Coming Through
Chapter Seven – The Chat
Spike stood and walked to the fridge then heated up another mug of blood and started for the door, "How 'bout we have a sit down on the porch, yeah? I've become fond of sittin' in the sun early in the mornin' while I drink my blood."
She nodded then refilled her orange juice and followed him out to the porch. He dropped into a ratty, comfortable looking chair next to a table piled high with old books, and she curled up on the small loveseat across from him. She took a sip of juice then looked out the window at the back yard. "It's pretty out here."
He smiled and sipped his blood as he gazed over at her, "Yeah. Beautiful."
She looked over at him, sitting in what appeared to be his favorite chair, bathed in sunlight with his leg draped over the arm. "Um… Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"If you sit in the sun all the time, um… why aren't you… I don't know… um… tan?"
He burst out laughing, "Vampire, luv. We don't tan." He waved at the windows, "You wouldn't get tan sittin' out here either, pet. It's the glass. Blocks all that out." 'So far she hasn't taken me to task for callin' her pet or luv. Hmmm.'
She smiled and looked down at her juice, "Oh." She took a drink then looked back up at Spike, "So… about everyone?"
Spike took a sip of blood then smiled, "Uh… right. Let's see… the whelp married Demon Girl and she's 'bout to pop their first sprog."
Her brow knitted in confusion, "Excuse me? Could you speak English, please?"
He chuckled at the look on her face, "That was English, pet. Anya's pregnant, due any day now, and she's bloody huge, but don't tell her I said that. She'll sic her friend Halfreck on me, and I don't fancy having my innards danglin' about on the outside."
Buffy grinned, "I'm guessing Halfreck is a Vengeance Demon?"
Spike nodded and grinned, "Yeah. Her specialty is kids messed about by their parents, but I don't doubt she'd do a favor for Anyanka."
"Xan and Anya have been married for ten years and this is their first baby? Why'd they wait so long?"
He shook his head, "No, they've only been hitched four years. Didn't go through with it the first time. Some bloke that was one of Anyanka's victims turned up at the wedding and got revenge on her by showin' Harris a horrible future that would come about if he married her. It was all smoke and mirrors, but the whelp believed it and scarpered, leavin' her standin' at the altar."
"Xander left her? Just left her?"
Spike nodded, "Yeah. Was scared they'd end up like his parents. Took the two of 'em a while to get themselves sorted, but they finally got back together 'bout five years or so ago."
"It took them five years to figure it out? Why so long? Something must have happened, Anya's not that patient."
Spike chuckled, "Wasn't Anya holdin' things up, pet. You know how bloody single-minded Harris can be. And something did happen. A few months after the wedding that wasn't, Anya had a onetime shag with someone and he just couldn't let it go."
"She cheated on Xander? Well, that explains a lot."
He shook his head as his eyes drifted toward the window, "Wasn't cheatin', luv. Can't cheat on someone you're not with, yeah? She was miserable and one night got completely pissed with this bloke who was in the same boat and… things just happened."
"Who was it?"
His eyes flicked to Buffy then away again. "That's not important. Point is, they'd both had their hearts ripped out and stomped on and were tryin' to drown their sorrows and ended up takin' comfort in each other for a little while. Didn't mean they didn't still love the people who hurt 'em, they were just tired of bein' in pain."
She was quiet for a few minutes as she considered his words then she asked softly, "How did Xander find out?"
"Walked in on 'em. He beat the bloke to a bloody pulp and Anya barely managed to keep Xander from killin' him. He left the stupid sod in a broken heap on the floor, then stormed out and wouldn't speak to or even look at Anya for months after. She went back to the Vengeance gig for a bit, but her heart wasn't in it and she finally gave it up."
"Wow, Spike. I don't know what to say. Xander almost killed someone? That's just… wow."
Spike nodded curtly then looked back over at Buffy, "Um… on then. Red and Glinda live in the flat over the Magic Box, and have been helpin' Rupert and Demon Girl run the place so she can stay home for a while after the baby's born. Glinda's got her own tarot card and aura readin' business, and Red designs web sites and does other freelance computer work when they're not runnin' the shop."
Buffy smiled, "Anya's going to let someone else touch her money and there's an apartment over the Magic Box?"
Spike nodded, "Xander built it for the witches durin' the time he wouldn't acknowledge Anya. That made for some tense times 'round the shop. Niblet stopped hangin' out there because of it, which was nice, 'cause then I didn't have to be there either. He's got his own construction company now, and don't fret 'bout Anya's dosh. She had a camera installed over the till so she can watch it anytime."
Buffy laughed then asked, "So when did Willow and Tara get back together? Tara had moved out not long before the whole stupid portal thing."
"Your disappearance brought 'em back together. They were workin' side by side and managed to sort things out between 'em."
"What about Giles?"
"Librarian at the high school."
"They rebuilt it?"
He nodded, "Yep. This one's the third go. Dawn did her Senior year at the short-lived second go."
"Is it still over the Hellmouth?"
He nodded again, "Yeah."
"So who's the Slayer now?"
He shrugged, "Some bird named Tina. Last I heard she was keepin' control of the Hellmouth in Cleveland."
Buffy blanched, "How did Faith die?"
Spike's eyes turned sad as he looked down at his mug, "She died closin' the Hellmouth 'bout two years after you disappeared."
"The Hellmouth is closed? Really?"
He nodded then shrugged, "Yeah… well… not completely. It's closed like shuttin' a door and lockin' it. It could still be opened if someone or somethin' was determined enough to pick the lock. Closin' it completely would've destroyed Sunnydale. Faith managed to kill all the beasties tryin' to get through and slam the door, but she had to give her life to do it."
"How did she do it?"
"Angel brought us an amulet that a Champion was supposed to wear. Someone with a soul, but stronger than human. He was gonna wear it himself, but Faith told him no and sent him back to LA."
"Why?"
"In case we lost, he could carry on the fight. The amulet worked though. Lit up all the beasties and knocked down most of the Hellmouth."
"Did you see her die?"
He swallowed hard and shook his head, "No. She sent the lot of us out right before the cave collapsed, but she was on fire when I left. I tried to drag her out with me, but she fought me off and told me to get out and take care of Dawn and the rest. Said they needed me then she threatened to stake me if I didn't move my arse."
Buffy nodded sadly as she looked out the window, "So… if the Slayer is in Cleveland… then who's protecting the Hellmouth?"
He looked up at her and took a deep breath then set his face into a grin, "I am."
"By yourself?"
He shook his head, "No. The Scoobs help. I do the patrollin' and fightin', they do the researchin' and spells and whatnot and back me up if needed. The research goes a lot faster now since they started actually listenin' to their two resident demons. You should see the look on ole Rupert's face when Demon Girl tells 'im that his books are wrong."
Buffy had a look of alarm on her face when she asked, "Spells? Willow's doing magic?"
Spike nodded, "Yeah. Quite good at it, too. After her… uh… problem, she went to stay with a coven across the pond for a few months and learned to control it and use it properly."
"Oh. And she didn't try to bring Faith back after she died?"
Spike blanched just a bit, "No, luv. Learned her lesson with you, she did. 'Sides, Faith threatened to kick her arse if she even thought about trying it."
Buffy smirked as she pictured Faith threatening Willow, "How did Faith end up here? She was in prison, supposedly for a long time. How did she get out?"
"The Great Forehead. He got her out of prison and sent her here. She'd grown up a lot from what I've been told 'bout how she was before. We got on rather well, actually."
Buffy felt a bright flame of jealousy burn through her and she squeezed her glass, her knuckles turning white as she looked at her knees and mumbled, "Oh. That's nice."
Spike tilted his head as he noticed her grip on the glass then he smirked to himself. 'Bird looks jealous. This just gets curiouser and curiouser.' He smiled over at Buffy, "She beat the snot out of me the first day she was here. Reminded me a lot of you. She hits just as hard."
Buffy looked up sharply, "Was she trying to stake you?"
He shook his head and chuckled, "No. She was just lettin' me know how she felt 'bout my last visit with Peaches."
Her brow knitted in confusion… again, "What happened between you and Angel that Faith would be upset about?"
Spike smirked, "I had the great poofter tortured for a while tryin' to get my soddin' ring back. She wasn't impressed and showed me just how unimpressed she was, then helped me down to the basement and cleaned me up. Cowgirl and I were best mates from then on."
Buffy barked laughter, "Cowgirl? You called Faith… Cowgirl? Why? I seriously doubt she's ever been anywhere near a horse. She's from Boston, not the… old west or whatever."
Spike smiled a little secretively, "The name came from somethin' she said to me at the Bronze when she was wearin' your body."
Buffy looked slightly frightened, "What did she say?"
Spike's smile turned soft, "Between her and me, pet."
Buffy scowled and looked out the window, "And the Council sent the new Slayer to Cleveland instead of here?"
Spike nodded, "It's been fairly quiet, just your run of the mill vamps and the occasional demon horde. We haven't had a proper apocalypse since Faith died. 'Sides, I was here and didn't need a baby Slayer muckin' up the works and I told the Council as much. They argued, of course, and told Rupes they were sendin' her out after they'd trained her up a bit."
Spike's chest puffed out as he raised his head and looked at her with a glint in his eye. "By the time she was ready to be on her own, word had got 'round in the demon world that I was Master of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth. Aside from idiot fledges, not too many demons are barmy enough to take on a Master Vamp from the Line of Aurelius. So… they sent the bint to Cleveland instead."
Buffy looked over at him and smiled to herself. 'Spike's got his pride back. He's the Big Bad again.' She looked him over appraisingly and licked her lips. 'Pride looks good on him. Really good.' She shifted slightly in her seat and looked down at her hands, blushing furiously because she'd just realized that she was staring. "Um… so what happened to Warren and the nerd herd? I'm pretty sure he's the one that killed that girl. She used to be his girlfriend."
Spike chuckled at her nervousness, "He's in prison. The little dark-haired bloke came to us not long after you disappeared and told us the whole story. He thought Warren had somethin' to do with you going missing. I… uh… convinced him that it'd be in his best interests to come clean to the bobbies 'bout the bird Warren done in after I had a little… uh… chat with Warren. When we were certain he didn't know anything 'bout you, we turned him over. His two mates made some kind of deal and only did a few years, but Warren's in for life."
Buffy grinned, "Wow. The system actually worked for once. And you… chatted… with Warren? What about your chip?"
Spike smirked, "Didn't fire once, pet. Never laid a hand on the bloke. All I had to do was flash a little fang and growl and describe what I was gonna do if he didn't talk."
Buffy smiled faintly then looked down at her juice and picked at her pajama top. "Did you guys try to find me?" She stared at her fingers, waiting for Spike to answer, then peeked up at him and gasped at the look of pain on his face.
He clenched his jaw and settled his face into a blank mask and his voice was steady and even when he spoke, "'Course we did, Slayer. Searched for you high and low. Covered every inch of this soddin' town. Giles contacted the Council and researched for weeks, read every book he could get his hands on. Glinda did spell after spell 'til she landed herself in hospital, then Red took over and nearly went off the deep end into dark magicks. Harris took to beatin' on demons for information and nearly got himself killed several times over. Everybody did everything they could, but there was absolutely no trace of you. No sign at all to where you'd gone or what'd happened to you. When Red got back from England, she told us the coven had done a spell and found out you were in another dimension, but they couldn't pinpoint which one it was out of the thousands of possible choices. From that point on, all we could do was wait and hope you found your way back."
She nodded and looked back down at her pajama top, her mind whirling, and her jaw dropped in a huge yawn. She drained her orange juice and stood up slowly, "I'd love to sit and talk all day, but I'm beat, and I've got a lot to think about. I'm going to go try to sleep for a while, ok?"
He got to his feet then looked at her and nodded, "All right, luv. I should catch some kip, too. Patrol was a bit rough last night." They both walked back into the kitchen and Buffy rinsed her glass then put it in the dishwasher as Spike stepped up behind her and finished drinking his blood. Buffy moved over a step so he could rinse out his mug then took it from him and put it in the dishwasher. She turned around and her breath caught when she realized how close they were. She looked up at him with a small smile as she breathed in his scent; cigarettes, leather, blood and whiskey. Uniquely Spike. She leaned toward him slightly, lifting up on her tiptoes, and he backed up then stepped quickly around her, being careful not to brush up against her as he headed for the basement door. "See you in a bit, yeah?"
She turned around and said softly, "Spike?"
His hand was on the doorknob and he didn't turn around, "Yeah?"
She looked at tight black cotton clinging to his muscular back, and the soft platinum curls at the nape of his neck. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to run her fingers over his silky skin and tangle them in his hair, but all she did was whisper, "Good night." 'I love you.'
He nodded and pulled the door open, "Night, Slayer," then disappeared through it, pulling it closed behind him.
