DISCLAIMER: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, and Fox Studios. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2002 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG.
She Slays Vampires, Doesn't She?
by Djinn
It was a dark and stormy
night. Well, not so stormy, this being LA and all. But dark. Very dark. Buffy
could barely see what she was doing. Unfortunately, the demon that had jumped
her seemed to be having no problems in that department.
"Spike, give me a hand
here."
"Oh yeah. You want my
hand now. Few seconds ago you didn't want any part of
me." Spike lit a cigarette and leaned back against a tombstone. "Go
away, Spike." His voice was a mocking falsetto. "I can't deal with
you tonight. I'm not in the mood." He took a long drag from his cigarette.
"Well I hope you're in the mood for fighting,
love. I'm a bit busy."
"Not as busy as you
wanted to be," she said as she kicked out at the demon. The creature
absorbed the blow and laughed. At least she thought it was a laugh. It might
have been a belch. Then it snatched the Doublemeat
Palace cap from her head and proceeded to chew on it.
Another ruined uniform she'd
have to pay to replace. Great. "Spike, are you going to help me or
what?"
"Wasn't planning on
it." He was definitely sulking.
"You don't need
him." A blur flashed in front of her eyes. The demon went flying and
didn't get up again. She heard a familiar voice say, "Bet you never
thought you'd see me again?"
"Riley?" she
gasped, surprised not so much at his presence but at the bright green and red
costume he was sporting. Were those tights? She heard Spike chuckle meanly.
"I'm not just Riley
anymore, Buffy. I'm Super Guy."
Spike rolled his eyes.
Riley whirled. "I saw
that!" He turned back to Buffy. "Ever since that explosion in the lab
in Belize, I've been different. Stronger and faster."
"And a much snappier
dresser," Spike muttered.
"I've had just about
enough of you." Riley rushed Spike.
The vampire stood his ground
but was soon sailing across the cemetery. He landed in an open grave. Riley,
moving nearly faster than Buffy's eye could track, ran to the hole and began to
fill it up with dirt.
"What are you
doing?" she asked, a note of worry creeping into her voice. Her sex life
had definitely picked up with Spike around. She wasn't sure she was ready for
all that to end.
Riley didn't answer, just
kept shifting dirt. When the hole was completely filled in, he dusted off his
hands and smiled. "That should hold him for a while."
"Hold him?"
"While we talk. Superhero
to superhero. Is that a costume by the way?"
"It's a uniform."
"Oh. Cool." He
handed her back her cap.
She made a face as she got a
big whiff of demon drool. "Ewww." She
dropped the cap.
"Now, now. Mustn't
destroy your secret identity, Buffy." He picked it up and handed it back. "No
evidence. First rule of being an anonymous superhero."
She looked at his fully
exposed face. "But you're not anonymous. I knew it was you right
away."
He looked put out for a
moment, then his expression lightened. "It's okay. 'Cause
now I wear these during my normal life." He put on an ugly pair of
glasses. "See how different I look in my civilian persona? No one will
ever recognize me now."
He didn't look all that
different, although he'd never be a chick magnet wearing those birth-control
glasses. She shook her head. "Go back to the initiative, Riley."
"Don't have to. We have
a group of our own now. Formed it this year. Superheroes United. Very cool
motto. 'We help the helpless.' "
"That's Angel's
motto." Both of their faces darkened at the mention of the vampire's name.
If they could have seen below the surface, they would have noticed that Spike
was scowling too. In fact, all across the world, faces broke into scowls at the
sound of Angel's name.
"Crap." Riley
recovered quickly. "Well, back to the drawing board. We worked damn hard
on that one too."
"I'm sure." She
noticed the pile of dirt that had buried Spike was starting to tremble.
"You should join us,
Buffy. We offer great benefits and we have a wealthy patron who is willing to
pay all our expenses."
"How wealthy?"
"Extremely. You should
see our clubhouse."
She shook her head. "I'm
not big into joining."
"You'd get a really cool
decoder ring and a pager. And we have meetings and stuff. It's fun."
"You're really here to
recruit me?"
"Well, yeah. What'd you
think? That I wanted to get back together with you or something?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You
don't?"
"I've moved on, Buffy. Found
my princess charming and we're really happy."
"Uh huh."
"Where is she anyway? I
thought she was right behind me."
Suddenly a blonde in a baby
blue lycra outfit and gold lame cape leapt over a
shrub. She went down in a tangle as her cape hooked one of her gold high-heeled
sandals.
Riley rushed over to help her
up. "Baby, are you okay?"
She nodded, then peered at
Buffy through the gold mask that had fallen over one eye.
The slayer laughed at her. "Let
me guess. You're Wonder Woman?"
The voice was very familiar. "As
if. That name is so taken." She struck another pose. "I'm
Bloodsucker."
Spike's arm appeared through
the dirt. Then his head. "I'd know that voice anywhere, Harm."
She turned and looked at him
with disdain. "You're not my little blondie bear anymore, Spike. I'm with
Riley now."
"And if that thought
doesn't strike terror in the hearts of bad guys everywhere, I don't know what
will." Spike pulled his body out of the dirt and stood up. He examined a
rip in his leather jacket. "Just soddin'
great." He looked over at Buffy. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
"Shut up, Spike."
Harmony laughed. "I see
nothing's changed, Spikey. You're still in love with her and she still hates you.
Do you really think she'll ever let you touch her?"
Spike looked down, but Buffy
could tell he was hiding a grin. She found herself blushing.
Riley shifted impatiently. "So you want to join up? I've been saving your name for you. Sandtrap really wanted to be The Slayer, but I wouldn't let
him take it."
"That's really special
but I think I'll pass."
"If that's your final
decision?" When she didn't say anything, he shrugged. "Fine, we'll be
off then. There's more than one slayer in the sea. Harmony?"
The two turned as one and
jumped into the air. Riley sailed gracefully over the fence. But Harmony's cape
got caught on one of the poles as she came down on the other side. She hung
there, kicking and squealing, until Riley pulled her down.
Buffy turned away. "I
can't watch."
"S'not
pretty," Spike said with a smirk. As Riley and Harmony finally moved away,
he stepped closer, putting his hand on the small of her back.
She shuddered. "Nothing's
going to happen tonight. I so don't need you."
"Or want me?" His
eyes bored into hers.
Memories of very good sex
still fresh in her mind, Buffy caved. "This doesn't mean we're together. Just
because I can't get enough of you."
"Of course not," he
said as they ran to his crypt and ripped each other's clothes off.
##
Many hours later, Buffy
wearily climbed the front steps of her house. She had just enough time for a
nap before her shift would begin at Doublemeat. A
nap. She tried to remember the last time she had really slept through the
night. Not counting when she was dead, she thought it was probably 1996.
As she opened the door, waves
of very loud music nearly knocked her over. "What the...?"
The house was filled with
teenagers. Very drunk and disorderly teenagers. The one nearest her was wearing
a lampshade she didn't recognize. She hoped it wasn't the neighbor's.
The young man under it leered at her. "Want to get busy?" His breath
nearly knocked her over.
"Dawn!" Buffy was
moving up the stairs and then she realized her sister was in the living room. On
the couch. With a boy. Making out. "Dawn!"
Her sister looked up and
giggled. "Oh look. My big bad sister is home."
Everyone checked their
watches. "3:45," someone yelled.
The boy with the lampshade
held up a piece of paper. "I win!"
Buffy looked at Dawn. "You
were betting on when I'd come home?"
"Yeah-huh. I never win
though. See, I always believe it will be a reasonable hour. You'd think I'd
learn." Dawn turned back to the boy on the couch. "Where were
we?"
Buffy reached down and hauled
her up. "You upstairs." She pitched the boy into the crowd. "The
rest of you, out of here."
They just stared at her.
Dawn called down the stairs. "Might
as well go. It's no fun now that she's home anyway."
The other kids started to
shuffle out. Buffy saw one of them grab her cap. She didn't stop him. "Hope
you get some demon disease from that," she muttered as she hurried up the
stairs.
Dawn was standing in her
doorway, arms crossed and expression already bored. "You're really
disappointed in me. I don't understand how hard this is for you. Do I want to
be taken away by the family services people? Does that about cover it or did I
forget one?"
"You've got it down. But
you don't seem to have taken any of it to heart. A party with booze? What the
hell is wrong with you, Dawn?"
"With me? Not a thing,
Buffy. What could be wrong with a teenager that has to live with a sister
that's never here?"
"I'm here."
"Oh
sure when you're not working. Or slaying. Or shopping. Or boinking
your dead boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend. And
I'm not boinking him. And I thought you liked
Spike?"
Dawn flounced into her room. "I
do like him. I just wish you did."
"I like him."
"What's his favorite
color?"
"Blonde?"
Dawn scowled. "Funny. What's
his favorite song? What movie does he hate?"
"It's not like we spend
a lot of time talking about those kind of things,
Dawn."
"I bet you don't spend a
lot of time talking about anything. Not to him. Not to me. Not to anyone. I bet
you talked more when you were dead than you do now."
"Dawn!" A new voice
interrupted them. Willow staggered up the stairs. Her outfit was sort of half
off. "I heard that...what you said about her...and it's just not
nice."
"So says the recovering magicaholic. Hey, Willow, why are your eyes black?" With
that Dawn slammed the door of her room in their faces.
Buffy turned to look at Willow.
"Why are your eyes black?"
"Uh no reason." She
turned to go.
"You've been doing magic
again?"
"No. Totally not. I'm so
over that." Willow walked unsteadily to her room. "I went to the eye
doctor and he umm dialated my eyes."
"At 3 in the
morning?"
"He's got really
flexible hours." Her door slammed too.
"Great." Buffy
walked into her own room and closed and locked the door. A noise outside made
her freeze. Was something on the roof? She listened and heard nothing. Sighing,
she fell into bed fully clothed. "Just let me sleep."
##
"I'll let you sleep,
Slayer. I'll let you sleep, forever." Warren moved up the roof, carefully
holding the new ray gun. One shot and the slayer would be going for the big
sleep. Warren chuckled at the thought of the other two down in the yard still
thinking that he was just going to steal her slayer strength. "I've got a
surprise for you two morons."
Bright red and light blue
legs appeared in front of him. "Is that any way to talk to Super Guy and
Bloodsucker?"
Warren looked up and gulped. "Super
Guy?"
The hot blonde in the blue pushed
in front and nearly slid off the roof. Recovering, she glared at Warren. "And
Bloodsucker." She looked at the guy. "They always forget me. Do you
think the name's not scary enough?"
Warren began to laugh.
The woman glared through her
mask. "What?"
"Oh yeah, like you are sooo scary. Oooh, big bad
Bloodsucker gonna get you." He pretended to grab
for her. "Gonna get you. Ooooo-ooooh."
The superhero just shook his
head. "Oh, now you're going to make her mad."
Warren just laughed. "And?"
The woman's face transformed.
She was on him before he could scream. As the life drained out of him, he could
have sworn he heard Super Guy say, "Do me next, baby?"
##
The covers smelled like
French fries when Buffy woke up. She wasn't sure when she had last done
laundry. It wasn't like she spent a lot of time in her bed anymore. It was a
scary thought that Spike probably washed his sheets more than she did hers. And
he didn't even have running water in the crypt. Or a bathroom. She stretched,
then quickly put her arms down. Man, did she reek. Couldn't he have found a
crypt with a bathroom? It was bad enough having to pee in the tunnels, but not
being able to shower was getting old.
Maybe it was time to take the
garlic down and let him into her room. She thought of her friends. What they
would say. She knew that Anya and Xander had no problem with self-expression
these days.
Maybe not.
She looked over at the clock
and realized she was going to be late if she didn't hurry. She rushed through
her shower and ran out of the house without stopping to eat. She'd grab
something at work. Now that she knew the food was mostly vegetarian it hardly
bothered her at all to eat it. Especially when she cooked it herself. She had
seen too many times what Phillip did to burgers for people he didn't like. Each
time just got grosser. And she still wasn't completely sure he liked her.
"Buffy," Lorraine's
voice was relieved. She was really trying to be easy-going and Buffy didn't
want to take advantage of her.
"Hi. I need to get a new
cap. Mine got wrecked last night."
Lorraine shook her head. "I
don't know what you do in these uniforms, Buffy. I'm sure I wouldn't believe it
if you told me."
"You really
wouldn't."
"No. Of course
not."
For a minute her tone sounded
so much like Joyce that Buffy felt like crying. Then she shook herself and went
to clock in.
"You
ok?" Carla the new girl was waiting for her at the grill.
"Me? Oh yeah." Buffy
handed her the spatula. "Ok, we put the meat down, then hit the timer. Then
we wait."
They waited. The buzzer went
off.
"This is your big
moment. Go ahead and flip those suckers."
Carla gingerly turned one
over.
Buffy took the spatula. "Do
it like that and the rest are going to get overdone." She flipped the
burgers expertly. "Now hit the timer."
She handed the trainee some
rolls. "Open it, so it's ready for the meat. When the buzzer goes off,
load em up."
Carla looked a little
depressed. Buffy smiled encouragingly. "Look, if I can get it, anyone
can."
"It's not that. It's the
smell. How do you stand it?"
Buffy thought of her sheets. "You
get used to it when you're here. And even after you leave you won't smell it
till like the next morning. It takes a while for your nose to adjust. But
believe me your friends will all know."
"And your
boyfriend." The girl made a face.
"Not if he doesn't have
to breathe."
"What?"
"Nothing. Ok, time to
wrap." Buffy made short work of taking the food off the grill and
assembling the sandwiches. Then she showed Carla how to fold the paper around
them and where to take the burgers. When they were back at the grill, she
handed Carla the spatula again. "Ok, this time, you're on your own."
Carla looked panicked.
"Don't worry. I've got
your back."
"Funny, I used to say
that to you, I think."
Buffy whirled. Her hands were
already settling into fighting position.
Faith laughed. "Relax,
B. I'm not here to fight."
"You're not?"
"Nope." Faith
stretched slowly. In her black tank and leather pants she looked slinky. And
grease-free. Buffy felt very orange. "And hey, Buffy, nice threads."
"What do you want?"
The other slayer looked up at
the menu. "I'll have one of those double medley things. And a coke." She
looked at the guy at the counter. "Go ahead, ring it up. It's on Buffy, by
the way."
"It is so not on
me."
Faith frowned. "Come on,
B. I'm a little short." She made a mockingly pleading face. "I'm so
hungry."
"Fine. Just get it and
go."
Faith took the tray from the
cashier. "No can do. I'm waiting for your boy toy."
Buffy felt a surge of
jealousy. "Spike's meeting you?"
Faith's eyebrows disappeared
into her hair. "Not the guy I was talking about. But interesting. Things
have changed, haven't they? First you come back from—"
Buffy looked at Lorraine who
was listening a little too intently. "Cleveland. I came back from
Cleveland."
"Yeah, Cleveland. And
then I get out of—"
"The army. No more khaki
for you." Buffy turned to Lorraine. "Can I take a break? To talk to
my friend? Who is back from the army."
Lorraine frowned. "It's
a little early, Buffy. You just got here."
"Please. We have a lot
of catching up to do." Faith put her arm around Buffy and cuddled up
against her. "We're very, very good friends."
Buffy pulled away. "We're
actually not."
"Why doesn't
your...friend eat outside?" Lorraine said.
"Outside. Good
idea." Buffy pushed Faith ahead of her.
"So
you and Spike are really doing it?" Faith asked as soon as they were
seated.
"No. We're not. Ick."
"You said he was your
boy toy."
"Well. He is. In a sort
of puppy dog way. Not in a sexual way. No. That would be wrong."
Faith rolled her eyes. "You
suck at lying."
Buffy tried to change the
subject. "Who did you mean?"
"Duh. Riley." Faith
leaned in. "Or should I say, Super Guy?"
"You know about
that?"
"Sure, about him and his
little super club." She took a massive bite of burger. "I'm joining
up. He said that I could be the Slayer."
"He told me that!"
"When?"
"Last night."
Faith shrugged. "Must
have been just before he and Bloodsucker flew to LA."
"Blood...Harmony can
fly?"
Faith thought about that. "She
mostly tripped. He flew and sort of carried her. He's wicked strong now."
"Yeah, yeah, lab
accident blah blah blah."
"So
he asked you to join first?" Faith was getting that old 'I'm so tired of
always being second' tone.
"Well
I am the more experienced slayer."
"Also
the deader one. You've died twice. I'm still kicking with the original
parts."
"My parts are original."
Buffy remembered how Spike could hit her. She just didn't know what kind of
original. "Besides you were in prison."
"What do you call
this?" Faith nodded at the restaurant.
"Making a living,"
Buffy muttered just as Riley walked up in street clothes. He looked like a big
doofus in the black plastic glasses. "Hey, look, Faith. It's Clark
Kent."
Faith looked around. "Where's
Bloodsucker?"
Buffy snorted. "Duh. Sunlight."
"Bloodsucker's
a...oh." It was clear Faith realized how stupid she sounded.
Buffy saw a bandage on
Riley's arm. "Still up to your old tricks, Riley?"
He looked down. "Had to
give blood."
"Well
that's one way to look at it." Buffy got up. "I'll leave you
superheroes alone. Don't loiter, ok?"
Faith got up. "Thanks
for lunch."
"Right." Buffy
watched them leave. She saw Faith put a hand on Riley's butt. From behind the
tinted windows of the van they were walking towards, she heard a shrill voice
yelling, "Get your grubby mitts off him. I'm not sharing another boyfriend
with a slayer!"
Buffy gave it a week.
She saw Faith open the door,
heard her say, "I've got some for you too, sweet cheeks."
Harmony's voice trailed off and
then she started to make some other sounds.
Or maybe longer. Once the van
was out of sight, she adjusted her cap, squared her shoulders, and walked back
inside.
##
The phone was ringing when
she got home. "Hello?"
"Buffy? What's wrong? You
don't sound right."
"Hi, Giles. I'm
fine."
"I've called several
times. There's never any answer."
Buffy looked around for Dawn.
Someone had cleaned up the living room and Buffy couldn't imagine Willow doing
that in the state she'd been in. "Hold on a sec," she said into the
phone. Covering the mouthpiece, she yelled up the stairs, "Dawn?"
Her sister came out of her
room. "Loud much?"
"I didn't know where you
were."
"Imagine that." The
teenager turned away.
Buffy sighed and put the
receiver back to her ear. "Sorry, Giles."
"Trouble?"
"Nothing I can't
handle."
"You sound
depressed."
"I guess. Maybe a
little. I mean, it's just one kid right. I should be able to handle that. And
people change, what they want, what they need. That changes too. You can't
blame them." She heard him sigh. "What?"
"I'm just relieved that
you know. Ever since I spoke with Wesley, I've been trying to come up with a
clever way to ascertain if you were aware of what was going on in LA."
Buffy didn't have a clue what
he meant. But she knew him well enough not to let on. "Yeah. I'm
aware." She paused. "So...what do you think
of it?"
"Well
it's all a mystery of course. How a vampire could sire a child in the first
place. It's possible his soul had something to do with it. And all the
prophecies. Angel does appear to be rather central to them."
Angel had a child? She felt
her stomach heave. "What about the mother? Maybe it was about her not
him."
"It must have been. Partly
anyway. For Darla to conceive, well it is perplexing. Then to give her life for
the child. It's not something I would have expected."
"No. Me neither." Darla
was the mother? Buffy thought back to the time she'd spent with Angel after the
house had flooded. She had known then that he'd been keeping things from her. But
she'd never suspected this. Darla?
"And of course, the
thought of Cordelia with any maternal feelings at all..." Giles chuckled.
"Cordy playing
mom." Buffy desperately tried to keep her voice neutral. "Angel and
Cordelia."
"Well
that's not certain. At this point, Wesley just has his suspicions."
What was left of Buffy's
heart sank. "You think that he's wrong?"
"I don't really
know." Giles voice was a bit sad. "I know this is hard for you,
despite your bravado. To watch someone moving on is never easy."
She thought of Riley. Of how
little she'd cared about that. This was different. This was her soulmate. He
was supposed to love her forever. No matter what. She'd carved a part of her
heart out for him and kept it safe. For what? For this? Her voice was wooden
when she asked, "Was there anything else, Giles?"
"Just...how are you
getting on?"
"Got a job. Slinging
burgers."
"Oh. Well, that's good. A
steady income."
"Yeah, steady. I'm a
lifer."
"Excuse me?"
Her laugh sounded brittle. "Just
a saying we have at Doublemeat. It doesn't
matter."
"You're sure you're all right?"
"Just peachy, Giles. Gotta go. Loads to do."
"Yes, well, all right
then..."
She hung up the phone before
she could hear whatever it was he was going to say. Numbly
she walked to the sofa and sank down on it. She wanted to cry, but she
couldn't. Wouldn't.
Willow came up from the
basement. Her eyes were still black. And she reeked of sage. "Oh, hi
Buffy. I didn't hear you come in."
"Noisy spell?"
"What? No. No spell. Spells
are bad."
"Cut the crap, Will. You
want to do spells, do spells, just quit lying about it."
"Ok. That's a new twist
on the pep talk."
"I just mean, if you're supposed
to do magic, then do magic. But try showing some restraint maybe."
"Not liking this much,
Buffy."
"But it's obvious, isn't
it? I mean, what's the use of sneaking around? You think it's bad for you and
maybe it is. But that doesn't make the cravings any easier, does it? You know
you want to do it, but you think you shouldn't. Yeah, sure it can be bad. But
it can be good too. It's saved your life even. All of our lives."
Willow's eyes narrowed in
confusion. "This is about magic?"
"I just think it's time
to quit worrying about what other people say. You know. You've got to be true
to yourself. So it's a little dangerous. Nobody said
life was safe and easy." Buffy took Willow by the shoulders. Shook her a
little, then pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad we had this
talk."
"Uh, me too. But what
are we talking about?"
Buffy pushed away from her. "People
just have to accept. They have to understand that there's an old you and a new
you, and the new you doesn't play it safe. You take
risks. You stand tall and say, 'My life. No one else's!'
You live, Will. Live while there's still time."
Willow just nodded. Sometime
during Buffy's rant her eyes had returned to their normal green. "If it's
all the same to you, Buff. I'm going to sleep while there's still time."
"That's a valid choice. And
you know why?"
"Because it's
mine?"
Buffy nodded
enthusiastically. "That's right. Because it's yours."
"Ok, then."
They stared at each other for
a moment. Buffy thought about the last few weeks. She stood a little
straighter. "You know what? There's going to be some changes around
here."
She marched up the stairs,
banged loudly on Dawn's door.
There was a muffled, "Go
away."
"I'm not going away,
Dawn. Open up."
The door opened slowly,
Dawn's stared back at her with a sulky look. "What now?"
"After school tomorrow,
I expect to see you at the Doublemeat Palace."
"If that's your lame way
of saying you're sorry..." Dawn started to close the door.
Buffy forced it back open. "It's
really not."
Dawn stepped back. "Then
what?"
"You're
right is what."
"Huh?"
"We really don't spend
enough quality time together. But that's going to change starting tomorrow. When
you apply at Doublemeat."
"No way."
Buffy smiled. "Oh. Way."
She pushed Dawn back until she was sitting on her bed. "I've been much too
easy on you. And we're done with that."
Dawn looked up uneasily. "We
are?"
"We really are. You're
going to start shaping up. There will be no more parties, no more skipping
class, and no more sitting on your butt while I'm killing myself trying to make
ends meet. You'll work after school for a few hours to help out and then you'll
go to the magic box and do your homework."
"I will?"
"Yes, you will." She
walked to Dawn's closet, pulled out her leather coat and tossed it to her. "Come
on."
"Where?"
"Something else is going
to change. We're going to go get my boyfriend"—she almost didn't stumble
over the word—"and invite him back here to watch videos. We'll pick them
up on the way. I assume you know what he likes?"
A smile threatened to break
the sullen look on Dawn's face. "I might."
"Good. You can teach me.
Now let's go."
They walked downstairs
together. A funny smell was coming from the basement. Dawn stopped, her face
clouding. "Is Willow doing magic?"
"Probably. So much for
her beauty sleep."
"And we don't
care?"
"Well
we do. But she needs to get a handle on this. Any fool can see that what she's
doing now isn't working."
The house shook on its
foundations.
Buffy frowned. "But
maybe we should encourage her to get a handle on it somewhere that's less
nearby?"
Dawn nodded. "Good
idea."
Buffy called down the stairs,
"Willow we're going out for a while. Do you need anything at the Magic
Box?"
The witch appeared in the
door. Her hair was singed, her face covered with soot, and a noxious mist
curled around her. But her smile was the first genuine one she'd worn in a
long, long time. "Maybe just a few things."
##
The closed sign was hanging
on the Magic Box door. Buffy handed the bag of videos to Dawn and dug in her
pocket for her keys. She opened the door and peered inside the shop. "Xander?
Anya?"
There was no answer. But a
curious scuffling noise erupted from the loft and a few moments later both of
their heads popped over the edge.
"Buffy. And Dawnster. At the door. What do ya
know?"
"Is there a
crisis?" Anya was the first down the stairs. "Is the shop in
danger?"
Buffy stared at Anya's hair. Was
it a different color again? She forced herself to focus. "No. We just came
for some supplies for Willow." Buffy ignored Dawn's skeptical look and
handed Anya a list.
The demon took one look and
began to protest.
"I don't want to hear
it. Willow can control this if you just leave her alone. She's learned a lesson
and I think it's important that she keep using magic to help us. She's a witch.
It's up to her to choose not to be an evil one."
"What if she doesn't
choose that?" Xander leaned up against the table. "She was really
getting off on all that stuff she was doing."
"Yeah. She was. And
that's not a bad thing. So she likes what she does. It's
the letting it control you, letting it become everything that's wrong." She
looked over at Anya. "It's when you can't tell your friends about it that
it's wrong."
"This ought to be
good," Dawn muttered as she joined Xander at the table.
"So
we'll just have to make sure we give Willow all the support we can. That we
don't judge her just because we don't understand the choice she is
making."
"You are unusually
passionate for something that doesn't revolve around you," Anya said as
she packed up the bag.
Buffy bit back her snotty
retort. "Well, I guess it isn't just Willow that will be making an
unpopular choice."
"Oh yeah? Who else
is?" Xander began to rummage through the video box. He looked up, vague disgust written on his features. "Did you
guys get the wrong bag? Sense and Sensibility and Some Kind of
Wonderful?" The truth dawned. "No. For the love of God, Buffy, no."
Dawn looked over at him. "It's
true. We're having video night with Spike."
"Just you and him, right
Dawn? Buffy will be somewhere else, very far away?"
"No
she'll be there. And Willow if she ever comes up from the basement. And then
when the movies are done, Buffy and Spike will go off patrolling and I bet they
end up at his crypt." Dawn smirked at her sister.
Xander turned to Buffy
aghast, "The push ups! That was you?" He
got up and wandered over to Anya. "This is too much. Bring back that veiny
friend of yours and let her kill me because this is just too much."
"It is unexpected."
Anya rubbed his back. "But we can look on the bright side. This means that
Buffy will have a date to our wedding, which will make seating her so much easier.
It also means that Cordelia can come with Angel."
Xander glared at his fiancée.
"Remember that thing I told you about secrets, An."
"I know about what's
happened in LA, Xander." Buffy shrugged. "And it hurt. But I'm ok
with it. And hey. Bonus that I won't screw up your reception." Buffy
picked up the bag of herbs. "Come on, Dawn. We've got a vampire to pick
up."
Xander just shook his head in
dismay. "Buffy the Vampire L—"
"Don't." Buffy's
voice was very controlled. "Just. Don't."
Dawn took her arm. "Let's
go. They'll get used to it."
"Or not," Xander
called after them.
"Or not," Dawn
echoed as they walked toward the cemetery. They were quiet for a few minutes,
then Dawn whispered, "I listened in to your phone conversation with
Giles."
"You what?"
"I thought it was the
family services people. I didn't want them to take me away. I didn't mean to
listen but then it was too late and I was afraid to hang up in case you heard
me. Plus I miss his voice."
"Yeah. Me too."
Dawn thought for a moment. "An
Angel baby. That's pretty weird."
Buffy didn't answer.
"Do you think he's a
broody baby?"
Buffy tried to ignore her.
"With poofy hair?"
"You've been listening
to Spike."
Dawn went on undaunted. "A
good-looking kid but intense. Doesn't say much. Maybe an occasional 'hey' if
you're lucky."
Buffy smiled. "Okay, okay,
I get the drift. You don't like Angel."
Dawn skipped a few steps
ahead, then turned around, walking backwards as she talked. "I did like
him. But I didn't really know him. He was yours, you
know."
Buffy nodded sadly. "He
was mine."
"Yeah
and he was nice enough I guess, well until he got all evil. Like he was okay
when he wasn't, you know, torturing people and killing innocent fish and
leaving dead teachers in Giles' bed. But he was never really around." Her
face scrunched up for a minute. "I mean, I never watched a movie with him.
Or played cards. Or cried on his shoulder. Even Riley was more there than he
ever was."
"But the things you
remember of Angel are just constructed memories. You weren't really
there." Buffy tried to say it gently. She didn't want to hurt the girl.
"I know. But I still
remember. I know you loved him. I saw that. But you were always so sad. You
cried a lot when he left." She turned once Spike's crypt was just ahead. "You
know, Spike makes you stop crying. Ever think of that?"
"Don't make more of this
than it is, Dawn."
"I'm just saying."
The door opened and Spike sauntered
out, pulling on his coat as if just going out for the evening. Buffy wasn't
fooled. "Hi."
"Slayer." He nodded
to her, then gave a genuine smile to Dawn.
She felt unaccountably
jealous.
He looked back at her. "You
two out for a stroll?"
"Came to see you,"
Dawn said as he walked off.
They fell into step beside
him.
"Well
you can see me in the convenience store. I'm out of smokes."
"Ok, we can pick up
pop."
Buffy nodded. "And maybe
wheatabix."
His look was full of
suspicion. "Didn't realize you liked that?"
"She doesn't," Dawn
said as they followed him into the store.
Buffy grabbed a box of the
crackers and sent Dawn to get the drinks.
Spike watched her from the
counter. "This is different, love. Feeling domestic, are you? Out for a
little shopping with your fella? Did that encounter with Captain America leave
you wanting the safer things in life?"
She blurted out, "We
have videos." Oh, good segue way, Summers.
"That's nice." He
frowned at something then walked over to where Dawn stood in front of the
candy.
Buffy followed him.
"Put it back, Niblet."
"Put what back?"
"The sweets you just
nicked. I don't like that."
Dawn made a face and started
to walk away. Spike put one hand on her shoulder to stop her, the other in her
coat pocket. He dug out two chocolate bars and threw them back into the box. "If
you want something, you ask me. I buy it. I see you stealing again, I break
your wrist. You got that?"
She nodded sullenly and
pushed past them. Dropping the sodas on the counter, she went outside and
waited by the doors with her back to them. The picture of disagreeable youth.
Buffy frowned. "She was
stealing?"
"Looks like. I've had my
suspicions ever since she ended up with that dancing demon's necklace. But I
haven't been around her enough to really watch." He gave Buffy a look. "Haven't
felt welcome."
"I'm sorry for that. I
know you spent a lot of time with her when I was...dead."
"I did, pet. I was happy
to." He took the wheatabix from her and walked
to the counter to pay for it all.
She felt momentarily guilty
then realized she wasn't sure where he was getting the funds. As they walked
toward the door she asked, "How do you earn money?"
"Some protection money,
some contract extermination work, a little bit of larceny."
"And you lectured
Dawn?"
"Well
I'm a vampire. I'm supposed to be bad. But I'll not have that kind of behavior
from her."
Double standard much? But
still she chuckled,. "I'm making her work with
me."
"At Burger hell? Good
for you. Teach her some discipline."
"Yeah, that's what I
thought."
They joined Dawn and he
handed Buffy the bag of groceries, then dug out his cigarettes and put them in
his coat pocket. "Ok then, enjoy your films."
"Maybe you could watch
them with us?" Buffy said softly.
"Doubt that I'd like
your choices. You know me. I like gore and mayhem."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I
told Dawn that when she suggested we get these two. I mean Jane Austen, come
on."
"Austen hmm? Which
one?" he asked as if he couldn't care less.
"The one with Kate
Winslet," Dawn said, apparently getting over her snit.
"Oh. I like her."
Buffy raised her eyebrow. "And
some old Pretty in Pink kind of thing."
He looked at Dawn. She pulled
out the box.
He smiled. "I saw that
in New York. With a bunch of teenagers. Warmed the cockles of my heart. Or
maybe that was the concession stand worker I ate later? No matter. I remember
the movie. Love it."
Dawn shot Buffy a triumphant
'I told you so' look.
"So, you coming?" Buffy
asked.
"I don't know..."
She rolled her eyes. "Hard-to-get
isn't really your color, Spike. Come on."
He was at her side instantly.
He reached for her but then dropped his hand uncertainly.
She took his hand and
squeezed it for a second before letting go.
Dawn was smiling when she
said, "She told Xander and Anya."
He didn't seem to understand.
"That she's going out
with you. Or whatever you call what you two do. She told them. It was pretty
cool."
Spike didn't say anything.
Buffy did her best
nonchalant. "I just thought they should know. I mean, it's not like we
have anything to hide, right?"
He seemed to be in shock.
"Are you ever going to
say anything? Because if I'd known this was the way to shut you up, I'd have
done it a lot sooner."
"So...we're
dating?"
"Fraid
so."
His smile was brilliant. "Then
we're sweethearts?"
She glared at him.
He smirked. "We're
sweethearts." He looked over at Dawn who was nodding happily. He looked
back at Buffy who was still trying to look somewhat disapproving. "You'll
get into the spirit of this at some point, right?"
She sighed and walked ahead. As
they approached the house, she could hear him say to Dawn, "It's just like
the movie, little bit. You think you're never going to get that person you love
because they're in love with someone else. Then bam, something happens, you're
not really sure what, and suddenly it's a dream come true. Just like the
movie."
"If you say so,"
Dawn said, only slightly humoring him.
Just like the movie? A
vampire in love, a slayer that had died twice and was now some sort of
supernatural thing herself, a teenager that didn't exist until a year ago, a
recovering—or was that rediscovering—witch, a stalwart prince of a guy in love
with an ex-vengeance demon, and a beloved if somewhat distant father figure. Yeah,
just like the movies.
Who would ever want to watch
that?
FIN