Out of Sight
By: PhoenixJustice
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other things that are not me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.
Warning: Rated M for language, violence, sexual content, etc.
Pairing: Spike/Buffy Summers, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, mentions of past Angelus/William, etc.
Setting: During No Place Like Home. Spoilers up season 10 of BTVS, season 5 of Angel, and Angel and Faith.
Summary: Given the gift of life again, Buffy goes back to make things right-but things don't always go the way you expect them to.
A/N: Italics for thoughts and flashbacks. Bold for dreams.
Part One of the Out of 'verse
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Chapter Fourteen
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The sun is at his back, streaming in when he opens the door confidently to the bar. All stare at him in utter shock. He throws out a cocky grin, all but swaggering his way inside, letting the door close carelessly behind him. A few demons in his way quickly step aside as he walks in.
He sits down on a stool, smirk widening.
Fuck that felt good.
"S-So, Spike," Willy says, a bit nervously (not that he blamed him. Had to be the first time he-and all the others here-ever saw a vampire walk through the bar at this time of day; walk through and not be flambeed.) "Been keeping an eye on your friend like you asked."
He looks around the bar, smirk turning to a frown when he doesn't spot him. He turns back to Willy, eyes narrowing and his mouth thinning.
"Where is he then?" He asks silkily, in his most dangerous tone of voice.
Willy whitens, pointing a shaky hand to the back, where the poker games were generally held. "In the back. Said he didn't need much to sleep and he wanted to wait for you two whenever you got back."
Oh lord. Was like a stray. Well, that's what fledges were essentially, anyhow. And Buffy seemed to take a shining to him. He pauses and notes his demon doesn't take offense or anger to that. Guess it knew that the boy was no threat. That, or the Claim was 'settling down'. It was all new to both of them, so there was still a lot of guesswork involved in it. And would for awhile to come, he guessed.
"He's been fine. Got him fed like you asked," Willy continued. "And everyone coming in has been keeping to the truce that the Slayer made. And her call to her friend or what have you has kept any potential infighting from happening."
Spike didn't know the demon called Lorne, but Buffy seemed to think highly of him and that was generally good enough for him. Especially so since a demon got in Buffy's good graces; showed just how much things had changed for Buffy in her life-and her personally-for something like that to happen.
He nods at him. "Bring round a pint of your good stuff." He makes his way to the back, where the poker room table had been set aside and a makeshift bed now lay. He kneels down and the fledge is awake in an instant, looking around wildly for a moment before his eyes fix on Spike's.
"Oh. Uh, hi." Al says.
Spike rolls his eyes, straightening up and allowing Al to awaken. Harder for fledges to wake up at this time of day, so he's patient while the vampire wakes up properly. Al stretches, standing up.
"Willy said everything went well." He says, almost conversationally.
Al nods. "Yeah. Got me blood and everything. Seemed happy to do it. I think he's afraid of you."
Spike snorts. "He's afraid of his own bloody shadow most of the time, but yes, he's smart enough to be afraid of me, at least."
"So um...is this the part where-"
"No." Spike growls. "For fucks sake, fledge; do you have a death wish?"
"No, of course not. It's why I became a vampire to begin with." Al says. "But I-I dunno. It's a new situation. And weird. I mean, a vampire I have no kinship with and a Slayer, of all things, looking out for me?"
Spike was intrigued. "You know a thing or two about vampires?"
Al shrugs. "As much as I could learn, yeah. Not much, but more than my sire ever taught me before she bit me. She was dumb as a bag of rocks but she knew a few people and they told me a thing or two before I became a vampire. Like that there were bloodlines. It's how I knew about you. Spike of the Aurelius line, right?" Spike nods. "I heard that it's one of the oldest and most respected bloodlines."
And for some damn reason, Spike feels something stirring within himself. Something he hadn't properly felt in over a hundred years; pride for his bloodline. It had been there, at first, until Angelus had taken that away from him, as he had taken everything else.
"It is." Fuck, that was pride in his voice, making his chest puff with it.
"And you're the defacto leader, right? That's what some of the guys in here were saying."
"That's right. There's someone else who is the leader, but he's...indisposed at the 'mo." With a Cursed soul. But Angel was the rightful leader to the Order. It just seemed highly unlikely he'd ever want to run it. And with his soul being so precarious as it was...
What had Buffy said about that?
"He's...I dunno, kind of like Jekyll and Hyde? It's all him. You can sugarcoat it all you want and differentiate between but it's all him. The problem is that he has a hard time accepting himself, who and what he is. It gets better later on, after a lot has happened, but right now? Definitely very split. 'Angel' is the man he wants to be, the man that even Angelus hid away that he wanted to be. The man that would have been if Angelus hadn't been born to the woman he was, the life he led. And 'Angelus' is the demon unfettered. He lacks the 'bridge', which is his problem. He fixes that later, but right now he's still awash in his guilt and still learning how to deal with everything-yet ignoring a part of him that would actually help him get along much better."
"So, what is my part in all this then?"
"Hmm. Don't rightly know yet. Other than you're safe. Buffy declared your safety and I agree with her. If anyone tries to hurt you, they'll have to answer to the both of us. And that," He smiles unpleasantly. "Is something they don't want to do. Especially now. So you're under our protection."
He blinks as Al's eyes fill with tears. He coughs. "You alright?"
Al nods, rubbing at his eyes. "Just...it's deep, you know? Never had anyone who cared enough, even if only a bit, to look out for me. It's always been me looking out for me, you know?"
"Yeah, well..." He shrugs. "You got that protection now. Other than that-to answer your question-we'll see. Not sure what bloodline you're from; it's harder to tell with fledges, especially ones that were created by fledges themselves. Might take some time and work, but I'd like to see. Probably not a big bloodline, though."
"Does that mean I can't work with you then?" Al asks, obviously only half joking.
"No. I'm the leader right now." He was. And again, that pride there. "And anyway, the Order has worked with those outside the bloodline many a time before." He had all but sat on Angelus' knee back then, listening to the tales of the bloodline; back before Angelus had shown his true face, back before he worked to break William to his will (though he had never entirely succeeded, of course.)
"So what's the first plan of action uh, boss?"
He shrugs, pulling out a fag, leaning against the wall, nodding at Willy to set down the pint of blood when he notices him.
"Drink my pint of blood and then we'll remind every sodding supernatural thing in this town why I'm the leader of Aurelius and the Master of Sunnydale."
And after that? He'd see the most important person in his life and see how the day with her mother and sister went.
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"SorryIknowIoversleptgottago!" Dawn says in one breath, grabbing a piece of toast, her bookbag in hand as she gives them both quick hugs as she runs out to catch the bus.
"Girl comes back in time and her sister oversleeps." She says, shaking her head in amusement.
"It's not her fault; it's a lot to take in." Her mother says, busying herself with cleaning the breakfast dishes.
"I know." She says, looking at the back of her mother, frowning. "I just meant that that is like Dawn to do that. She's..." She shakes her head, smiling in reminiscence. "She's a spaz sometimes."
"She's taking everything well, right?" Her mother asks her, turning to look at her, frowning now herself. "She seems to be, but..."
"She is." She reassures her. "Believe me, we'd know if she wasn't. I mean, I'm sure people in L.A. could hear her scream. But how are you, mom? I'm-" Her hands twist in her lap. "How has...has everything been? I-I got you help as early as I could."
Her mother's eyes soften and she comes around the island to hug her. She hadn't felt her mother's embrace and love in decades and it's hard not to break down. She feels her hair getting stroked and closes her eyes, feeling all of fifteen again and getting comforted by her mother over one silly thing or another.
"Oh, sweetie. You've done so much for me. So much. And so much for the world. Don't think that I don't see that, because I do." She pulls back from Buffy, tears in her eyes as well. "And you can't keep dwelling on things. Even I can see that. You're-" She pushes back some of Buffy's hair from her face, a soft smile on her face. "You're my daughter. Past, present, future; you've always done the right thing. Even when I didn't know about it, even when I wanted to deny it."
"Mom-"
"I've always wanted to apologize to you, Buffy. For that night. If you can't forgive me, I understand, but I wanted to let you know that, no matter what, I am proud of you and what you do. Never forget that."
Her eyes spill over with tears.
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"Now, that we got our crying out of the way," Her mother says lightly, with a laugh. "What are your plans for the day?"
"Hmm. Well, supposed to be meeting some Council people later at the Magic Box."
"Oh. Those horrible people who put you through that test and fired Mr. Giles? Why?"
"They have information we need. Well, that we used to need. I have all that information in here." She pats her head. "But they don't know that. And I don't plan on them finding out. Still, they have their uses."
Her mother pauses in the midst of drinking her coffee to look at her closely for a moment.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just that you've...matured."
She smiles and rolls her eyes. "Had to happen sometime, mom."
Her mother laughs.
"Probably will do some training with Giles if he wants to. Been awhile since I've been able to do proper training. Just mostly been me working with Spike at night in the graveyards, patrolling when we were pretty sure none of the Scoobies would be out and about..."
She trails off at her mother's scrutinizing work.
"That's where you've been staying?" Her mother asks, obviously trying to create a light, conversational, tone.
She nods. "Yeah. He's been...invaluable to me." Her eyes drift off as she thinks of him. "I wouldn't be here without him. He's..." She looks up at her. "He's important to me, mom. I-won't be without him."
Her mother stares at her for a moment, before setting her cup down, grabbing Buffy's hand gently, looking down at the chunky skull ring that adorned Buffy's finger as belovedly as if it were a diamond.
"And you're important to him." It wasn't a question.
"Yes." She whispers. "He's...he's a good man, mom. I know you haven't had a lot of time to see that personally, but-"
"He feels a lot. Loves deeply." Her mother says.
She was stunned. "Yes."
"We've talked, here and there, over hot chocolate. I know genuine pain and love when I see it. I can't say that a vampire-another vampire-is who I want you to be with. But," She continues as Buffy tries to interupt her. "all I really want is your happiness, Buffy. He makes you happy?"
"He's the other half of me."
"Then that's all I need to know. Although," Her mother says, a twinkle in her eye, releasing Buffy's hand. "If he ever hurts you, the axe offer still stands."
She smiles. "Mom...thank you."
"He left earlier, didn't he?"
She flushes. Her mom knew he had been here. She nods.
"Yeah. We figured it'd be better to stay here with you and Dawn while the stuff with Glory is going on. Be closer, safer for you both."
Her mother gives her a keen look. "And after?"
She swallows. "After...I won't be without him, mom."
"I figured as much. But Buffy, living in a crypt? That is not what I want for you."
"I know. The location doesn't matter to me." It didn't really, in the end. "I just want to be with him. I figured we'd get our own place. Doesn't matter to me where it is."
Her mother sighs. "My little girl, all grown up."
Her smile turns a little sad. "Still always going to need my mom."
She squeezes her hand gently, which her mother returns with a squeeze of her own.
"I'm not going anywhere, Buffy. I'm not letting this illness beat me."
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"Um, not that I'm trying to second guess you or anything, boss," Al says. "But not looking to get immolated any time soon."
Spike rolls his eyes. "You got the ring on?"
"Yeah."
"Then you'll be fine. But it's only a short loan," He tells him. "Until we get you somewhere safe. Can't keep sleeping on Willy's sodding floor, after all."
He pushes Al outside into the sun. He squeaks and blinks up at the sun. Spike walks off, with Al hurrying to catch up to him.
"Wow. This is-"
"I know. But you keep quiet about it now, yeah? It's mine. Only on loan, as I said."
"I got it. Still, this is-" Al looks around in wonder. "More than I'd ever thought I'd see again. Thanks, boss."
God, must have a soddin' soul, to get a bit emotional over shite like that.
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He gets him back to his place and whistles. It was pretty nice. Near the Sunnydale campus, though Al wasn't a student (apparently in life he had been a chef?) He knew places like these fetched higher prices. He looks over it, with it's large open space and idly wonders if Buffy wanted to move into a place like this once things were said and done.
"Why didn't you just say you had a place like this?" He asks Al, pulling the ring off the boy's finger and putting it back on his. "Would'a had you sleep here instead of Willy's dirty floor."
Al shrugs. "Dunno. Wasn't sure what you two wanted to do with me, so I figured I'd better listen."
"Yeah well, just do what you normally do. Or plan to do, now that you're a vampire. Provided," Spike adds. "That doesn't involve any innocent folk; Buffy's rule. And mine. Outside of that, just use your common sense."
He starts to turn to leave.
"Wait!" Al grabs onto his duster arm. He looks at him with a brow raised. "Is that it? I thought-"
He shrugs, easily getting out of the boy's grip. "Not my call to make about things like that. It's up to the Slayer. She thinks you're worth bringing into the fold then we'll let you know. Till then, I'll come and check on you now and again. You got a number you can be reached at in case?"
Al nods, heading over to his kitchen counter where a pad of paper and pen sat. He quickly scribbles something down and hands it to Spike who glances at it before pocketing it.
He starts to leave.
"Thanks, boss."
Fuck. He must be getting old, when fledges of all things pull on the ol' heartstrings.
"Don't gotta call me that." He says roughly. "It's Spike."
And he pushes out the door.
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"I must say, Buffy, your reflexes are quite remarkable. Though you keep putting your left shoulder down."
"Ugh. Still?" She does a few more hits. "Spike keeps getting on me about that."
Xander lets out a squeak. They both ignore him.
"I'm pleased to see that you wanted to-to continue your training. Does it have anything to do with who's arriving?"
She looks up at him.
"You didn't think I forgot you were aware of them, did you?" He says, shrewdly.
"Uh...kinda?"
Giles chuckles.
"And no, it doesn't. I don't need to please them. They lost that right a long time ago."
"Right when they made you take that test." Xander says, with heat; not at her, but at the memory of what they had put her through.
"Damn straight." She agrees. She shifts from punching to kicking, alternating here and there. It felt good to get some proper training. Spike had only been able to give her advice, not actively help her, because of the Chi-
She pauses briefly, before continuing. He didn't have the Chip anymore. Neither of them knew just how long it had been gone-maybe from the beginning of when she first arrived-so they wouldn't have thought to try and spar. The thought now fills her with heat and happiness.
I can dance with Spike again.
One of the last times they had properly 'danced', they had literally brought a house down around them.
"Plus?" She grunts, kicking harder. "I already have the inside scoop, so I'm not going to let them drag me around-or you, Giles-as long as they did last time, until I put a stop to it."
"I get you have problems with them, but please remember those of us who aren't enemies of Buffy." Xander wheezes, stepping back in the giant puffy costume he wore.
"Oh!" She exclaims. "Shit, I'm sorry, Xan; lost control for a minute."
"No big," Xander pants, leaning against the wall. "Just going to take a breather for a minute or ten."
He rests and she grabs the towel off the bench, wiping down as her and Giles head back into the main part of the Magic Box.
"Workout go good?" Willow asks, working on some of her work. College. That was another thing she'd like to try and take on again, after potential world ending Hellbitches were taken care of.
"Went great!" She says perkily. "Though I think Xander might be a bit sore. Sorry, Anya."
"You didn't injure him so bad he can't have sex tonight, did you? Because we had a lot of plans for-"
"And with that, pretty sure you just scarred the customer's virgin little ears," A voice suddenly drawls behind them.
She whirls around to see Spike and finds herself in his arms seconds later.
"Oh." She says, looking up at him, surprised she's already there.
His eyes widen as he looks at her, then they burn.
She grabs his lapels, pulling him close and kissing him as if she hasn't seen him in years. He growls and tilts her head, deepening the kiss.
"And I thought we weren't supposed to be scarring the customers?" Xander jokes, coming up behind them, sans puffy suit.
She pulls back from Spike reluctantly, though she remains in his arms. He looks rather pleased with himself.
"Sorry, Xan," She says, still looking at Spike. She lowers her voice. "Things go good then?"
Spike nods, grinning. "Pretty sure our new boy will be a help. Seems smart enough. And I'm pretty sure all of Sunnydale will be aware of my new status by now." His grin fades a bit. "Love a good fight, but if they realize what I have, there might be a lot of infighting for awhile."
She shakes her head. "Even if so, that won't matter; the Ring is keyed to you. That was something I made sure of, this time. Only way someone else is wearing that Ring is if you let them; it's something that can't be coerced through physical or magical torture either. So...it's all yours."
He looks suitably impressed. He kisses her again, ignoring Xander's spluttering. "Gonna have to find a good prezzie for you." He murmurs.
They finally pull away enough so Spike can sit in one of the chairs at the table and she takes up residence in his lap. He steadies her and she looks at the others who stare at them.
"So...go ahead and ask." She tells them. "I can tell you have questions. Again."
"In all the craziness of yesterday, we didn't notice until later, but...why didn't Spike burst into flame yesterday? Or today, coming in through the back?" Xander asks, looking a bit freaked out.
"Is it due to the...connection?" Giles says, looking around warily, though there seemed to be no Council people around just yet (though she knew it'd be soon.)
"Nope! Well, yes and no, actually. The Claim has apparently helped him be able to be in sunlight without turning into a pile of dust."
"That, and the Slayer gave me a little prezzie." He shakes his finger that held the Gem on it.
She turns, placing her hand on his cheek and he smiles, nuzzling her hand.
"Looks like you're not the only one." Anya points out.
"Hmm?"
They all turn as Anya points to Buffy's hand and her eyes widen as much as the others' do when they look at the ring sitting on her ring finger. She glances at Spike, who's face turns blank. She knew exactly what he was doing. She takes his hand and kisses it, kisses the ring, before clasping her hand with his, turning back to look at them.
"We're a pair. And not just because of the Claim. He's-" She looks up at him. "He's going to be my husband too. For real this time. He's my everything." His hand tightens on hers and she can see him fighting back emotion. She knew what he had been doing; he had been giving her an out, time to make an excuse if she wanted to.
She didn't.
She wasn't ashamed of him. She loved him. The Buffy that would have once hid away her feelings for Spike-to herself especially-was gone. She would never let anything like that happen again; she'd prove it to him every day for the rest of her life, if necessary.
But, as he kisses her hand with near reverence, she knows she doesn't need to.
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I hope you enjoyed this!
Let me know what you thought!
-PhoenixJustice