Title: Operation Anchovy
Author: Just Me - justme@buffywallpapers.co.uk
Disclaimer: Alas they're not mine, despite what the voices tell me.
Rating: Um... the UK ratings system is dramatically different to the US one so I'm hazarding a guess at PG-13 for very mild sexual situations/talk... it's impossible for me to write Spike as anything other than sex on a stick... you should see him naked, I mean really!
Spoilers: If you know what happens at the end of Grave then you can read this.
Summary: Buffy and Spike (with a cameo appearance by Dawn) spend an evening of normalcy - normal from the perspective of a vampire and a Slayer anyway. An answer to Melissa's Redemptionista Party Week Fanfic Challenge on Tabula Rasa.
Authors note: This fic is set sometime in season 7, at a point in time where Buffy has forgiven Spike for all of his past transgressions and Spike is now happily living with his two favourite women... sadly I'm not one of them *sulk*
Also please forgive any lapses in US cultural knowledge I may have, I'm pretty much winging it here.
Oh and I borrowed the name of Sunnydales supermarket from Valerie X's fic Super Food World http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=663796
***
Who knew the simple act of taking off your shoes could be such pure, unadulterated bliss, Buffy thought as she rubbed her arches and frowned at the blisters on her heels. After a 16-hour shift at the Double Meat Palace her feet were ready to mount a coup on the rest of her body, declare themselves an independent state and beg a chiropodist for asylum.
"Buffy I'm gonna phone in the pizza order, any requests?" Dawn yelled from the kitchen.
A sister with a mute button would be great. The traitorous thought entered Buffy's mind, planted a flag in her cerebral cortex and then returned from whence it came, "Uh, whatever you're having will be fine Dawn, but no anchovies or fruit of any kind." she replied.
"And no garlic!" Spike added, as he padded barefoot down the stairs, having been woken from his nap by Dawn's less than melodious voice.
"So that's no anchovies or fruit for the extra fussy Slayer and no garlic for the big wuss of a vampire... check."
"Hey!" Chorused the offended Slayer and vampire.
As Dawn finished giving their order to the local pizza parlour Buffy wandered into the kitchen and opened the cookie jar that served as the Summers' family bank account.
It was empty.
"Looks like pizza's off the menu tonight guys, we're officially broke." Buffy replaced the lid on the cookie jar as thoughts of ooey gooey melty cheese were replaced by less tasty thoughts of crackers and low fat spread, "Damn! I could'a sworn we had $20 left in the kitty, I'm pretty sure I didn't spend that much at Super Food World."
"Maybe it was all those cans of whipped cream you bought," Dawn remarked as she opened the fridge, "Seriously Buffy, who needs that much cream? You don't even eat dessert."
Buffy blushed as Dawn blinked innocently at her.
Even Spike had the grace to look embarrassed as he swiftly changed the subject, "Hey Bit, remember that thing we used to do last summer?" Spike's scarred eyebrow waggled conspiratorially and he gave an almost imperceptible nod towards the door.
"Thing? Oh... oh yeah the thing... uh... I'm just gonna take a walk, to uh... get some fresh air and um... build up an appetite for the pizza." Dawn grabbed her jacket from the back of a kitchen chair and sprinted out of the back door.
Buffy's mouth curved into a disbelieving frown. Did they think she was that stupid?
Walking over to the picture window in the front room, Buffy waited for the inevitable. Sure enough the pizza delivery van pulled up to the curb just as Dawn was rounding the side of the house. She watched as the teen casually sashayed towards the unsuspecting driver as he stepped out of the van; Dawn's smile was ingratiatingly cute. She began chatting animatedly as she manoeuvred her victim so that his back was to the house, which left her standing directly under the street lamp. As she executed a well-timed hair flip a beam of light reflected off Dawn's hair, effectively dazzling everyone within a 10-foot radius.
Damn she's good, Buffy thought with more than a little pride as she glanced towards Spike who had positioned himself by the front door; one of his hands hovered over the switch to the porch light as he concentrated on his wristwatch.
Buffy's train of thought skidded to a halt as she contemplated the sight of Spike with a watch. Yet another outward sign of the 'new, improved, now comes complete with a permanent soul' Spike, she supposed. His external changes had been small but no less dramatic than the colossal internal one. Gone was the heavy silver jewellery he'd been so fond of, his hair was now showing at least two inches of dark brown roots and he'd started wearing colours other than black, although admittedly he was still dabbling at the muted end of the clothing spectrum.
"14 and a half…15!" Spike flicked the porch light off then on again and settled back against the banister to wait for their pizza.
Turning her attention back to the scene outside Buffy watched as Dawn let go of the dumbstruck delivery boy's arm, turned him roughly back in the direction of the house and waved a cheery goodbye before continuing her 'walk'.
The delivery boy approached the house, juggling the pizzas balanced precariously in his right hand, and rang the doorbell.
Minutes later a visibly dazed and confused pizza delivery boy was sitting in his van and the Summers' home contained one pissed off Slayer, one grinning former glowy key, one self-satisfied vampire and two 'we deliver within 15 minutes or your order's free' deep dish pepperoni pizzas.
"Score another hit for Operation Anchovy!" Dawn and Spike cheered as they indulged in a celebratory high-five. Spike's satisfaction was short lived however as he was subjected to the icy glare of a Slayer on the warpath.
Immediately on the defensive Spike resorted to boyish charm, "What? Just cos I've had my internal wotsits tweaked doesn't mean I can't still be a bit evil luv," Spike leaned in and whispered in Buffy's ear, "I thought you liked it when I was a little bit naughty." He flicked the tip of his tongue over the pulse point in her neck before stepping back and giving her a rakish grin.
"Right!" Spike clapped his hands together, "We've successfully laughed in the face of capitalism which means movie night has officially started - so what're we gonna watch?"
*~*~*
Two hours, three restroom breaks and a hell of a lot of pizza later, the credits were finally rolling on the movie.
Dawn yawned, stretched her arms above her head and then reached over to switch off the VCR. "Well that's two hours of my life I'm never getting back," she complained, "It should be against the law for a movie with Joshua Jackson in it to suck that much."
"Told ya you were better off pretending they stopped making those movies after D2 Nibblet," Spike mumbled, his head was resting in Buffy's lap as she traced intricate patterns across his scalp with one well-manicured fingertip. Spike's thoughts were rapidly heading towards the other things Buffy could do with those tiny little hands.
"Whatever! I'm going to bed - night guys." Dawn kissed her sister on the cheek and bent to pick up the two remaining slices of pizza from the box on the coffee table.
"Take a plate with you and don't leave them to grow fur Dawn!" Buffy called out to her sister's retreating back.
Spike sat up and switched off the television.
Alone at last.
"Fancy putting some of that whipped cream to good use pet? I could rustle you up some Spike a la mode." Spike suggested, catching his bottom lip between his teeth and giving a slow blink guaranteed to turn the love of his life into a puddle of goo.
Buffy shook her head, "Honey I just ate more than my own body weight in pizza, I think whipped cream would cause permanent damage to my waistline… besides I'm in the mood for a Spike Special." Her fingers inched slowly over Spike's shirtfront, leaving a trail of undone buttons in their wake.
"Oooh baby wants to play," Spike whispered as his hands slipped under the hem of her blouse, "one Spike Special coming up."
"Mmmm, just the way I like it. A moment on the lips," Buffy sucked on his lower lip before straddling his waist, "a lifetime on the hips."
~ Fin ~