"Mom!" Buffy called out pulling on her coat and fixing her hair in the front hallway mirror, "We're going to the Magic box for a bit, then patrol. Be back later!"
Buffy pushed William lightly out the door by his shoulder blades, hearing Joyce calling from the kitchen, "Alright you two, be safe!"
William was grinning, shaking his head at her antics, "In a hurry, luv?"
She just wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue a little, he definitely put her in a frivolous teenage mood the whole dinner, provided by her mom's coworker. A delicious lasagna to wish Joyce well and take care of those headaches she had, how cute.
They all seemed in good spirits like, at breakfast, the time passed easily and warmly between the three women and their vampire guest. It was just more of that oddly normal Buffy's been experiencing since Spike split into two.
"We have to pick up Spike on the way." She explained as she walked ahead without him. William watched her hips sway in her follow the leader fashion before he caught up.
"Seems you know the way back to my crypt pretty well." William hummed basically and caught a leer from Buffy's side-eye, "Oi, no judgment, I'm actually quite impressed. Might even be blushing! 'Thee' Slayer knows my abode and I'm not dust yet."
He was grinning and Buffy was shaking in slight outrage, "Oh shush. Know thy enemies or whatever." she ended on a sour note, rushing ahead. William was fine and good, (good?! Dang what kinda Slayer… she thought quickly) but Willow's mention that the Spike side was just shy, had stayed with her.
Her Slayer intuition told her to get to Spike as soon as she could now it was dark and a sudden remembrance of what Giles said the night before, they're parts of a whole, if something hurt one side it'd hurt the other.
This worried her, the Spike part for some reason seemed like the one who'd get more into a scrape than William. But only, she thought, perhaps since William's been under her safeguarding ever since he came to be, she now had a sudden urge to protect Spike, this only the second night they've been separate.
And although she hadn't thought Riley up to it, what if he mistakenly let something slip, and his old Initiative buddies grabbed half Spike knowing he was possibly more vulnerable being separate?! Her heart sped up.
Buffy basically crashed into Spike's crypt, nearly ripping the door off its hinges. She glanced around though, not a new vampire tingle to be felt. Her brows furrowed.
"Well, he's not here." William smiled, almost tauntingly.
Her eyes darkened at his lightheartedness, "Listen, captain obvious-er. We gotta find him!" In her head, she filled in that Giles wanted them together but, she couldn't vocalize it, because she was near flipping out at not seeing the other side of William right now.
William saddled up close to her, as she racked her brain for where Spike would be at this exact moment, his hand found hers, a light tug and a chill calmness wrapped her tense fingers.
"Shhh, luv, I can feel him. Pretty sure, he's on the way to the Magic Box as we speak."
Buffy's face lightened, oh good, she thought, they had some kind of connection, why didn't she think of that. She chastised herself a bit and although she didn't release his calming hand, she glared at him a second. William wouldn't be out to sabotage her from finding Spike for some reason, would he?
"Oh come now, Buffy. He's my half, I need him!" William answered as if knowing just by her facial expression what she was thinking.
She lightened up again, smiling softly, not really grasping why her senses were so heightened and anxious. Buffy let go of his hand after a little squeeze, which she rationalized as a friendly gesture, but it was more of a confirmation she wanted to let go at all.
Blinking and breathing, Buffy tried to logic herself into a calmer space. She should be conscious of William, just as she'd been of Spike, as a whole. Having no other leads, she'd take William to the Magic Box and if Spike wasn't on his way, as he stated, then she'd take actions from there.
Buffy and William rounded on the Magic Box, her sense immediately triggering feeling Spike's full vampire presence. William in fact was correct, thankfully, his double was walking towards them, surprisingly with Tara smiling beside him.
Spike in his usual look, slicked back hair, long duster, red unbuttoned shirt over his black t-shirt and jeans, pleased Buffy to see. She couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but the Spike she was looking at, was definitely more the Spike she knew, than William was, and it put her at ease.
"Hi Buffy, and... oh." Tara's soft pleasant voice greeted her with a smile similar to the one she's had with Spike, then gathering a full look at William, with his curled hair and different air, it wasn't clear to her human eyes at first they were twins.
"Hey Tara, what's up?" Buffy knew she was playing slightly arrogant, nosing in by asking that and glaring at Spike, with William at her back.
Tara's face grew worried at the Spike next to her, for a moment, making her decision and stepped in front of him, protectively, "Buffy, I'm not sure what's going on, both of these Spike's have his aura... but the one with me, more so."
Buffy smiled softly, releasing her distrust, and nodding at the witch's assessment. Proud of her but also shocked she would so calmly protect Spike against her after all, the Slayer, and he was a vampire, plus Tara wasn't that confident in usual situations.
Buffy looked to the ground, trying not to judge Tara further. Spike and Willow, she guessed, hadn't filled her in on their situation. "There's a demon around who separated Spike into two halves last night. These," She raised her hand to Spike and William, "Are them."
Tara put her defensive arms down and blinked, "Huh, two of one Spike." She whispered, looking at them both. Spike and William were leering at each other with subtle gestures, that Buffy and Tara were missing, between them.
"Yep. We're here to figure out where this Toth, the bad guy who did this, is so we can take him out. How come you're here if you didn't know why we were meeting?"
Buffy lingered a look on Spike, rather than Tara for a second. Though she was absolutely happy to be seeing him in one piece. The feeling of both Spike's in one place was even better than just being with William.
She wondered why she was getting all warm and mushy over the two Spike's, she never felt this way when they were whole… well not much at least.
She chastised herself yet again, Slayer here! She needed to be just as cautious, for not just their safety but for Tara's as well, even though the witch and vampire had seemed to be walking together like old friends.
"Oh…" Tara blushed, and Buffy worried a minute as if she read what she'd been thinking and looked towards Spike, he smirked a smile at the blonde girl and answered for them.
"I was out buyin' smokes when I saw Glinda here, at the coffee shop. Figured you all to be meeting again, since we didn't find Toth last night." His tone was casual, unpresuming, but he was eyeing his double at every chance.
Tara held up her lidded coffee cup to confirm that part of the story, "He.. he said he was headed h..here to m..eet you… and we just started c..chatting..."
Buffy smiled back at the girl and noticed how Spike leaned in slightly for support, maybe when she started stuttering. She reached out and took Tara's coffee-free hand, "I'm glad you're here." the touch gave the witch her confidence back.
Tara's smile and the warmth of her hand in hers, lightened Buffy's smile even more, 'Glinda' as Spike called her certainly had a beautiful aura of her own, to lift even the Slayer's off-kilter spirits.
The two girls headed towards the door of the Magic Box. William perked up, seeing Spike step in that same direction, "Hey bruv, lemme get one of your smokes."
Spike crumpled his eyebrow at his other half. William was just craving a smoke not having one since their separation. He fished out two, lighting his twins then his own, Buffy and Tara blinked back at them before closing the store's door to them.
"Alone together at last," William snickered and took an appreciative drag.
Spike huffed a laugh of his own, "The way it normally is."
"So, you just walked the white witch here, outta the kindness, of your dead, black, soulless heart, did ya?"
Spike sucked in his cheeks in a slight pout towards William, casually ascertaining his dislike of being called out for his good deeds, even by his own other half, who would have, for certain, done the same. Couldn't have let the human, albeit witch, who's even remotely important to Buffy at this point, go walking about at night in a Hellmouth like this without protection.
William just nodded in his silent understanding, again delighted that this 'stronger' side of him wasn't just a bastard of a demon, "How was your night with Harm?"
Rolling both sets of their eyes about the young annoying vampiress, Spike sighed, filling in his half, "Got her back to the crypt and she just kept talking about the most inane things. Wanting to fight the Slayer, wanting to make minions," He huffed, finishing his cig and flicked it out into the street, "Bringing up what she wanted to do with both of us." his lips pursed and they shared a look.
Sure Harmony might have been on to something sexy about having the both of them, but just like jerking off, it wasn't that appealing to them. Especially with a woman they weren't wholeheartedly interested in.
"Kinda disgusting," William answered for them, nodding and finishing his own cig.
"Yeah, didn't do anything, but send her away," Spike tilted his head, "Where'd you sleep?"
William's eyes widened, he felt sort of shy all of a sudden. To tell Spike he was invited for a lovely family day, sleeping in the Summers basement. An offer Buffy would have never made had they'd not been separated.
"Ah." Spike blinked in understanding at his twin's reluctance to say, he'd guessed it. "You smell of them."
William probably knew that deep down, but since he had lived in it for a night and day, he couldn't smell it on himself. He pursed his lips, finding a smile, remembering the sweet moments with Joyce, Dawn, and of course when Buffy let him hold her hand in their crypt.
"Jealous?" William's smirk and pride was picking back up at how well Spike seemed to be taking the news.
"Of course, I bloody am." Spike shook his head, yes he was jealous he didn't get to experience the warmth of being included by the three Summers ladies, but a part of him did.
He wrapped his hand around the back of his twin's neck and shook him a little in a brotherly balance of anger and acceptance. Both were smiling as they made their way into the Magic Box.
So glad you all seem to be enjoying my story! TBC!