Hello! Sorry for the long wait, here's the next chapter.
(O.O)
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
No words reflected Buffy's feelings regarding a certain vampire clearer than that. It has been almost two weeks since the Slayer had last seen him.
The last she heard of him was on the 29th of December when he and Steve joined her for patrol. She was told that they were leaving town the next morning and Spike was going with Steve so they could celebrate the New Year at the Captain's place.
She had asked them when they would be back, or if they planned to return to Sunnydale at all, and was reassured that they'd come back because one, Spike lived there and two, they liked Sunnydale so they wouldn't be moving anywhere any time soon.
Buffy had been relieved and had bid the two goodbye with a smile that night.
Had she known they'd be gone this long, she would've asked for their contact information. After week one of not hearing from Steve and her vampire, she tried checking with her friends and Watcher if they had their cell numbers and found that none of them had any means to know what Steve and Spike were up to.
She wasn't worried that Spike was doing anything evil, he had Steve to stop him from doing anything bad. But she was at least brave enough to admit, at least just to herself, that she missed the funny, annoying, snarky, and sarcastic vampire.
She missed arguing with him during patrols. She missed watching movies with him and Steve at his crypt. She missed teasing him for his movie collection and tastes in films. She missed him walking her home from patrols.
Overall, he missed him and she wanted to know how he was doing, what he was doing, and such.
It was weird. A month ago, she would've kicked anyone's ass if they even suggested that the vampire meant anything remotely positive to her. But now, she was willing to admit that he's wormed his way into her heart and became a precious friend to her.
A friend. That's all he is. I miss my friend, Buffy told herself as she tried to calm her speeding heart.
She continued to make her way to Restfield, her last stop for the night. She has made it a habit in the past week to visit that certain cemetery for one reason and that was to check Spike's crypt.
Surprisingly, a lot of demons loved to come to that place to ransack her vampire's home and she had made it her mission to stop these intruders as a courtesy for her friend.
She was nearing the crypt when she felt a familiar tingle at the back of her neck.
She turned and felt her lips form a smile at the sight before her.
Spike! She thought as she watched the vampire approach her.
"Hello, cutie," the vampire greeted her. "Missed me?"
Buffy laughed. "As if," she replied. No way was she admitting to him that she did miss him.
"Well, I did. I missed you, Luv," the vampire said with a soft smile that made Buffy's heart flutter.
The Slayer just smiled at this, before asking the vampire if he was alone or if Captain America was with him.
Spike looked disappointed for a mere second before he answered and told her that Steve was doing work for S.H.I.E.L.D. so he wasn't with the vampire this time.
She nodded and asked the vampire if he wanted to watch a movie with her.
He accepted the invitation and the two walked to his crypt together.
(O.O)
Spike was happy. The happiest he has been since Dru left him. And the cause for his current state of happiness was a certain petite Slayer.
For the past few days since he came home from visiting Steve and the Avengers in New York, the girl had been spending a lot of time with him. Whether it was for patrol or simply because she wanted to watch a movie or two with him, she was there and this made him extremely happy.
He still didn't dare to tell her how he truly felt for her, but that was because he was content with these moments he had with her. He knew that he didn't deserve her and knew that she didn't return his feelings, so there was no point in ruining what they had now by confessing his love for her.
Steve disapproved of his hesitation, calling him a coward for not admitting to the girl that he liked her. The soldier even went as far as to scare him, by comparing his delay in confessing his feelings to Buffy with his sad history with Peggy Carter.
"Spike, as maybe the world's foremost authority on waiting too long-don't. You both deserve a win. Just tell her how you feel. Who knows? You may be surprised and it turned out that she feels the same way," was what the Captain told him.
Spike truly appreciated his friend's encouragement and faith in him, but he was realistic. Buffy liked him, but he knew that she only saw him as a friend. Hell, she had admitted it more than once in those few weeks that he spent with her back in December that she thought the vampire was a good friend. The girl never saw him as a potential lover.
It was sad, but it was the truth. So, Spike forced himself to be satisfied with what crumbs she gave him, even if he wanted more.
"So, I told them: you're Watchers. Without a Slayer, you're pretty much just watching Masterpiece Theater. You can't stop Glory. You can't do anything with the information you have except maybe publish it in the Everyone Thinks We're Insane-O's Home Journal. So, here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna tell me everything you know. Then you're gonna go away. You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop will remain open. Mr. Giles will stay here as my official Watcher, reinstated at full salary, to be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. I will continue my work with the help of my friends."
"I doubt they were okay with that," he said, feeling a bit relieved that he caught the last bit of what she were saying, otherwise she would've caught him daydreaming and not listening to the story she was telling him about what had happened the past couple of weeks he was gone.
"Oh, they weren't. But I set them straight and told them I had two very powerful witches and a thousand-year-old ex-demon and Xander, who has clocked more field time than all of them combined. They looked so surprised and I then said that if they wanted my help to stop this apocalypse then they should do what I said because I didn't want to wait for them to think it over. Quentin just stuttered and said, your terms are acceptable. Acceptable! Hah! I sure showed them!"
Spike smiled at his girl's enthusiasm. "You sure showed them indeed, pet. Too bad I missed it."
She waved his apology away. "Nah, I'm glad you weren't there. I think that one of them was an obsessed fan of yours and kept asking about you. I had to stop myself a couple of times to prevent myself from punching her."
Spike smirked at this. "Did you now? And pray tell what insulting thing she asked about yours truly?"
"Don't be a pig, Spike. She just asked what you liked to do if you had hobbies now that you can't kill people, and what I did to make you change sides."
He laughed at this. "She thought you had something to do with me changing sides?"
"Yup. But pu-lease, as if I did anything. You've always been a weird vampire and you have a history of changing sides. I mean, you became friends with Captain America, for Pete's sake! I didn't do anything to make you change. You do that on your own, which is pretty amazing for a vampire if I say so myself," she ranted, unaware of the effect of her words on him.
He cleared his throat to make sure his voice didn't crack as he asked the next question.
"So, she asked such things about me, I don't see how that would make you want to punch her," Spike said.
"Well, she asked those things, but then she asked me if I could set you two up for an interview. She said she wanted to meet you in person. Said she always wanted to meet the legend and talk to you, and she said all this with this dreamy and lusty eyes," she told him, irritation evident in her voice. "I mean, the nerve of her! She was here to see me! And she was trying to hook up with my vampire, while she was at it? No way! I told her no and said that you were out of town and I didn't know if you would come back, which was a lie since I knew you planned to return. But anyway, I'm glad she's gone and you didn't have to meet little Miss Fangirl."
Spike listened to her rant with a small smile on his lips.
She said a couple of things that made his undead heart flutter, like calling him her vampire and acting all protective of him. It was things like these that normally tempted the vampire to simply confess to the girl about his feelings for her.
"Anyway, she left with the other Watchers, so you don't have to worry about seeing her around town," she ended her story.
"Well, I'm glad you looked after my dignity, pet. I don't know what I would've done without you here," he told her with a teasing tone.
This earned him a punch on his shoulder from the Slayer.
"Ow!" he cried. "Easy on the violence, pet. It's bad sport to hit someone who won't hit back."
She snorted and simply ignored that little weird phrasing about his ability to hit anyone.
Instead, she changed the subject and asked if he was going to her birthday party, which was a few days away.
Spike had been surprised by the invite but accepted it nonetheless.
"Good! I'll expect presents!" she declareed with a teasing look.
"I'll be sure to get you the best one this year," he said with a smirk.
She laughed and moved on to the next story for the night. It was about what happened to Willow, Anya and Xander, and Anya's ex-husband Olaf, who was a troll, unaware of the fact that her vampire companion was more focused on coming up with the best gift for his girl.
(O.O)
Buffy's birthday was tomorrow and Spike was panicking. He had no idea what to give the woman he fancied. It was humiliating but despite knowing almost everything about her, he still couldn't come up with a gift for the girl who deserved everything.
A new weapon? Nah, her Watcher probably had that covered.
Jewelry? Nope, that would be too obvious, and again, he still wasn't ready to confess his feelings for her.
A book? Fuck, no! His Slayer may be smart but he doubted she'd appreciated a good book if he gave it to her. He could recommend a book, but he couldn't give one as a present.
Clothes? God! He was a guy, what sort of man gave a woman clothes for her birthday?!
He was screwed!
He had no idea what to give his Slayer. He couldn't think of a good gift!
He needed help.
And there's one man he could ask for it.
"Hello?" Steve answered his phone.
"I need your help," Spike said from the other end.
"Spike? Is something wrong?"
"Yes. Something is definitely wrong. I can't think of a gift for Buffy for her birthday," the vampire said.
Steve nearly groaned when he heard this. His friend called him for that?
While he didn't mind helping the vampire, he would've appreciated it if the other took into consideration the time he was calling. It was two in the freaking morning!
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up on his bed to get comfy. This will be a long conversation, he could tell.
"Okay, what have you thought so far?" He asked to start the conversation.
"That's the thing! I have no idea what to give her. I mean I thought about giving her a weapon, but then I know her Watcher will get her one. Jewelry will just give her a hint of my feelings for her and I can't give her a book or clothes either. They aren't special enough. So, I'm out of ideas and I need your help!"
"Okay, first, calm down. It's weird hearing the normally level-headed you acting all irrational. Now, tell me, what do you think Buffy would like?"
Spike rubbed his face to calm himself before responding. "Mate, if I had any idea what she'd like, then I wouldn't have called you."
"Alright. Sorry. Let me rephrase that. Do you know what is important to Buffy and maybe come up with a gift related to that?"
"Important to Buffy?" There was a pause on the other end of the line, but Steve waited patiently for his friend to respond. "Well, her friends and family, I guess. I mean, that girl would do anything to keep them safe."
"Then maybe you should think of a gift connected to that? I mean, you know witches that can make you charms and such. Ask them to make you some sort of protection bracelet or necklace, like the one you gave me."
After a brief pause Spike suddenly shouted, "Steve, you're a bloody genius! I gotta go, mate! Thank you for your help, talk to you later!"
Beep! Was the last thing Steve heard. He gave his phone a look and saw that his friend had ended the call.
He shrugged, knowing could call him again the next day and find out how the party went and if Buffy liked his gift, whatever it was he was going to give her.
The young captain yawned before settling back to his bed and falling back asleep.
(O.O)
Dawn Summers hated it when people kept secrets from her.
Maybe because her parents kept their issues hidden from her when she was young so she hadn't expected the divorce and being kept in the dark about something had caused her trauma.
Or perhaps it was because she saw that her sister's secret of being a Slayer caused a rift between her mother and her sister that made her hate having someone keeping secrets from her.
Overall, she hated secrets. Especially one that she knew was about her.
She'd seen the suspicious looks her sister's friends often sent her way and had overheard Buffy, Giles, and her mother whisper with each other in hushed tones, comments like "Dawn's special. She needs to be protected" or "Something's after her" or "She's in danger".
It was not hard for her to suspect that something was going on and it was about her.
She tried asking Buffy, but her sister was tight-lipped, as always. She hated that about her. She often thought she needed to keep things to herself to protect everyone but she was wrong. Ignorance is more dangerous than not knowing what's going on.
At least if she knew what was wrong, she could be prepared and would know what to do.
But no! Buffy always thought she knew everything and when she said let's keep Dawn in the dark, everyone agreed.
It was annoying and she hated it.
That's why she decided to learn things for herself. She left the house alone and went to the Magic Box, where she remembered Giles leaving his journal at the counter. If she could get that thing then she'd be able to finally figure out what was going on.
She walked with determination on the dark streets of Sunnydale, alone.
(O.O)
He was late. He knew it would take time for the witches to make Buffy's present but he hadn't expected them to take this long.
It was nearly nine in the evening and he had already missed most of the Slayer's party. He felt rotten for it but he hoped that his gift would get him back on his girl's good side. He arrived at the Summers' residence and he was about to enter the house when he caught the scent of Buffy's sister outside.
He shrugged it off, thinking nothing of it, and instead knocked on the door.
Buffy answered and sent him an unimpressed look.
"You're late," she told him.
He smirked before responding. "Would you believe that I was late because I had to get your gift from the folks I asked to make it?"
She rolled her eyes, clearly not believing him, before allowing him to enter her home.
"Your lucky mom likes you because she at least saved you some cake," she said as she led the vampire to the living room where her friends were.
"Spike! You made it!" Joyce said with a smile as she approached the vampire.
"Sorry, I'm late."
"It's okay, come with me. I have some cake in the kitchen, you can have that and some hot cocoa," the Summers matriarch told him.
"Ta, pet. So, did the Bit have somewhere to go tonight?"
Everyone in the room froze.
Joyce turned to face the vampire and asked him to clarify.
"I caught her scent outside. Thought it was weird since it was still fresh," the vampire explained but stopped as he watched the panicked expression on everyone's face.
Before he knew it, the Slayer was dashing past him towards the stairs. Moments later, she was running back down.
"She's gone!" She cried.
Joyce looked horrified. "Oh god!"
"We need to find her!" Buffy exclaimed before turning to Spike. "Can you use her scent to find her?"
He could see the fear in her eyes and just like that he knew he would try his hardest to do what she asked.
"Spike and I will go out to look for her. You guys wait here, in case she comes back," Buffy told everyone before moving towards the door with the vampire at her heels.
It took him a while but he was eventually able to catch her scent. It was leading them to a very familiar location.
The Magic Box.
The two approached the store and found that the door was unlocked. Buffy slammed the door open before entering the store. She found her sister near the shop's counter with a familiar journal in her hands.
"Dawn!" She called out as she approached the teen.
Her sister shaking, tears running down her cheeks.
"Am I real?" She asked Buffy, staring at her sister's eyes and hoping she'll get a different answer than what she thought. "Please tell me, am I anything?!"
The Slayer had no idea what to say. She didn't know the answer herself, so she did the only thing she could think of and rushed to her sister and hugged her as she began to cry harder.
Spike stood near the entrance of the shop, confused about what was going on. He had no idea why the Bit was crying or why Buffy was unable to answer her questions. What he did know was that they were hurt and he couldn't hit whatever it was that was causing them pain.
And he hated that.
(O.O)
It took a lot of cajoling but Buffy was finally able to get her sister to come home with her. Once she got them home and her sister was safe in her own bed, she went to talk to her friends about what happened and then asked them to leave.
It was a family thing and she needed time to settle everything with her sister.
She spoke with Dawn again and this time their mother joined them. It was a useless effort though. Her sister was angry and distressed and Buffy couldn't answer a single one of her questions. The two Summers women were kicked out of the teen's room, dejected and feeling terrible about themselves.
Her mother went to bed after that.
Buffy, on the other hand, went outside to her backyard and sat down on the steps near the backdoor.
She hated that her sister was in pain and hated that she had no idea how to reassure her and help her through this situation. She hated that the teen learned the truth the way she did.
Alone and away from her family.
She was angry at Giles for leaving his journal at the shop where Dawn had easy access to it. She was angry that they weren't able to hide the truth longer from her. She was angry at herself for not preparing for this situation and for not thinking of what she was supposed to do if Dawn found out.
She felt stupid and angry and tired and-God! So many emotions!
She heared a rustling sound from the bushes in front of her, making her look up to see who it was there. Her eyes widened when she saw Spike.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Could ask the same fom you, Luv," he answered as he approached her. "Shouldn't you be inside with your family?"
Buffy looked down at her hands on her lap with a sad expression. "Mom and Dawn are probably asleep. So, no point in me being there with them," was her answer.
He sat down beside her. He didn't say anything, just sat there with her in silence, staying with her while she felt shitty about herself. It was nice, even though she was still feeling awful. She appreciated that he wasn't leaving her alone but didn't push for answers either when he must have a million questions after seeing her sister's breakdown in the shop.
She was grateful for it.
"I forgot to give you your gift," he suddenly said and reached under his coat to pull out a medium-sized newspaper-wrapped box. "Happy birthday, Buffy."
She stared at the box, not knowing how to feel about getting a gift when so much had happened that night. But she didn't want to hurt his feelings by declining the gift, so she took it. She examined the box before asking him what it was.
"Just open it," he told her.
And she did and was surprised to see three pairs of different colored earrings inside.
"They're enchanted. Two of them have a spell on them that makes weaker demons and newly turned vamps ignore the wearer. You can give them to your mum and sis, you know, to protect them from the baddies here in Sunnyhell. The last one is for you. It's also bespelled and works like a GPS and would let you locate the other two earrings by giving you directions on where the wearers of the others are. This way you won't have to worry about looking for me to help you look for your sis in case she pulls another runner, like tonight," he explained.
Buffy was touched. The earrings were simple but beautiful. But the fact that he got them for her with the purpose of helping her protect her family-it moved her heart. Unable to help herself, she hugged him.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Spike was surprised by the hug but returned the embrace, nonetheless.
A moment later they let go and went back to sitting in comfortable silence, before Buffy finally made the decision to tell the vampire about Dawn being the Key. He, more than anyone, earned the right to know.
The vampire took the new information in stride. Sure, he was surprised. But he didn't see any reason to panic as her friends did. Instead, he asked her what he could do to help. And she loved him for it.
"I need to know more about the Key and what it is and what it's supposed to do, so I can answer my sister's questions. I also need to keep Dawn safe," she answered him.
"Well, just tell me when you need my help and I'll come. I'm here for you, Buffy," he declared with such an intense stare.
Buffy believed him and found that she was grateful to have him by her side.
And so for the second time that night, she thanked him.
(O.O)
Spike hadn't expected to receive a call from the Slayer the following evening after her birthday, asking for his help again locating her sister. Who once again, ran away.
The vampire met up with her and her friends and started looking. It was harder this time for him to find the missing teen because her scent wasn't as fresh as the night before. It wasn't long before Buffy realized that her sister might be at the hospital.
Upon arriving, Spike immediately caught the girl's scent and told the group to follow him. He led them to a door where he smelled Dawn's scent the strongest and watched as Buffy kicked the door open.
"Hey! Get away from my sister!" The Slayer yelled at the blonde woman beside the teen.
"Oh, hello, we were just talking about you," Glory said with a smile. Dawn took that very moment to run to her sister.
"Conversation's over, hell-bitch," the Slayer said before she punched Glory with a combination of her right and left hand. Then she ducked to avoid a punch from the bitch, before kicking the hell god in the stomach.
The two continued their fight and as they grappled with each other, Buffy span her opponent around and slammed her into a display case. Glory was quick to recover and kicked Buffy away. Just as Spike decided to join the fight, she punched the Slayer in the face knocking her back. He came up behind the hell god and grabbed her, pinning her arms against her sides. She struggled at his restraining hold and Buffy took the opportunity to punch the living daylights out of her opponent.
"I thought you said this skank was tough," Spike commented.
This angered the hell god and she broke free from his hold before grabbing the vampire's arm and throwing him against a wall. She picked him up and head-butted him, just as Xander moved around behind them, holding a tire iron.
Glory threw Spike again and he slid across the exam table, crushing a bunch of medical equipment. He fell off the other side, landing against the wall, unconscious.
Buffy stared at the vampire's passed-out form in concern.
"He wakes up, tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth," the hell god said.
Buffy ignored the boyfriend comment and instead rush straight for the bitch again. She sent another series of punches at her, then duck to let her Watcher hit their enemy with a bolt from a crossbow. He hit his target and the bolt was visibly protruding from the hell god's stomach.
"Oh, please. Like that's-" she stopped as she felt someone hit her head with something. She turned and found Xander who snuck up behind her and had just smashed the tire iron at her head.
She wasn't affected.
"Watch the hair!" She cried as she lifted Harris before throwing him to Giles. Both men ended up slamming on the X-ray charts behind them.
She picked up Xander's tire iron and held it up like a javelin. "Time to start dying. Let's start with the whelp!" She said, aiming the weapon at Dawn.
Buffy threw herself at the weapon and got stabbed in the chest with it. Dawn screamed when she saw her sister getting hurt.
"Oh, nice catch," the hell god commented with a gleeful smile. "Is that the best you little crap-gnats could muster?" She slowly made her way towards Willow and Tara. "I gotta say, I'm not impressed."
The two witches then threw glittery powder at the god.
"Look what you did to my dress! You little-"
"Discede!" Willow yelled after clapping her hands and with that, the hell god exploded in a cloud of smoke. The redhead fell down unconscious.
"Willow!" Tara screamed as she ran to her girlfriend.
Spike regained consciousness a few minutes after Glory was sent away by the witches. He watched in silence with the rest of the Scoobies as Buffy reassured her sister that she loved her and that she was really her sister. He was glad that they were able to make up.
Buffy needed her family in these tough times and she needed Dawn not to pull these sort of stunts again in the future, especially when an actual hell god was after her.
He was still pissed at the fact that he wasn't much help against the god. It made him angry that he wasn't able to assist Buffy in the fight earlier. But at the same time, he was glad for this encounter. He now had an idea of what they were facing and with it, he could admit that they needed a lot of help to stop this Big Bad.
Fortunately, he knew just who to call for help.
(O.O)
Spike just got off the phone with Steve after giving him an update about the Glory situation.
By the end of the call, they both agreed that Captain America was needed in Sunnydale, so Rogers told the vampire that he would inform Fury of his plans to move back to Sunnydale and help the Scoobies deal with the hell god.
After the call, Spike got ready to meet up with Buffy to tell her about the news. He texted her and received a reply to meet up with her at the Bronze. When he got there, he was surprised that the Slayer invited her friends to join them that evening. As he approached the table where she was sitting, his gaze turned to the dance floor where Red, Harris, and their birds were moving to the beat of the music Call Me Maybe in the background.
When he arrived at the table, Buffy smiled at him and he knew his heart would've restarted at that moment if it could.
"Good, you're here. I need a dance partner," the Slayer said as she dragged him by the arm to the dance floor where her friends were.
Spike stood frozen for a few seconds as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
"You're supposed to dance," Buffy said as she bobbed her head to the beat of the song, before mouthing the lyrics of the chorus.
Spike shook his head in amusement at his Slayer's antics. Out of all the songs, he had not expected to dance to this one with her. But not wanting to miss this opportunity, he took her hand and started swaying with his girl.
Before you came into my life
I missed you so bad
I missed you so bad
I missed you so so bad
Before you came into my life
I missed you so bad
And you should know that
I missed you so so bad
He hated this song. It was one of those annoying songs that got stuck in your head until you just wanted to bash your head into something to forget it. However, the words she was mouthing at him while they danced were affecting him in so many ways.
God! How he wished she really meant what she was singing to him!
The song slowly reached its end and the DJ was switching it to another, much faster song. The vampire didn't miss the looks they were receiving from her friends. He simply hoped that they wouldn't ruin the evening for them. He was having so much fun and he loved the feel of her body against his for him to care about them at that moment.
After a couple of songs, his Slayer finally decided to join her friends back at their table. Once they were back, Buffy was smiling from ear to ear.
"That was so fun. I haven't had that much fun in a while," she said before turning to face him. "And I so didn't expect you to dance to that song! It was so funny and amazing!"
"I bloody hate that song, but since you asked nicely by dragging me to the floor, without my consent I might add, who was I to refuse a lady for a dance?"
Buffy just smiled at his light teasing.
This is what he loved about this strange friendship they had going on. She never failed to give him that endearing smile whenever they played around and teased each other. It was like she liked it when he did those things, just like he loved it when she did the same things with him.
"Wow, you two are sure getting chummy," Xander bloody Harris commented.
Spike sent an irritated look at the boy, who ruined the moment for him and his girl.
On the other hand, Buffy surprised him by saying, "Spike's not all that bad once you get to know him and see past his murderous history."
"I guess, he's not so bad, considering he's friends with Captain America, and he got me a signed autograph from almost all of the Avengers when he got back from visiting them," Harris said begrudgingly.
"Well, I'm glad he's not our enemy anymore," Tara stated, surprising everyone at the table. The usually shy witch then turned to the vampire. "I never thanked you for what you did when my family came to town. If you hadn't punched me, I never would've known that I wasn't a demon. So, thank you, Spike."
The sincerity of her eyes touched the vampire.
He looked away and awkwardly said, "you're welcome," to the young woman.
Buffy smiled at the short exchange before she turned to Xander, who asked her what she wanted to drink since he was buying.
"Anything nonalcoholic for me," she answered.
Harris then took everyone's orders, including Spike's, much to his surprise.
While the young man was gone, Buffy turned to her red-haired friend who was rubbing her forehead looking like she was in pain.
"Poor Will, still getting those headaches?" Buffy asked the redhead.
"Fewer and further between, but-yep, they're still exercising their visitation rights," the witch replied.
"Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times, no more teleportation spells," Tara told her.
"Well, it's just that we have squat in the way of Glory-fighting arsenal, and- another run-in with her and my headaches and nosebleeds are gonna be the least of our problems," Willow responded to her girlfriend's concern.
Everyone at the table became silent after that. It was still fresh on everyone's mind what happened a few days ago and how they all stood no chance against the hell god.
Buffy looked annoyed. She didn't like the reminder of their last encounter.
"You know what? This is the first R-'n'-R I've had in weeks. How about we go one night without saying the name Glory?" She suggested.
Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.
"I'm down with it. Let's call she who will not be named some other name," Spike said. "I prefer to call her bi-"
"Ben!" Buffy suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone at the table turned to the young man across the room who caught the Slayer's attention.
Buffy then stood up and approached the man, much to Spike's annoyance.
"Who's that?" He asked the remaining occupants at the table.
"That's Ben," Anya answered. "He's an intern at the hospital Buffy's mom was admitted to. I'm pretty sure he's Buffy's potential boyfriend."
Spike scowled at this new information. He didn't know she had any potential boyfriends.
He was about to ask more but Harris came back with their drinks.
"So, is there any news from Captain America and the Avengers?" He suddenly asked Spike.
"What?" The vampire snapped.
Xander raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just asking if you heard from Capt. Rogers or something. I mean, it's been a while, you know?"
He wanted to snap at the boy again. Buffy was talking with some bloke he didn't know, so he wasn't in the mood to answer the boy's fanboy questions about his friend and his team. Unfortunately for him, Harris wasn't the only one curious about Steve and the rest of the Avengers. Anyanka had joined the conversation and said she wanted an update on Steve as well.
Spike sighed and answered the two. "He's coming back in a few days. I told him about her, who shall not be named, and how strong she actually is and he thought he could help out. He's probably going to talk to Fury and the rest of his team about things here and get permission to stay in Sunnyhell until we take care of this bitch."
"Alright!" Harris shouted with a fist pump.
"Wow, someone's happy," Willow commented.
"Of course, he'd be happy. He's a big Captain America fan. Hearing Spike say that Captain Rogers is coming back will earn such a reaction from my Xander," Anya explained.
"Ahn!"
"What? I was telling the truth. You are a fan of the captain and have a very extensive collection of his merchandise that you are hoping he would sign the next time he visits," the ex-vengeance demons said, furthering the boy's embarrassment.
This made Spike laugh. He'd seen Xander's collection and had been planning to tease Steve about it once the man agreed to visit the boy's place and be subjected to signing those merchs.
Since his friend wasn't there, he'll have to settle in teasing the boy. "I'm starting to doubt your sexuality, Whelp."
His girlfriend took his teasing seriously though. "Oh, don't! I suggested pegging once, he said no, so I'm quite certain he's not interested in men that way."
"Ahn! TMI!" Xander cried, even more embarrassed.
This made Spike laugh harder. He did enjoy the ex-demon's lack of filter.
"What did I miss?" Buffy said, surprising the vampire of her return.
"I was confirming to Spike that Xander doesn't swing for the other team," Anya answered. "I thought it was best he'd know about this in case he'd decide to develop romantic feelings for Xander. I can't let that happen since Xander's mine."
Buffy stared at the young woman with wide eyes. She wasn't certain she wanted to know what caused them to talk about something like that.
"So, what'd you talked about with that bloke?" Spike suddenly asked her.
She turned to the vampire, confused about why he was asking about Ben, but she answered anyway. "Nothing important. Was just thanking him for what he did for Dawn during that incident with you know who at the hospital."
"Oh," was all the vampire said before taking a sip of his drink.
Buffy shrugged at his strange behavior and went back to observing her friends around the table. Xander was explaining to Anya about the importance of keeping their bedroom antics in their bedroom, while Willow and Tara were making out on their side of the table.
She was a bit envious of the latter and couldn't help but look at the vampire beside her, who was busy nursing his drink while he checked the dance floor. Her eyes unconsciously traveled to his lips. A stray thought ventured into her mind.
I wonder if they are soft to kiss.
She immediately looked away in embarrassment, completely missing the longing look the vampire sent her way.
TBC
(O.O)
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