TITLE: Darkest before dawn #6 "interlude"
AUTHOR: Nmissi@aol.com
PART: 6/??
PAIRING: B/S
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no one. Especially not Spike. If I did,
what makes you think I would share him with you?
DISTRIBUTION: Want it? Take it. Just let me know where it goes.
RATING: R, for sexual situations
SPOILERS:IWMTLY, The Body, pretty much everything else.
SUMMARY: The way the story would go, if I ran the Buffyverse.
Spike woke to the light filtering through the shabby blanket. Instinct told him nightfall was still some good way off. He pushed the blanket off, sitting up inside of the darkened car.
"What time is it?"
She met his eyes in the rearview mirror, shoving fuzzy dice out of her way.
"About nine a.m."
He groaned.
"Bloody Hell."
At least the car was intact. He still couldn't believe he'd let her drive.
"Go back to sleep, Spike. We're about ninety minutes from L.A., I'll wake you up then."
He shifted uncomfortably in the backseat. It was one thing to have slept the wee hours of last night- He'd been smashed off his gourd. But now that he was in his RIGHT mind, the notion of sleeping quietly in the backseat while Buffy missed stop signs and red lights, careening through four way stops and up one way streets- no, he definitely couldn't see himself resting.
"I'm not sleepy, pet. Listen, why don't you pull over, let me drive for awhile."
"No."
"Er- what do you mean, ' No'?"
"Which part're you stuck on, the 'N', or the 'O'"?
He grimaced at her obstinacy.
"Look, it is MY CAR, Slayer. I think I oughtta"-
She cut him off.
"I said NO. I didn't have any problem at all last night. Well, okay, aside from your obnoxious snoring in the backseat"-
"I do not snore," he retorted.
"Whatever. But you might wanna look around for the spotted owl back there, 'cos that was some serious wood sawing."
He wasn't fully awake yet, so a simple declarative was all he could manage for a snappy reply.
"Shut up."
She did only slightly better.
"Make me."
She reached into the side pouch of her purse, and pulled out a cell phone.
"Here. Hit recall #2, ask Giles if he's heard from Dawn yet."
He caught the phone she chucked blindly into the backseat.
"Watch it! You almost hit me in the head with that."
"Like there's a vital organ in there or something."
"Well, look who got up on the wrong side of the steering wheel this morning," he sneered, as he put fingers to phone.
"Bite Me."
He grinned.
"Lovely idea, pet. I think we can work that into our itinerary…."
She groaned in front of him.
"Just shut up and dial, Spike."
She decided he must have done so, since he began talking to someone that wasn't her.
"Yeah. S'me. Let me speak to the Watcher."
A few seconds pause, before he continued.
" The nibblet check in yet? Oh. Well, have you tried her father again? Oh, - I see. Okay. Will do."
He clicked a button, and the phone made an angry beep, so he hit another one. Frustrated, he pressed several more.
"How d'you turn the bloody thing off?"
"Hit the 'talk' button, just like you did to turn it on."
He did so, and put his hand over the front seat, reaching for her purse. She didn't stop him, and he lifted it over and into the back with him, and put the phone into the side pouch.
"Giles talked to your father last night, coupla times. Says he's leaving for London at 3:30, so he can't meet us today. He'll be back noon, day after tomorrow. Said you could stay in his apartment while you're looking for your sis. "
She snorted in response.
"Your watcher made a point of noting that your dad tried to reschedule, but it didn't work out."
"I'll just bet he tried real hard."
The note of cynical pain in her tone wounded him, and he knew a momentary urge to rearrange her father's face, if not his day planner.
"Sorry, Buffy," said Spike, leaning forward as he brushed his hand against her shoulder in an awkward pat.
She absorbed the sincerity in his voice. It warmed her. She reached for the hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly. He leaned against the back of her seat and she felt his lips on her hair.
Unfortunately the cuddly- handholding - moment left Buffy driving with her left, and she was slowly swerving into the other lane.
"The road, girl! Watch the bloody road!"
"Sorry!"
She snatched her hand back and over-corrected, veering way onto the right road shoulder.
Spike white-knuckled the back of her seat.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go over so far. I'm just- I'm used to driving an automatic. I'm not really getting this whole shifty thing."
Spike chose his words carefully, and kept his voice even.
"Pet, you do know how to drive one of these, don't you? I mean, you've driven one before, right?"
She nodded vigorously.
"Giles gave me a few lessons when he bought his new car. I have it in theory- It's just the practice that's not working out so well."
That's it, he decided. Enough.
"Hey, what are you- Stop it! You're gonna make me wreck."
Her voice was edgy as he threw one leg over the front seat. Then he followed it with an arm, and his head, twisting around to drag his other limbs across into the seat.
He had hoisted himself up front, and was now sitting alongside her.
"Stop the car, Buffy. Now."
The timbre of his voice brooked no argument, and Buffy found herself pulling off to the side. She reached for the door handle.
"What're you doing?! Don't open the door, dammit."
She looked at him, perplexed, and he lowered his eyebrows and pulled his mouth into a line.
"It's a nice day out, yeah, but I don't fancy a sunburn right now. If that's alright by you."
She colored up.
"Oh. I- I wasn't thinking, Spike. I'm sorry."
He reassured her with a winning smile.
"Here, let's try it this way. You slip across me" he said, gesturing across his lap, " and I'll slide over to your seat."
She put her hands down on the seat, lifting up, and scooted over to him, putting her weight on one hand and on his left leg. He brought his hands up around her waist, and pulled her against him, snugly into his lap. She shifted against him, enjoying the closeness, and put her hands over his. She caressed his hands a few seconds, then let go.
"C'mon Spike. We don't have time for this."
"For what?" he asked innocently.
She gave him a stern glare, and he grinned at her. He knew her heart wasn't in it.
"He's awfully playful this morning", she thought.
"I'm serious. Dawn, remember?"
He groaned dramatically, and released her, pinching her rear before sliding out from under her.
"Spoilsport."
She flipped him the bird, smiling angelically, as he got them back out onto the road.
He'd listened to her story, maintaining his poker face throughout. It was absurd, the things she was telling him. What could have put such ideas in a girl's head?
"So Glory freaked out, and now Ben has primary control of the Body. At least for the time being. And I came here to live with dad, since I'm supposed to be dead."
Her face was earnest, and he knew she'd reached the important part by the drop in her voice, the telltale gestures of her hands.
"And I'm thinking, well- If the monks could fix everybody's memories, even mine- if they could make me up out of energy, and make me real to everybody, well- Couldn't somebody do it again? Change reality, I mean. Like make a spell that fixes Mom, so she didn't die."
Her eyes were upon him, wide and hopeful.
"I don't know, Dawn. If what you say is true, then the monks are all dead now, and there's nobody to do another spell"-
"See, Angel, that's where you come in. You're supposed to be this big important vampire, with a special destiny and stuff. God really likes you, you got a 'get out of hell free' card, right?"
He wasn't sure what she was getting at.
"Umm. Yes, Okay- I'm supposed to have some destiny."
He scoffed at that, though, even as he said it.
"Well,
I figure I get you as a go-between. You tell your 'Powers That Be' to give my mother back."
She gave him a smile that
was blinding in its innocence.
"Dawn, I don't know if that"-
She shook her head at him.
"I know its possible. The fact that I'm even HERE says its possible. If some cruddy old monks can make an energy-key-thing into a live girl, then somebody can make my mother alive again."
She saw the hesitation on his face and rushed ahead, desperate to convince him.
"And with you backing me up, it's practically a done deal. You're special, you're important enough so they fixed the rules for you once already- You can get her back for me."
"I don't know how, honey."
She seized his arm now, clutching at him.
"Just tell them you want her back. Tell them you won't do what they want you to if they don't send her back."
"It's not like that-"
"YES, it IS. You're Chosen, just like my sister.
"It doesn't work that way. It's not "your mission, should you choose to accept it"- They send Cordelia visions of danger, and I act to stop that danger. It's not like I can drop them a letter or go renegotiate the arrangement."
"But God likes you, you're 'Chosen'"!
She pleaded pitiably.
He sighed.
"Yeah, I guess I am. Although being "Chosen" by God isn't all its cracked up to be. Ask the Hebrews what it's done for them lately."
Her face fell. His words were sinking in.
"You won't help me?"
It was his turn to plead with her.
"Dawn, I don't think I can. And I haven't the first idea how to do what you're asking of me."
The sun was peeking in through the front windows, now. He really needed to go to bed, and by the looks of it, so did she.
"Listen, sweetie. I need to figure this out. I don't know if what you want from me is even possible, and I don't really think it is. But I want to help you however I can. Will you please let me call Buffy?"
"No! No, You can't! She's got her hands full back in Sunnydale, She doesn't need to know about this."
"Well, your dad then. Surely he must be getting worried."
"He's on a business trip to London. He left last night, and won't be back until day after tomorrow. If you talk to your god, maybe by then it'll all be over and he won't even remember I was here this week."
He thought about all the rooms upstairs. It shouldn't be too much trouble to make one up for her. Of course, that probably wouldn't look right- Him living alone with a young girl, even for a few days- Very bad idea. He was still a little uncomfortable about the whole "Buffy" thing. Yes, she'd been very mature for her age- But the fact of the matter was, she'd been sixteen. Only a year older than her little sister here, he mused. It didn't matter how much in love with Buffy he had been- Angel still didn't feel right about their relationship back then. He'd been uncomfortable with his feelings for her then- And it was no less disturbing to him now. Maybe he should find Dawn someplace else to stay.
"Dawn, I'm going to call a friend, and see if you can stay with her today. I need to get upstairs and get some sleep."
She was chagrined.
"Of course. I'm sorry, Angel- I didn't think. Of course, you're on the third-shift schedule, you're a vampire."
Duh, Dawn. Big Dumb Duh, she thought.
He gave her a quick hug.
"Let me go call Cordy."