow cried. ‘Buffy, please come home. Look, I’ll leave the portal open for another hour, but that’s all I can manage. Then it will be too late. Just - come - home - ’

And with a brighter orange flash, she’d gone.

to be continued

’

Chapter 4 Every Possible Way


The consequences of Willow’s spells are complicated. Spike and Buffy are in an alternative universe where their love is perfectly acceptable to all their friends! The temptation to stay there is very strong!


‘Do you reckon she bought it?’ Spike pushed his bare foot against the small orange and purple flashing circle on the kitchen floor. ‘Hey, look, it‘s all squidgy!’

‘Squidgy? There’s no such word! And don’t play around with portals from one dimension to another. You might get sucked through against your will.’

Spike raised his eyebrows but nodded and swung himself up to sit on the work surface. ‘So, I’ll ask again, luv. Did WillOne believe we are just duplicates, living in this world, not knowing about her universe? Did she believe we were married?’

Buffy sighed and leant against his legs. ‘I don’t know. I thought our acting was pretty damn hot. Oscar type material. I wasn’t expecting her to arrive here so soon; I thought we‘d have, oh I don‘t know, a couple more days to....well, to...’

‘Make mad passionate love all over this Sunnydale?’ Spike asked hopefully and lobed a little cheese cracker through the portal.

‘I said, don’t do that!’ Buffy snapped. When they‘d found themselves transported to a parallel world, she’d freaked out for a while. She’d been desperate to get home.

But then, that first night, Spike had come to her room and - she felt her face flood with colour as she remembered what they’d done to each other - how they’d felt - what they’d said - well, in comparison the other Sunnydale seemed a hard, cruel place, one she didn’t want to remember. And here, strangely, their friends were quite comfortable that they were lovers. The Slayer and a vampire. No biggie.

‘WillTwo explained it pretty well,’ Buffy said. ‘This universe was made when the second spell was cast. Time moves a little faster here, apparently. When we’re in one, we’re not in the other, but everyone else exists in both and just gets on with their lives - whatever they are - in the different worlds. It’s weird, but it makes a sort of sense.’

Spike grunted. ‘It bloody well turns my brain inside out. Two universes, two Xanders, two Willows. Hey, what about your Watcher in this world? We haven’t seen him since we got here.’

‘He’s in England, apparently,’ Buffy said. ‘Thank goodness. It’s one less person to worry about.’

‘WillOne said she could only hold the portal open for an hour,’ Spike said. ‘But WillTwo says she can hold it open indefinitely. Is she stronger?’

Buffy nodded and rubbed her head against his arm like a little blonde cat who needed to be stroked. ‘Yes, much.’

‘Wish between them they’d put the portal somewhere less obvious than the kitchen floor,’ grumbled Spike. ‘You’d think they could have put it in the spare bedroom, or the garage. What the hell do we tell people here it is?’

‘I don’t think anyone except Willow can see it,’ Buffy said thoughtfully and regretfully pulled herself away from him and his wandering hands to make some hot chocolate. ‘I’ll put a bucket on top of it so no one can fall in! And it’ll stop you chucking bits at it as if it’s a dustbin! Just think, all those crackers and candies are arriving unannounced in the other Sunnydale!’

Spike watched her. He loved looking at her; she was so graceful, even when doing something as prosaic as making a drink. Bloody hell, this was one of the weirdest situations he’d ever found himself in since Dru had turned him all those years ago.

He had a memory of hating the Slayer, knew somewhere in his head that he should want to kill her, must kill her. It was what he did. But he had the chip thingy in his brain, so couldn’t hurt anyone.

So, one minute, hating, then the next so deeply in love, he couldn’t even begin to put his feelings into words. They were engaged, about to be married, everyone hated it, except them, then bam! - they were here, in a Sunnydale they both knew wasn’t theirs.

Same house, but this Joyce was living with her sister, Xander was drinking too much, and Oz was still with Willow.

And he and Buffy? He felt the silly smile he couldn’t shake off begin to form on his mouth again. Last night had been - well, fantastic was a very over used word, but bloody hell, it had been the best night of his life. He ached in places he didn’t know he had places.

The Slayer was amazing in bed; so innocent in lots of ways - oh god, what he could teach her! - so passionate in others. Like a little animal when she came, screaming his name, begging him not to stop, her head arched back, her legs wrapped so tightly round his waist that he was sure he’d got a couple of cracked ribs this morning! Yes, in this world they were together, in every possible way.

A knock at the back door heralded WillTwo’s arrival and Spike casually pulled a towel across his lap. There was no need to show anyone else how aroused he was!

‘I stayed away as long as I could,’ the red-headed witch said breathlessly. ‘But Oz is still asleep and I got bored just sitting waiting. Did I - I mean - me - I mean other Willow come through?’

‘Yes, just as you thought she would, Red,’ Spike said. ‘Have you told Oz about all this?’

WillTwo shook her head. ‘No, it’s so odd. How can I tell him that in an alternative universe he’s left me because he’s a werewolf! And that you and Spike can exist in both worlds but we can’t! Even I don’t fully understand it.’

‘Do we tell the boy any of this?’ Spike drawled, pushing the little marshmallows he liked round his mug of chocolate.

Buffy frowned. ‘Spike, XanOne knows already, remember. But XanTwo, he’s - well - he’s different here.’

‘You mean he’s permanently sloshed, sweetheart!’

Buffy bit her lip. ‘Well, he does enjoy the odd drink of beer, and yes, perhaps he does have too much, but hey, we’ve all been down that road, so no snarking!’

WillTwo pulled a face. ‘Buffy, Spike‘s right. We’ve always known Xander had a drinking problem. There’s no use in shutting our eyes to it. How could he avoid it with parents like his? They used to give him beer to drink at every meal - even when we were at nursery school!’

Buffy bit her lip. Even WillTwo didn’t really get it. There had been no nursery school, no parents, no beery Xander. This world hadn’t even existed until WillOne had cast her spell that had gone so very wrong. Or, of course, so very right, depending on your point of view! And remembering what she and Spike had been doing all night long in the privacy of her bedroom, there was no real contest as to which was right and which was wrong.

‘XanOne avoided it,’ Buffy said softly, catching Spike’s eye and shaking her head slightly. It was so difficult to remember not to compare the two worlds.

As soon as they’d arrived in this Sunnydale, they’d made a pact not to talk about their friends and family, except to WillTwo. But it was hard.

WillTwo was very good and tried hard not to ask too many questions, but she’d been horrified to learn what her counterpart’s life was like. It had made her extra affectionate towards Oz, who’d been quite bewildered by this show love from his girlfriend.

‘You haven’t told me yet what you’ve decided?’ WillTwo said, changing the subject. ‘Are you staying or going?’

Buffy turned away and gazed out of the window. She could feel the tension rising from her lover and knew Spike was waiting for her to speak as well.

‘The problem is my mum,’ she said, fighting back tears. ‘Here in this world, she’s away living with my aunt, she doesn’t know anything about our lives here in Sunnydale. I ring her every week, but we’re not that close. But in the other world, she’s there for me all the time. I know she’d be desperately upset if I vanished completely. I can’t do that to her. I thought I could. I thought that if she knew I was happy, she would be too. But I was wrong. And I’m the Slayer in both worlds, too, don’t forget. And in that world there’s far more demon activity than there is here. I’m needed all the time.’

‘So you’re going?’ WillTwo said sadly.

Buffy spun round and reached out to Spike. He immediately pulled her into his arms and held her tight. ‘We have to,’ she said, gazing into his bright blue eyes. ‘You do see that, don’t you, sweetheart.’

Spike buried his lips in her tangled hair. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this. In all his years with Drusilla, he’d never been this happy, this satisfied.

He would have cheerfully stayed in this world, with her, but if she was going to be unhappy then there was no choice.

‘I take it when we go back, we’ll be enemies again,’ he growled. ‘You’ll still fancy that Riley wanker and the Initiative will still be on our backs. That really gives me something to look forward to.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

‘Will we remember this world at all, Slayer?’

Buffy looked questioningly at WillTwo who frowned. ‘I don‘t see why you shouldn’t,’ she said. ‘You’ve never had any problem recalling the other place once you were here. I imagine it will seem like a dream.’

‘So when do we go?’ Spike asked quietly, lighting a cigarette and then stubbing it out with a puzzled frown when he realised he apparently didn’t like smoking in this world.

Buffy hesitated. She had a feeling that whatever WillTwo said, once the portal was shut, they wouldn’t remember anything.

She gazed at Spike, the tight platinum curls, the slash of cheekbones that had grazed against her thighs so often last night. Oh god, she wanted him so badly. She could feel herself growing wet just looking at him. He could make her come just by one flick of a finger on her clit. She could feel her breathing growing ragged at the memory. If WillTwo hadn’t been there, she knew she would have pulled him down on the kitchen floor and begged him to fuck her.

How could that change? It was impossible to believe that in a few seconds she could be hating him, wishing he was dead.

‘I think....I think we’ll go back tomorrow,’ she said at last. She looked up to find Spike gazing at her. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and she felt the heat pour up and over her body.

Yes, she was going to have one more day and one more night with her vampire lover. And if that was wrong, then for once, that was what she was going to be.

to be continued


 

chapt. 5 Three Little Words


In the alternative Sunnydale, Spike and Buffy are about to turn their backs on happiness and go home, but Spike has one more card up his sleeve.....



Buffy woke the next morning and refused to open her eyes. She used to play this game when she was little: if I don’t open my eyes, it won’t be time to get up, I won’t have to go to school and I can stay all warm and cozy in bed. If I don’t open my eyes, Mummy won’t know I’m here at all. I’m hiding!

Yes, she was hiding! If she didn’t wake up, she would have to stay here in bed with Spike and not go back to a world where she hated him and he loathed her.

‘I know you’re awake, pet. Your breathing’s changed tempo.’

‘Did I ever tell you how much I detest a vampire’s weird increased hearing ability,’ she grumped, still keeping her eyes clenched tightly shut. ‘There’s something bizarre about having ears that can hear sounds like a bat and a nose that can - ’

The said nose was pushed into the soft curls between her legs and she squealed and her eyes flashed open.

‘Unfair!’ she said. ‘Cheat!’

‘What can I say, Slayer,’ he murmured, rolling completely on top of her, ‘I’ve always been bad.’

She stared up into the dancing blue eyes above her. Somehow in this world she doubted the truthfulness of that last remark. Back in the other Sunnydale, she had no problem with Spike being a long term evil being, but here it was different.

Buffy sighed and his expression changed immediately from smirk to frown. It was amazing how quickly he picked up her mood swing.

‘You still worried about going back today?’

She bit her lip and nodded. ‘I know we’ve got to go, but I’m finding it hard to leave here.’

‘After last night, I must admit a future of you kicking my arse all round town and punching me on the nose whenever you see me does seem less than enjoyable.’

‘Last night was - ’ she stopped, colour flooding into her cheeks. Last night had been wonderful, wild, wayout and wanton. She hadn’t known she could behave like that.

At one point Spike had pulled her across his lap. He’d insisted on still wearing his jeans and T-shirt but - heaven knows why it was so sexy but it was - he’d stripped her stark naked and the rough denim had scratched at her nipples.

She’d lain there, hair swinging down to the floor, as he fondled her breasts with one hand and stroked her bottom, gently, over and over again, lulling her into relaxing, purring, until suddenly he’d spanked her, once, twice, hard enough to sting. And before she could even squeal, his fingers had been inside her and she’d come so hard she thought her head was going to explode as it thrashed from side to side.

Spike swung himself off the bed and grinned down at her. ‘We can play all those games again when we get home, Slayer. And more, lots more, I can teach you.’

Buffy headed for the shower. Sometimes she hated it when he called her that. It made her remember just what she had to give up in life. ‘Spike, you’re forgetting we hate each other back in the other Sunnydale. There won’t be any more games, any more - anything.’

If she’d looked over her shoulder at that moment she might have hesitated, might have been worried. Spike had a look on his face that she knew only too well in both worlds. It was the fatal expression that said, ‘I’ve had a bloody brilliant idea and I’m going to put it into practice without any thought of any problems that might arise.’

When she came out of the shower, he’d gone. She padded downstairs, rubbing her hair dry. There was a note on the work top. ‘Gone out. Back later. Don’t go without me!’

Buffy frowned. She’d wanted to spend every second of every minute with him before they stepped through the flickering purple and orange circle in the corner of the kitchen that would transport them to their original universe. She thought he’d wanted the same, but obviously not.

She poured herself some orange juice and stared at the upturned bucket on the kitchen floor. It looked so stupid there. A bright red bucket - but underneath she knew was the portal that led back to her other life. And whether she liked it or not, she and Spike were going to go through it later that day.

Where on earth was he? ‘Urgggh. Stupid vampire. He makes me so mad sometimes! No, rephrase that. He makes me so mad all the time!’ she muttered. ‘If he can write a note, why not say where he was going.’ It was interesting to discover that he could annoy her just as much in this reality as he did in the other.

A knock at the back door made her spin round, a smile lighting up her face, but it was XanTwo who came in. Even at this early hour she could smell he’d been drinking.

‘Hey, Buff. Good to shtee you. You’re looking great.’

‘Hi, Xander. Coffee?’

He half fell into a chair at the kitchen table and lay with his dark head pillowed on his arms. She stared down at him, pity, affection and irritation fighting to become uppermost in her mind. ‘Yup, I reckon coffee’s pretty much on your immediate menu!’

This Xander didn’t seem to have the willpower that XanOne did. He’d been unable to pull away from his dreadful parents and in this world there was no Anya to be his girlfriend and boost his self confidence.

She made him an extra strong cup of coffee and watched as he drank it, the caffeine beginning to work on his system.

‘Thanks, Buffy, you’re a life-saver. What would I do without you? Hey, where’s Spike? I want to know if he fancies a game of pool tonight, down at the Bronze. He beat me last time and I will have my revenge! Ha. Ha. Ha!’

Buffy turned away, muttering something about being not sure what their plans were for the evening. In this world Xander and Spike were friends. She tried to imagine XanOne asking Spike out for a beer and failed.

‘Hey, I met a really nice girl last night,’ XanTwo said, cheerfully buttering himself some toast. ‘Think I might have made the right sort of impression. She certainly knows a lot about some weird things. I don’t think the Slayer thing will worry her.’

Buffy laughed. ‘Anya certainly won’t find it difficult to understand.’

‘Anya?’ XanTwo sounded puzzled. ‘No, her name‘s Tara. She’s a wiccan girl. Long amber hair and beautiful skin. A creamy sort of girl. You’ll love her. I really think she could be the one, Buff.’

‘I’m sure I’ll love her,’ Buffy said. ‘If you do, then I will, too. Are you certain her name’s not Anya?’

‘No, I mean yes. Tara.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’m going to ask Willow and Oz to come out for a pizza with us. Why don’t you and Spike make it a sixer?’

‘I’ve just said, I’m not sure what our plans are for - ’

‘Sorry, mate. We’re going to be busy.’ It was Spike, standing in the doorway, tossing aside the blanket he’d draped over his head.

‘Oh, pity, well, I’d better get going. There might be a job going on the building site for the new college. Can but try. I can carry bricks with the best of them. See you guys.’

‘Take care of yourself.’ Buffy reached up to give him a hug. XanTwo looked at her in surprise.

‘Wow. That was very nice. What have I done to deserve that?’

Buffy laughed shakily. How could she tell this lovable idiot that in a few minutes time, she and Spike would be gone and all memories of her would cease in his mind.

When he’d left, Buffy whirled round on her lover. ‘Where on earth have you been? I thought we were going to spend all day together - before we have to - ’

‘Don’t loose your temper, Goldilocks! I’ve got a surprise for you. One last thing to do here before we go.’

Buffy looked at him suspiciously, but although his eyes were twinkling, he seemed serious. ‘Go and get dressed.’

‘Hey, standing right here wearing clothes!’ she mocked. ‘Know that’s not how you usually want me, but - ’

‘Put on a dress!’ he said firmly, pushing her towards the stairs. ‘That blue effort with the little straps. I like that one.’

Buffy stared at him. ‘Where are we going?’

The blue eyes grew dark and for a second the tough, hard bitten man she knew back in the other Sunnydale looked out at her. ‘You say we might not remember all this?’

‘I don’t know, Spike. You might, or I might. Or we both could. Neither Willow could tell us. Once the spell is broken, all I know is that you’ll hate me and I’ll - ’ she tried to say the words, but they wouldn’t come. ‘I’ll hate you.’ Three little words, but impossible for her to speak them. Because they were just impossible to believe.

Spike looked down at his boots, then up again, his gaze searching her face with a burning intensity. ‘Buffy, I’ve done a lot of dreadful things in my life, never had anything in it that was worth much. I loved Dru for years, I know that. Angel and Darla were my family. But you - me - I want....it’s so different.’

Buffy reached out her hands and placed them in his. His grasp tightened so much that she knew any other girl would have screamed as her bones broke.

‘What do you want, Spike?’ she whispered.

‘I want us to belong to each other!’

¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

Two hours later, Buffy stood in the kitchen again, hand in hand with Spike, staring down at the small flickering flames that surrounded the portal back to the other Sunnydale. The time had finally come. And she couldn’t bear it. She wanted to stay, stay, stay. Oh God, she would give anything, do anything, but - ‘Ready?’ she whispered.

He pulled her tightly against his chest and ran his hand tenderly down her cheek, wiping away the tears as he went. ‘No crying,’ he ordered. ‘This is the happiest day of your life, remember?’

She tilted her head back for his kiss. If he could be brave, then so could she. She would take his courage and build on it.

‘Let’s give them something to worry about as we arrive, pet,’ he said.

She smiled wickedly and felt in her pocket. There was the crackle of paper. It was safe - a certificate of marriage between Elizabeth and William. Now, just as Spike had wanted, just as he had arranged so hurriedly, they belonged to each other.

‘And let no man put asunder,’ Spike said savagely and his tongue plundered her mouth as they jumped into the flames.

to be continued



 

Chp.6 Across the Darkness


Buffy and Spike are back from the other Sunnydale, married and deeply in love. But in this world they have to part....


The Sunnydale graveyard was dark and quiet at three in the morning. A couple of newly risen vampires had dragged themselves out of their graves earlier and staggered off into the night, puzzled and confused by what had happened to them, but now all was silent.

A tiny sliver of moon cut the dark sky but gave no light to the grassy mounds and moss encrusted tombstones.

Suddenly, a bright orange and purple circle appeared behind one of the tombstones and with a hissing flash, a couple, kissing deeply, passionately, fell through it and rolled onto the grass.

At last a platinum blond head was lifted and Spike gazed round. ‘We’re back, pet,’ he said drearily.

Buffy kept her hands clasped tightly behind his back. ‘I don’t want to know.’

‘Hey, denial girl, I’m with you on this one, but don’t think we’ve got much option, luv. This is what we planned. You’re the Slayer and you’re needed here.’

Buffy pressed her whole body against his, revelling in the feel of it, hard where she was soft. How could she give this up. It wasn’t fair.

‘I resign,’ she muttered, burying her face in his neck.

Spike ran his hands over her body. He knew it would the last time, probably for ever, that he would get to touch her like this. He had no illusions about the future. He knew that once Willow got her spells right, he’d be back to being the despised ex big bad, chipped by the military and unable to do much to anyone. Buffy wouldn’t let him so much as touch her foot once that happened.

So for a few more long minutes he could hold her, smell her hair, the scent of her skin, the musk of her arousal triggering all his emotions once again.

Then he lifted his head, his acute vampire hearing a blessing and a curse. ‘We’ve no time left, sweetheart. Judging by their famous impression of a herd of wild elephants, I can hear your Watcher and Red and the boy coming across the cemetery. They must have heard the portal open.‘

Buffy reluctantly let him go and stood up. She pushed her hand into the pocket of her jeans where her wedding certificate still lay.

She remembered the little chapel Spike had found in the other Sunnydale, the elderly clergyman who’d agreed to do the ceremony. There had been white flowers everywhere - lilies, roses, gardenias - a forest of white candles, and WillTwo and XanTwo, the witnesses, only too happy for them to be married.

The words, so old but still so true, rang in her mind. ‘For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health...till death do you part.’

She could still see in her mind the candlelight reflecting in the vampire’s blazing blue eyes, feel the pressure of his hand as he slipped one of his rings on her finger. Her lips still ached from his kiss - her husband - her life.

And now -

‘Buffy! Are you there? Buffy, answer us?’ It was Giles.

Without thinking, she pulled Spike down behind a large gravestone so they couldn’t be seen.

‘They’re going to do the rest of the spell to make us go back to what it was like before - hating each other again,’ she said in despair. ‘We’re going to forget all about this, aren’t we, about being married, about the other Sunnydale.’

Spike stroked her hair. ‘I’ll go back to being your enemy, even if I have got this rotten chip in my head, and you’ll go back to college and your boyfriend. That’s the way it’s meant to be in this universe, Buffy. You know that.

‘You’re the Slayer and you’re needed here. I’ve no idea what I’m needed for. Except to annoy the hell out of Xander, I suppose! But, listen to me,’ - his voice became deeper, more urgent, ‘ I’ve lived for a hell of a long time, and I’ve seen all kind of weird and wonderful things.’

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to the starlit sky. ‘Believe me, Slayer. We’re meant to be together. In your heart, in your soul, you know it and so do I. True, I might not have a soul, but I feel it with every sinew, every nerve in my body. Maybe not now, maybe not even soon, but one day, believe me, in this Sunnydale not just the other, you’ll tell me you love me.’

‘But we’re married, Spike. How can I go on seeing Riley. What happens - ’ she faltered to a stop, almost unable to put the next words into a sentence, the pain was so great. ‘What happens if one day someone else asks me to marry them? I’m your wife, Spike! It doesn’t matter which universe I’m in, I’ll always be your wife.’

Spike pulled her closer still until their bodies merged into one. ‘I’ve no idea what’s going to happen to us, Slayer. But I do know this - even if they make me forget what’s happened, I’ll never hurt you and I’ll always be there if you need me.’

Buffy reached up, running her fingers through the mussed up curls and kissed him passionately. ‘And even if I don‘t remember, I promise you this, William - I’ll never marry anyone else, I’ll never hurt you and you’ll always be in my heart.’

She could hear her friends getting closer and knew their time together was nearly up. She held up her hand and Spike, without a word, gently pulled off his ring from her finger.

He started to put it in his pocket, but Buffy stopped him and, kissing it, slipped her wedding ring down inside her bra, next to her heart.

With a gasp, she stood up, knowing if she didn’t move now, she would never let him go. She could hear Giles and Willow shouting, hugging her, explaining about the spell, how great it was to have her back, Xander was telling Spike in exasperated tones to ‘let go of Buffy’s hand, bleach boy,’ and she felt a great sense of bereavement as they pulled her away from him.

They were laughing, crying and Willow began chanting yet another spell. And Buffy knew exactly what this one was for - it was the one that would part them for ever.

Desperately, she turned to look for him; he’d already moved away and was standing a little way off in the shadow of a crypt. Even as the world shimmered magically around her, she saw him lift his hand to his mouth and blow her a kiss goodbye across the darkness.

But as life in this Sunnydale swung back to normal, behind the nearby moss encrusted gravestone, the tiny orange and purple portal to the other place flickered once, twice, but remained open!


to be continued

Chp 7 There was his Wife


Apologies to eagle eyed readers. I have had to go back to Chp 4 and amend the mechanics of the portal and the amount of time that passes when they are in each world. Sorry!



Sunnydale Cemetery lay dark and peaceful. A thin sliver of moon sailed high amongst wide clouds that blew on a strong wind. The gusts scurried up the grassy paths, whirled round the tombstones and set odd pieces of paper flying into the air.

Behind a tall tombstone that backed up to the wall of a crypt, ten months growth of weeds and mud and rubbish jammed into the space began to quiver and glow and finally, with a sparkle of orange and purple, a portal opened and a figure stepped hesitantly through.

It was a slight young man with short reddish hair wearing a green T-shirt with a picture of a monkey printed on it. He stood, gazing around curiously, then hoisted himself up onto a flat gravestone and sat waiting, whistling softly.

An hour later he fell silent as two other figures appeared. A girl in denim was walking down one of the paths, a wooden stake in one hand. Walking backwards in front of her, a slim, blond man wearing a long black leather coat.

“OK, Slayer, so let-me-Count-the ways-I-can show-off-Dracula has gone flying off into the night again. Still without paying me back the eleven quid he owes me! Why doesn’t that surprise me. Couldn’t you have asked him for the cash before he went? “

“Get out of my way, Spike. I’m working.”

“And I’m not? Annoying you is my work - and bloody hard it is, too. You’ve no idea how much energy it takes to - ”

“Spike - what will it take to make you shut your mouth for five minutes?”

The vampire halted, causing the girl to stop as well. A dark scarred eyebrow lifted and a smile flashed. “Well, I can think of one way to stop me talking, luv. Want to try?”

“Oh gross, Spike. Just crawl back inside your crypt and watch something inane on that TV of yours. And, by the way, where are you getting the electricity to run it?”

Spike sighed. “Cables, sweetheart. They run underground everywhere. I haven’t lived all these years and not be able to get plugged into the plumbing and electrics where I live. Buffy? Buffy, are you listening to me, Slayer?”

Buffy was staring over his shoulder, her mouth open in astonishment. “Oz? Oz! Is that you.”

The figure on the tombstone jumped down and wandered up to them. “Hi, Buffy. Spike.”

“Oz! You’re back again!” Buffy threw her arms round him and hugged him, then she glanced anxiously up at the moon. “Are you OK? This isn’t one of your wolfy nights, is it?”

He stared at her puzzled. “Wolfy? Not sure what you mean, Buffy. Listen, I’ve been sent by Willow.”

“Will knows you’re back? She never said. When did you get here?”

“An hour ago. Buffy, I’m from the other Sunnydale. I’m the one you call OzTwo.”

“I think he’s flipped his lid, Slayer,” Spike said, leaning against the crypt wall and lighting a cigarette. “It’s all that running around covered in fur in all weathers. It’s bound to make you go crazy after a few months.”

OzTwo stared at them, understanding dawning on his face. “You don’t remember, do you? Neither of you remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Look, if you and dog boy are going to have long boring chats, can you at least go home and have them,” Spike said. “I’ve got things to do.”

OzTwo turned and looked at him with enough affection to make Spike step back a pace. “No, Spike, sorry, man, this sort of concerns you as well.” He walked away, behind a huge tombstone and, puzzled, the Slayer and Spike followed, keeping a good distance from each other.

“Bloody hell!”

“What on earth is that?” Buffy stared down at the purple and orange flames dancing in a circle on the ground. “No, never mind. I know a portal when I see one. Oz, what the heck’s going on?”

OzTwo stared at them. “OK. Short version. Through that ring of fire there’s another Sunnydale. Life’s roughly the same as here,so I’m told. Few differences. Will and me are living together. I’m not a werewolf, which apparently I am here. Giles works in England and only visits occasionally. Your mum lives with her sister - and you - ”

He stopped and stared Buffy. She stared back, in appalled fascination. “What about me?”

“Well, you’re still the Slayer but - you’re married to Spike!”

“Whaaat!” Spike roared, flashing into game face.

“Eeewwww, Oz, don’t be so revolting. That’s ridiculous. As if I would ever marry Spike.” She turned towards the portal, so Oz couldn’t see the flush on her cheeks.

As he’d spoken those words, a flash of hidden, buried memory had burnt its way across her mind. A pair of dirty jeans, thrown in the back of her closet. She never washed them.

Once, shortly after they’d all been struck dumb by the Gentlemen, she’d gone through the pockets in readiness for the laundry and found a silly joke piece of paper, probably put there by Xander.

Because she couldn’t speak, she hadn’t been able to yell at him about it and in the months that had since passed, all the trouble with Faith and Jonathan, her relationship with Riley, she’d pushed it out of her mind.

The piece of paper had pretended to be her marriage certificate to Spike.

Now another memory hit her with all the force of a lightning strike. It was her bedroom, but the furnishings and curtains were different. There was a bed with royal blue sheets, a brass bedstead and her hands were tied with silk scarves above her head to the corner posts.

Her bottom was lifting off the bed as she arched into the air, but her legs were free - free to wrap themselves tightly round someone‘s waist while his cock drove her on and on into an enormous, mind bending climax . But what she was feeling wasn’t just desire, lust, she knew she loved this man, deeply, passionately.

And as the veil of her memory tore a little more, she could see the face above hers, the blazing blue eyes, the mouth about to descend once more to her breast.

And the face was Spike’s.

She sank to the ground only too aware that she was wet between the thighs. “Oh-my-god!” she whimpered. “Oh-my-god!”

Spike stared down at her, his eyes fading from gold to blue. He reached out with the toe of his boot and kicked at the portal’s flames. One of them wrapped itself round his foot like a snake and as memories returned, he froze -

It was nearly dawn, he could tell from the light outside the curtained windows, the dark blue sheets were rumpled, tangled round his naked body, the whole room smelt of sex and arousal and passion.

He was holding a small, slender naked woman tightly in his arms. Her blonde hair was splayed across his chest, one of her hands was still clasped possessively round his balls in her sleep. He could feel the bite marks she’d inflicted, feel that utter relaxation of every muscle that only came when you were completely and utterly shagged out of your mind. He was looking down, kissing her forehead - this was the woman he loved more than life itself, a love he’d never ever felt for anyone ever before - and that woman was Buffy.....

“Slayer?” he said hoarsely now.

“Spike? We couldn’t....we didn’t....Oz?”

OzTwo pulled a face. “The portal is unlocking your memories, Buffy. It was a spell Willow did. When the Oz in this world left her. Remember. You and Spike can live in either world. You came back to this one because you were needed more here, and as soon as you got back, I think your Willow here did a spell so you wouldn’t remember anything. But if you get too close to the portal, the spell vanishes and your memories return.”

Buffy held out a hand and, without a word, Spike hauled her to her feet. She refused to look at him. Now wasn’t the time to think about this. She wouldn‘t have been able to get two thoughts straight in her head anyhow. She and Spike were husband and wife. Was this what Dracula had meant?

“You think you know what you are, what’s to come. You haven’t even begun.”

“What do you want, Oz?” she said quietly.

“Will sent me. She’s trying to find Xander. He’s disappeared. We’re seriously wigged, Buffy. We need you back in our Sunnydale - fast.”

“I can’t just - go to another reality!” she protested. “What about Mum and Dawn and patrolling - ”

“Hey, you won’t want me,” Spike muttered, not wanting her to see how shaken he was, how his returning memories were turning upside down all his ideas about his life and his feelings for Slayers.

Buffy whirled round and, for the first time since Oz had told her she was married to him, looked Spike straight in the eyes. And there he was - her husband, the man she loved more than words could say.

She smiled, her hazel eyes dancing. “You mean you’d let me go without you, William. Now that I don’t believe.”

And as he looked at her, there was his wife and he couldn’t imagine how he could have spent the last ten months wishing this woman was out of his life.

OzTwo backed towards the portal. “I can’t stay any longer. My Will said I must just give you the message and come straight back. It’s up to you now, Buffy.” And with a nod, he stepped into the ring of fire and vanished with a sizzling crack.

“Quite chatty for Oz. How much do you remember?” Spike asked quietly.

“Everything, now I’m close to the portal. The spells, the life, the marriage. I can’t believe it, I don’t want to believe it, but I can remember it.”

Spike nodded and thrust his fingers through his slicked back platinum hair, turning it into a riot of little curls. “Life was pretty good, as far as I can recall.”

Buffy felt herself going red again. “It’s all part of an ongoing spell, Spike. But even so, XanTwo is just as important to me there as our Xander is here. I have to go and help. Let’s just concentrate on finding him. We don’t have to do - well, we don’t have to act as if we’re married when we get there!”

‘So you want us to go as what - partners? Colleagues?”

Buffy pulled a face. ‘More like army personnel. Like Riley’s friends. You watch my back and I’ll watch - ’

She stopped abruptly at his expression.

‘Oh you can watch whatever part of me you like, Slayer!’ he whispered and held out his hand.

Buffy hesitated, glaring at him, then she laced her fingers with his and together they stepped into the circle of flames.

to be continued
 

Chp 8 Starved for too Long


It was dark in the kitchen. The portal glowed briefly and two figures flew through it, hand in hand.

‘Bloody hell!’ Spike skidded to a halt before he could crash into the sink. ‘I’ll say it again, couldn’t the Willows have put the portals somewhere sensible! Like in the middle of a field!’

Buffy picked herself up and gazed round. Nothing had changed, and here, unlike the other Sunnydale, all her memories of both places were complete.

Spike padded over to the fridge and pulled out a packet of blood. ‘Good old WillTwo. She’s stocked us up with supplies, pet.’ He threw Buffy a can of Coke and put the blood in the microwave.

Buffy sat on a kitchen stool and watched him, lovingly. The enemy of minutes ago was now her husband, the man she adored, passionately, deeply, endlessly.

‘Why is it that in this Sunnydale, you have the appetite of a horse?’ she asked with a giggle.

Spike turned and raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Well, pet,’ he drawled, ‘in this world, I need to keep my strength up!’ He prowled across the room to her, took the can away from her and kissed her, licking the remains of the fizzy drink from her tongue.

‘Hey, slayer,’ he muttered against her neck. ‘Do you realise everything we do here is legal?’

‘Well, it’s legal wherever we are,’ she replied grumpily, pushing her hands under his T-shirt, searching for his bare skin like a woman who’d been starved for too long. ‘It’s just that we don’t remember!’

She pressed the length of her body against his, trying to imprint every centimetre of him into her brain cells. Surely this feeling should survive back in the other world?

‘Achemm! Excuse us! We did knock!’

They broke apart slowly. Here there was no need to feel ashamed at showing their feelings for each other. OzTwo and WillTwo stood in the doorway, smiling. Behind them stood a pretty, creamy skinned girl with long braided hair.

‘Buffy, Spike, this is Tara, Xander’s girl friend.’

Buffy gave her brain a mental shake. By his expression she knew Spike was doing the same thing. Keeping everyone’s relationships straight in the two different worlds was confusing. Here Tara and Xander were obviously together. Oz and Willow. And she was married to Spike.

‘Hi, Tara.’

‘B..B...Buffy, hello. And S...Spike. It’s great to meet you both at l...last. Do you think you can help f..f...find Xander?’

Buffy gestured to them all to sit down round the dining table. ‘We still don’t fully understand what’s been happening. Will, can you explain?’

The red-headed witch bit her lip. She looked pale and unhappy. OzTwo reached out and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

‘Buffy, we don’t know what to think. Xander’s been, well, Xander‘s been acting oddly for a couple of months now.’ She flashed a glance over at TaraTwo who nodded, head down, fiddling with the piece of ribbon at the end of her braid.

‘Quiet, jumpy, a bit bad tempered.’

‘On the sauce?’ Spike broke in laconically.

‘You mean d..drinking?’ TaraTwo looked up, her cheeks reddening. ‘No, he’s b...been much better since we...since we - ’

‘OK, we get the picture!’ Buffy broke in hastily. ‘So no drinking. What about work?’

‘He got a job just after you left last time. Working bar at the Bronze. He seemed really okay with it.’ OzTwo’s voice was concerned.

‘I used to go there after m..my Wiccan meeting,’ TaraTwo put in. ‘We’d have coffee and talk and he’d walk me home. Then...l...lately, he asked me not to c...come to the Bronze.’

‘Why?’

‘H..he said there was a bunch of roughs using it and h..he didn’t w...want me around them,’ TaraTwo explained, her eyes huge and glistening.

Spike tipped his chair onto its back legs. ‘And has everything else been OK between you?’

‘W..what do you mean?’

Spike looked slightly disconcerted. This Tara was even shyer than TaraOne. ‘Well, I take it you and Xander are, well, - ’

‘He means you are sleeping together, aren’t you?’ Buffy said, glaring at her husband, who leered at her and made a kissing motion with his lips, ‘Honestly, Spike, what’s that got to do with Xander going missing.’

Spike suddenly looked serious and banged his chair back down with a thump. ‘A lot, sweetheart. Bloke doesn’t walk out on a gorgeous girl like Tara for no good reason. Just wondered if he’d been showing signs of problems, that’s all. I know humans do have these little failures in that department, unlike us vamps, who as you know only too well...’

‘Yes, all right. Thank you, Mr Love God 2000,’ Buffy said hastily, not wanting details of their love life to be broadcast round this Sunnydale universe.

‘Anyway, Buffy,’ WillTwo said, trying to get the conversation back on track. ‘Three nights ago, Xander never came home from the Bronze. Tara went down there the next day and the girl behind the bar said she thought he’d left at the usual time, but no one had actually seen him leaving.’

‘I checked out a couple of other bars,’ OzTwo said. ‘You know - sorry, Tara - but ones where guys go sometimes.’

‘And I’ve cast a locator spell for him,’ WillTwo said. ‘Tara helped so it was quite a strong one. Buffy, there’s no sign of him in Sunnydale at all!’

Buffy looked at Spike and could tell by his expression that he wasn’t too happy with this news. In this world, he and Xander were quite friendly. In the old Sunnydale, she knew the vampire would just have laughed and hoped out loud that some little nasty had taken a bite out of the boy, but not here. Here he was concerned. It left her feeling very odd.

‘So, we don’t know what to do next,’ WillTwo went on. `That’s why I sent Oz through the portal to get you. I know how busy you are over there, but we really do need your help here, Buffy.’

‘Don’t worry, Will, we’ll find him,’ Buffy said. ‘Me and Mr Love God will go and call on a few of the neighbourhood demons. If anything has happened to Xander, they’ll know for sure.‘

‘B..Buffy...’ Tara looked up, her beautiful face stricken. ‘What if Spike’s sort of right. What if he’s just decided he d...doesn’t want m...me any more? Perhaps I sh...should move away and then he m...might come back.’

Buffy laid a hand gently on the other girl’s arm. ‘Tara, he wouldn’t walk out on someone he loved. Even if he was drinking a lot - which you say he wasn’t. Xander may not be a fighter like me and Spike, but he’s still brave in his own way. He wouldn’t be a coward about your relationship. No, something’s happened to him. And tomorrow we’ll find out exactly what.’

When Willow, Oz and Tara had left, Buffy went upstairs to their bedroom and sat at the dressing-table, brushing her hair. It crackled under the bristles, flying up round her head like a fiery blonde halo.

She was gazing at her reflection when she felt two hands on her shoulders, even though she could see no one in the mirror.

The brush was taken out of her hand and she arched her head back as Spike continued where she’d left off.

‘You look worried, pet,’ he said, softly. ‘Do you think something bad’s happened to the boy? Want to go out now and have a hunt round. It’s almost dawn, but I could still get a couple of hours in with the demon gangs.’

Buffy shook her head. ‘I can’t believe Oz wouldn’t have discovered if he’d been in a fight. The vamps and demons would be only too happy to tell him if they’d made a killing.’

Spike threw the brush down and pulled her into his arms. She buried her fingers in his hair as he bent his head to kiss her, deeply, passionately.

For ages they stood, locked together, just staring into each other’s eyes. It was all so natural, Buffy thought. Here they were, together, married, in love, in their bedroom and there was no need to worry, no need to apologise, or hide or feel any guilt. For a fleeting second, Riley’s face came into her mind, then faded away like mist on a hot day. He was there but she was here and so was Spike, her husband.

He slid his hands under her T.shirt and she quivered as his rough fingers sort the hard tips of her breasts and circled them slowly. She heard little mewing noises coming from her mouth, it was getting hard to breathe.

Now he was peeling off her jeans, hissing as he scented the wet scarlet panties that only just covered the curls between her thighs.

She groaned. He was being so slow, she was shaking with desire and expectation. She reached for him, but he just tutted, smiled and held her hands effortlessly behind her back.

Then he reached down, slowly sliding his other hand inside her panties, tugging at the curls, easing her lips apart, never breaking his gaze, glorying in the expression that crossed her face as his fingers found her clit.

‘Please, please, now, do it, do me, now, Spike, for god’s sake, fuck me, it’s been so long, so long, do it, now, now, please, oh don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t...oh god, ’ A babble of words broke from her as his thumb strummed her, once, twice, again and again and oh god she was flooding, her legs stiffened, and she screamed as her body roared up and up and up, the climax shattering her into tiny atoms of feeling, each one exploding in red, gold,crimson and scarlet stars.

Then they were in the bed, naked and before she could come down from the heights he’d sent her to, he was deep, deep inside her, riding her harder and harder, and she’d never known it could be like this, oh god, there was no way he could get any deeper inside her, but he tossed her legs up over his shoulders and as her bottom came up off the sheet and her head tossed side to side in ecstasy, he vamped out and thundered out his climax as she exploded into hers.

An hour later Buffy came to from her fourth climax. Spike’s head was buried between her thighs and she felt as if every bone in her body had turned to jelly. But oh god did she feel good.

Now she realised why she always felt she was holding back with Riley. Somewhere, buried inside her consciousness was this knowledge that she belonged to Spike. Her body knew it, even if her memory didn’t. And even if she had sex with Riley, she knew it was a very pale imitation of the real thing.

She could feel the breath he didn’t need tickling her damp thigh. If he reached his tongue out and licked her clit one more time, she would surely die. And if he didn’t, she would kill him!

Buffy lay back and shut her eyes. She knew that very soon they would have to get up and start on their hunt for Xander. She whimpered in glee as the cold tongue suddenly prised her lips apart and assaulted her clit again.

And before all sense vanished from her mind and the waves of passion overtook her once more, she knew it might not be a very long hunt.

For just as Oz had been leaving, he’d told her one little extra thing. The name of the girl behind the bar at the Bronze was - Anya.

to be continued
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