"'Lo?" said the barely conscious voice on the other end.
"Willow. What do you think about Spike? Is he the same evil Spike we met 3 years ago?"
Willow struggled to sit up, then rubbed her eyes in order to focus on the digital clock by her bed. "Isn't this something that can wait until morning, Buf?" Buffy heard a cranky Tara ask what she wanted.
"I'm sorry to wake you two, you know that. But I have to know!"
"Um...Spike, huh? Ok, well," she was still trying to wake up. A long yawn crawled up to her mouth. "I would have to say that aside from the chip, I've seen a definite difference in him. Yeah. I mean, he's more puppy than vicious dog, you know? The kind of puppy that will gnaw on your toes, but just in that playful, puppy way." Despite having been punched in the face by the vampire just a few days earlier, Tara nodded her head in agreement. "See, Tara agrees."
Absentmindedly, Buffy hung up the phone without saying another word. "Puppy?" she said aloud to no one but herself.
Turning to Willow as she hung up the phone, Tara said, grinning from ear to ear "See. I told you."
It wasn't 5 minutes before Buffy had changed from her comfy cotton pajamas to jeans and was out the door, heading toward the cemetery. The slender slayer knew that he would be home soon, if he weren't already.
The closer she got to Spike's crypt, the louder the British voice became. "Bloody buggar! You are going to be mine eventually, so you best bloody well accept it!" Buffy's interest was peaked as she heard rustling through the brush. A few more choice vulgarities echoed through the cemetery. When Spike finally came into view, he was crouched down with a small, brown, fuzzy animal in his hands. "A-ha!" he growled. His game face appeared and he started feeding from what could only be a rabbit. Upon seeing Buffy emerge from the horizon, Spike leaped up and his face returned to normal. The sheer embarrassment caused him to violently throw his dinner behind a tombstone and wipe his mouth on his sleeve. "Buffy!" He mumbled through the sticky mouthful.
Buffy stifled her urge to comment and thereby embarrassing him further. She wasn't here tonight for a verbal battle. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I have to ask you something." Buffy looked him over carefully. His mortification at being caught in this act radiated from him like heat. His head was down, looking at the ground. Spike couldn't believe the bad timing. Feeding was definitely one thing he did not want his Buffy to see...let alone that he was stooping so low as to feed from vermin.
Buffy suddenly couldn't stand the thought of his discomfort. "Look, Spike. Don't worry about it." She gingerly put her hand on his shoulder. "I know what you are. I accept that." He sheepishly looked up at the blonde slayer. "What I'm here to ask you is...who you are."
One eyebrow lifted. "What?"
"Let me get right to the point." Buffy subconsciously fiddled with the gold cross at her chest. "Would you still love me if that chip in your head were gone?"
Spike tripped over his tongue a few times before he could get the whole thought out. "Well...I...er...the chip doesn't control me, ducks. It doesn't change my personality or feelings."
"Yeah, ok. Point taken. But let's just say that one day, the chip stops working and you go all willy nilly killing humans again. I'd be the first one you'd kill, wouldn't I?" Buffy's tone was a mixture of accusation and...something else. She was almost pleading for Spike to prove her statement false.
The perceptive vampire began to understand what she was getting at. She was seeing a pattern in her life. It was so obvious now!
"I'm not my bloody sire, Slayer."
"I never said you were. I'm just..."
Spike could see right through this tough-girl act. She wanted to know that he was safe...safe to walk with, safe to fight with, safe to love. He took both her hands in his, and looked her straight in the eyes. Buffy did not move. "Buffy. I'm...not...Angel. If this bloody chip were removed right here and now, I would still be before you, begging you to love me. If we made wild, passionate love, I would wake up beside you, just the same as I would every night after that." Buffy's face flushed a brilliant red. Spike...no, William's words wormed into her lonely heart, giving it warmth she hadn't felt since before she formally met Angelus. "Remember that night I told you how I killed the slayers? You told me that I was beneath you." She felt a sharp pang of guilt. "I came back to your house that night to kill you out of sheer anger and humiliation. I couldn't do it. And not because of this soddin' chip either, but because I just can't."
There was a dead silence. Buffy contemplated all that Spike had just confessed. She knew that he had definite soulful qualities. After all, he had overcome his vampiric tendencies before to get his love, Drusilla back. That wasn't a typical bloodsucker action in her book. Then, suddenly, all the events of the last day culminated into a small flame of feeling deep in her soul... a feeling of respect and trust for her former mortal enemy. It would still take time for the flame to grow, but it was definitely there. There was just one feeling left for her to discover.
Spike was just about to move away to give her some distance, some time for his words to sink in, when she grabbed his head and planted her lips firmly on his. At first, Spike was stunned and wanted to pull away. His eyes were wide from surprise and excitement. She was kissing him! Their bodies simultaneously began to relax as the kiss became more than just a kiss. It was a declaration. A declaration of Buffy's sheer love for the vampire. She couldn't believe this was happening, but it just felt so...right, so...good. The slayer had no idea how she was going to explain this one to her family and friends, but didn't really care either. They had heard enough wild tales from her about her love life that it should be old hat by now. For now, all she wanted to do was bathe in the new found love...the love that would last forever. She had finally found someone who knew her and could accept all that she stood for. Spike felt that as well. She knew what he was, yet loved him despite it. She knew who he was, and loved him for it.
End