Brody drifted awake slowly. She had just had the best night's sleep in her memory. She had not slept like the warrior she had been trained to be, no, she did not sleep only on the brink of awareness and slumber. She had dozed serenely and deeply, not in preparation to do battle in a moment's notice as she had for fourteen years. She couldn't remember waking up taking so long before. As her mind unclouded and the fog drifted away, she began to register her surroundings as well as her current situation.
She felt cool, cosy, silken sheets against her bare legs. She wiggled them against the material which was cooling her heated flesh; she still wasn't used to the warmer nights in Sunnydale in comparison to her home in Ireland. A hard, cold chest was pressed against her back and matching arms were cradling her lovingly, tenderly yet very firmly. The position should have been uncomfortable; her lying on top of his arm at an odd angle but it felt nothing but right. Memories of the night before flooded in surround-sound, hi-definition colour and her body flushed happily. She felt giddy as she was reminded as to who owned the perfectly sculpted form which was pressed protectively to her. Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced about the room. Sunlight trickled in through the four large cracks in the walls of the room and illuminated the space in a meagre attempt. Still, she could make out the room.
She blushed when she spotted her torn dress on the ground; she hadn't remembered the offending item of clothing befalling such an injury. But then with her and her partner's combined vigour it wasn't hard to believe. She mourned for the beautiful gown momentarily before deciding that it had all been worth the loss to her, anyway bursting wardrobe. His scent tickled her nose and she inhaled it deeply, committing every detail to memory. He smelled of leather, a slight (yet not disgusting) tinge of cigarette smoke, the brandy that Giles had bought him and the citrus soap he used. His hair smelled of the coconut based shampoo that he vowed by for healthy, voluptuous locks. Brody lightly traced the hand spread across her stomach. His long, elegant, talented fingers were pressed to her taut flesh. The painted black fingernails dug pleasantly against her soft tissue, reminding her that this was real, not a fantasy.
And no matter how imaginative she was, Brody knew she couldn't imagine this. Not the feelings his closeness and waking up in his embrace could inspire. Not the delightful sensation of his purrs resounding through her body. Not the love and contentment or the happiness and hope that threatened to take her whole and consume her fully. Not the pure, unadulterated harmony and rightness. It was perfect, yet almost too much to handle.
Spike, seemingly picking up on her over-active mind which was spinning her into a confused tizzy, curled further against her in his sleep and nuzzled her affectionately. Her mind immediately went blank. Her heart felt itself fall even further in love with him and she relaxed. She gave into the feeling and moaned happily. The noise echoed, quietly through the lower-level of his crypt. She should have been freaked out to wake up in such a place but she couldn't find it in herself to give a rat's arse.
She turned over, needing now to see his beautiful face and memorise a sleeping Spike. Spike mewled in protest but when she settled herself with her head tucked under his chin, he returned to purring blissfully. She looked up at his face and drank in the sight of him. He looked so peaceful and innocent, so young. It was hard to believe that he was a creature of the night and centuries old. His brow was furrowed and his lips were mouthing silent messages. He was clearly distressed, having a nightmare and Brody's heart clenched at the thought. Even his dreamed pain was enough to have Brody's demon scratching to help her mate…
Mate
They were mated now.
Eternity.
No turning back, no way out.
And she had never felt so deliciously, sickeningly happy. Forever, with the man she loved. What could be more romantic? What more could anyone ask for?
Brody pressed her lips to her mate's soft, plump mouth, drew a hand gently across his brow and murmured sweetly to him.
"Hush, my sweet. It's okay, I'm here. You're just dreaming. Wake up, come back to me, my love."
His eyes flickered open. His azure orbs focusing and taking her in.
"Hello, cutie." she whispered with a beaming smile.
Brody was standing next to him in crowded ballroom. She had her white-blonde hair elegantly styled. It was lightly curled and piled on her head with most of it flowing down her back and shoulders. The silk, empire line dress she wore was the colour of her blue-grey eyes. She was beautiful and enchanting and every gentleman in the room wished her hand for the waltz.
He was William. Gone was the vampiric strength, gone was the demon to hide behind. He was weak and human and mediocre.
But it was he that Brody picked, above all others. Above those of higher ranking nobility, above those more handsome than he, above those more engaging in interesting chatter and above those more confident than he. When Brody looked at him all he could see in her wide, expressive eyes was love and devotion. She did not care about his flaws, she couldn't even see them, and she loved him as snivelling William or arrogant Spike. As he took her gloved, slender hand and led her to the dance floor they were approached by three women. Each lowered their cloak to reveal Cecily, Drusilla and Buffy.
"Tsk, tsk!" Drusilla tutted as she wagged a bony finger at Spike "Our William is a naughty boy! Letting you believe that he loves you most." Drusilla shook her head disapprovingly.
"I'm sorry, Dee. But you'll always be his fourth choice." Buffy continued sadly, addressing Brody.
"I was William's first love." Cecily said.
"I was his eternal love, his sire, his saviour, his princess." Drusilla giggled.
"I was the first Slayer he loved." Buffy intoned.
"But we all spurned his advances. Left puppy out in the rain, even though a storm was forecast by Mr. Jacobs down the road and there was a leak in his shed. Left out in the wet, he was and he whined to the moon. The moon loves our pretty prince but she doesn't burn his wick." Dru explained in her insane manner.
Buffy rolled her eyes at Dru. "Yeah. What she said."
Spike looked on in horror as Brody's eyes filled with hurt and tears. He opened his mouth to protest the three women's words and assure Brody of his love. But no sound escaped. He tried again and again to call out to her. Brody turned away and began to run tearfully from the ballroom. Spike attempted to follow her but Cecily, Dru and Buffy blocked his path. No matter what he did he could not get around them to stop Brody and find some way to proclaim his undying love for her. What the women said was true, except that she was fourth choice and that he didn't love her. Brody was merely the fourth woman he fell in love with, time ensured that, not choice. In truth he loved her twenty times more than the love he had felt for the other three added together.
Spike's terror increased when he caught sight of a familiar and dreaded figure. Angelus stepped from the shadows and winked at him before grabbing Brody by the wrist. Spike watched on in nauseating fear as Angelus lifted her from her feet by her wrist and looked over her speculatively as she dangled limply in his grasp.
"Oooohhh! Daddy's here to play with William's pretty toy!" Dru cackled maliciously, clapping her hands together in excited glee.
Spike continued to stare at Brody's flaccid form. Why wasn't she doing anything? Why wasn't she stopping Angelus?
"Willy, me boy. This one's a pretty little slip of a thing; I'll have fun destroying her." Angelus taunted as he pulled at the stays of her dress and bent her over a table. He leaned against her and slipped into his demon's face. Spike tried to scream and run to save her. Why was no one helping her? The Ball continued on, ignoring the vicious vampire attacking the young girl in the centre of the room.
Angelus ripped into her throat and slid the dress down her shoulders. Spike watched weakly as the life drained from her and as Angelus fondled her Victorian undergarment clad body. Pain like he had never felt tore through him as Angelus tossed her prone form to the ground and casually wiped at his mouth. Spike fell to the ground with silent sobs.
"Get up you snivelling idiot!"
Spike looked up and almost choked with relief to see Brody standing over him. It was a short-lived relief. She was a vampire! All her compassion, warmth and joy were gone. The woman he loved was gone. She smirked evilly at him.
"Truth is Spikey; you're beneath me." she said.
"Well, it's been fun seein' ya Willy but alas I've got a new play-thing to enjoy." Angelus gloated, slinging an arm around the newly vamped Brody and licking her neck.
"I love you, sire." Brody proclaimed.
Spike woke with a start and a gasp from his horrifying dream. His dead heart felt as if it was going to burst from his chest. Dread pounded through his veins and he clenched his fists so tightly that crescent marks would remain there for days. His eyes adjusted quickly and he looked down.
And what he saw was so glorious and caused his aching heart such relief that it stole his non-existent breath away. Brody was tucked against his bare chest. She was in his bed, naked, and so was he. She was very much alive and he realised that the horror of moments before had been a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare. Her hair was cascading across the pillow and her wonderful scent overwhelmed his vampiric senses. The passion-flower from her hair, the lavender from her body, the mingled scent of their love-making the night before, the faint amount of her bitter-sweet perspiration and the smell of painting supplies; everything that added up to be the woman he was so madly in love with.
When he had been in love with Dru he had thought it impossible to love anyone as much as he did her, let alone more. But with Brody, love was a lowly attempt at describing how much he felt. It physically hurt at times, a raw pain in his gut when she was close by. When she did something thoughtful, or did something adorable, or fawned lovingly over him when he was injured on patrol, or when she proclaimed him to be everything wonderful and beautiful.
He didn't deserve her, at least in his own eyes.
But he'd be damned if he gave her up.
No, she was his for eternity, and then some.
Eternity…
They really did have eternity; she was his mate!
Spike's demon roared happily and the man inside was agreeing whole-heartedly. He looked into her eyes. Brody was smiling gently, with her lips pressed comfortingly to his. A hand was massaging the frown from his brow.
"Hello cutie." she whispered to him with a beaming smile.
"'Mornin' luv, pet, sweet, darlin', mate." he mumbled sleepily.
Brody's impossibly wide grin grew. She cuddled deeper into his chest, groaned contentedly and tangled her legs with his.
"Nightmares, lover?" she questioned with sincere concern and a leer. He was surprised by this; that had always been his piece de resistance yet she had now perfected it. Sincerity and scandalously cheeky leers in one breath. It looked rather fetching on his mate.
He sighed at the question and rubbed a hand across his face. She grabbed his hand and rolled on top of him. Her eyes mapped his face and looked with worry at what she saw.
"Tell me!" she said forcefully, her hair falling over her shoulder and surrounding their faces in a silken curtain.
And he did, every hideous detail of the nightmare that he knew would never fade. The sharp sting of it that reverberated through his being. He told her everything, knowing she would listen and knowing she would make everything better. He knew that she could never stand to see his pain. She would go to the end of the world just to get a packet of aspirin if he had a headache. It was just who she was and they were alike in that way; he would do the same for her without pausing for a second of thought.
"Oh, Spike!" she whispered when he finished recounting every painful thing he had dreamt. "Dream Me is an idiot. I know you love me. I know about your past and I don't care. What, I expected you to be around for over a hundred years and not love anyone until you found me? Besides, I'm the one you're with. I'm the one who gets to wake up by your side. And Angelus? Well he's in LA with a soul shoved up his arse! 'Sides, even a soulless me would love your handsome self. It was just a dream, honey. I'm here now and I plan on sticking around."
"I love you, woman." he said with a chuckle and flipped on top of her.
"Good." she said looking up at him and arching her hips against his.
"Ughnnnn!" he groaned.
She laughed at his expression and as she leaned upwards to kiss him her stomach snarled loudly for attention. Spike patted the offending body part and lay an ear against it.
"What's that, Tummy?" he asked.
Brody writhed beneath him and whined. "Stupid Tummy! That's not the kind of hunger I want satiated right now!" She pouted and Spike looked up, catching her expression.
He travelled up along her body, slowly and sensually. Their eyes locked as he moved. Lust burned in his cerulean eyes and the heat in them had Brody squirming deliciously. He lay on top of her when he reached to level with her face and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Then broke away.
"Let's get Tummy fed. Then we'll see about Brody." Spike cooed throatily.
"Um-hmmmm!" Brody replied with an enthusiastic nod.
Spike rolled off of her and out of bed. He grinned evilly as a thought struck him and he ignored the black jeans in a pile by the foot of the bed. For Brody's benefit he walked to the ladder up to the upper level of the crypt, completely starkers. He looked back at her. Brody was lying lengthways across the width of the bed, her head was propped in a palm and she leaned against an elbow. A silk sheet was tangled around her lower half and her chest was hidden, pressed against the bed. Her hair tickled down her back and she was staring at his ass unabashedly.
"I'm starting to feel like a piece of meat." he called down to her.
"Spike! You should know by now that I only want you for your scrumptious bod!" she said, shaking her head in a teasing manner. Spike grinned at her and continued up the ladder as her sweet laughter rang through the crypt.
Spike emerged on the top level and stretched lazily. He walked over to the corner of the crypt that housed the adapted kitchenette. He hummed "Anarchy in the UK" as he pulled a press open and grabbed a pack of pop-tarts. Spike travelled to the toaster and popped in four of the pastry treats. He shimmied over to the fridge and grabbed a pack of blood as well as some Fanta lemon. He heated the blood in the micro-wave and stood tapping his foot, waiting for his and Brody's breakfast.
The crypt door slammed open. Spike started briefly and peered around a stone column but couldn't see the doorway around scattered furniture.
"Whatever beastie you are, I know you're here. And I hurt beasties." he called out, his sleepy senses snapping to action. "Oh, it's you lot" he murmured to himself.
"What do you lot want?!" he demanded from the kitchenette as Xander, Buffy and Anya made their way across the crypt to the source of his voice.
"Spike?" Buffy called.
Spike smirked delightedly when he realized what was about to happen. He grabbed and lit a cigarette and sat back against the counter.
"Yeah, I'm here." he said.
"Great Googely Moogely!" Xander exclaimed and covered his eyes when they entered the kitchenette. "Cover your shame, man!"
Buffy, too, averted her eyes quickly but Anya stared at Spike brazenly. "I'd say more it's more 'pride' than 'shame'" Anya commented mildly.
"Well, thank you Anya." Spike said with a snicker. "So what brings you all to my humble abode?" Spike asked, putting out the cigarette and crossing his arms. He did nothing to cover himself, enjoying the squeamish Scoobies far too much.
Buffy breathed deep and looked him in the face. "Brody didn't come home last night and mom is wigging out. Have you seen her?"
"Well, actually-" he began but was interrupted by the popping of the toaster and the beep of the microwave. He placed the pop-tarts on a plate, grabbed his blood and the Fanta and started towards the ladder. "Here, take this and follow me." he said, shoving the plate at Buffy. "And keep your mitts off!" he said glaring at Xander pointedly.
The boy held his hands up in feigned innocence and Spike ignored him, rolled his eyes and kept walking. He didn't want to take them to Brody but if Joyce and the Bit were worried, he'd have to.
"Dee? You decent?" he called down into the lower level.
"Hardly!" she snorted.
"We've got company, pet." Spike added.
"Oh! Humphhh!" she pouted and he heard her flop on the bed.
He chortled at her response and led the way down the ladder. He knew the Scoobies would be shocked when they came down the steps. The lower level was in a terrible state but the sight of it made him proud. It looked like the scene of a recent vampiric mating. The bed was half way across the room from its rightful place. The bed clothes were scattered across the room and some were torn to shreds. Her dress was in tatters by the bed, and the shoes she had worn the night before rested at the foot of the steps. His black tee and jeans were at opposite sides of the room, with the leather duster slung over an armchair, carefully. A low coffee table sat in shards at the centre of the room beside a turned over couch. Small pools of blood decorated the floor and spattered across the sheets.
Brody herself was still lying splayed out across the bed but was now clothed in Spike's red, over-shirt. Her long, ivory limbs flowed from under the material; her arms crossed and her legs spread on the sheets. Spike felt himself grow stiff at the sight of her in his clothes.
Brody tossed her head to stare at them when Spike landed on the lower level's floor. She took in her sister and friends and pouted. Spike smiled at her as she muttered about 'yicky interruptions' when 'things were just about to get fun'.
The Scoobies that had deigned to visit him saw the scratches and cuts adorning his and Brody's bodies. Prominent bite marks scored his shoulders and neck and Brody's thighs, upper chest, shoulder and neck. A small amount of blood was matted in her gorgeous hair.
Xander and Buffy looked appalled, Anya looked unsurprised and knowing. The ex-demon rushed forwards to her friend.
"Oh my god! You didn't?" Anya squealed delightedly and jumped onto the bed beside Brody. She took one of Brody's hands, smiling tremulously with glee for her best friend.
"Um…yup, we did." Brody answered, smiling shrewdly at her mate and her, well… mate.
"Where is it?" Anya demanded, checking out the bite marks on Brody's body.
"Where's what? What the hell is going on? What's with the blood and injuries? And the you, my baby sister, naked in Spike's crypt?" Buffy asked, looking perplexed and frustrated with a pinch of worry.
"Yeah!" Xander agreed "All of the above...And then some!"
"Did I mention, ewwww!" Buffy added.
Anya, Spike and Brody ignored their comments.
"It's here." Brody answered Anya, tugging back the collar of the shirt she wore to expose her back. Just below the shoulder blade there was a small, delicate bite mark.
"Ohhhh!" Anya cooed "It's very pretty! Well done, Spike!" Anya said patting his hand which rested on Brody's shoulder. "Congratulations to you both!"
"Thanks Ansy" Brody replied, using her friend's nickname and hugging the tiny, once feared, once vengeance demon.
"But you just had to be first! You didn't even wait till Xander and I got hitched!" Anya whined, smacking her friend's arm lightly.
"Sorry, pet." Spike said softly "Just couldn't wait. Seeing Brody all bloody and lifeless last night made me cop on to myself and make sure that the demon world knows exactly what's mine."
"Ohhh, sweet." Anya sighed and leaned into Brody's side "He's even more attractive when he's all possessive and cave-man-y."
"I think he just gets prettier every time I look at him." Brody noted, besotted tones drenching her words in their sweet sounds.
"Oi! I'm not pretty, I'm rugged and manly."
"Yes, sweetie, whatever you say." Brody soothed.
"Mrs. Pratt! Don't make me come over there!" Spike chastised playfully.
"Pratt?" Xander inquired looking questioningly at Buffy.
She raised a shoulder. "Don't look at me."
Brody pulled Spike over and he fell on top of her. She looked up at his face from where she lay, sprawled under him.
"I, guess I made you come over here, huh?" she said looking at him innocently but knowing just what she had said.
"I'll cum anywhere you want, darling." he growled.
"Mhmmm!" Brody moaned wiggling her hips under his. "Just where I like you."
"My favourite place in the world, pet." Spike purred in her ear.
Buffy stepped forward and threw the jeans that had been gracing the floor at Spike.
"Okay, that's it. I want answers and I want 'em now!" she ordered.
Spike rolled off a pouting Brody and pulled the trousers on. He sat up and looked from Anya and Brody to the angry glare on Buffy's face to the baffled frown on Xander's.
"You wanna tell 'em, sweets? Or will I?" Spike asked.
"We're mated!" Brody announced happily to her sister and friend. She cuddled into Spike's loving arms and watched their responses
Nothing.
Silence reigned and Xander and Buffy glanced at each other.
"Oh, sweetheart! I'm happy for you both, of course I am! It's just…you're only eighteen." Buffy said, coming to sit on the bed beside the others.
"Well, why wait when I know who I want to spend eternity with, and then some." Brody replied and stroked Spike's face.
"Look, Brody I've accepted Spike, hell, I even like him when he's not being a pain in the ass. But I worry about you, okay. I know you're the most powerful, longest active Slayer, half demon and a demi-goddess but you're also my baby sister. I love you and I just want what's best for you. I agree that the best for you is Spike but I just think that you should have lived more of your life before you made a huge commitment." Buffy stated softly.
"I've had to be mature and adulty for the last fifteen years, I've lived enough of my adult life to know what I want, and that's Spike and my family." Brody argued levelly.
Xander put up his hand and interrupted the arguing sisters. "Yes?" Buffy inquired.
"Wait 'til Joyce finds out" he said with a smirk. "Man, you are so toast" he added nodding to Spike.
"Oh no, not the in-laws!" Brody teased with a laugh.
"Ha, ha, luv" Spike groaned "But you're not the one Joyce and Giles are gonna skin alive…well undead."