Title: Cecelia
Summary: Spike remembers how he met Cecelia.
Spoilers: Post "As You Were"; "Hell's Bells" and "Normal Again" didn't happen and won't.
Pairing: Who do you think?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: You know the deal. Even though I wish I owned Spike, I own nothing. All belongs to Joss. I just play. Lyrics to "Cecelia" by Simon and Garfunkel
Cecilia, you're breaking my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home
Present Day
"BLOODY HELL! What did you have to do that for?"
"Because I felt like it," Cecelia replied, laughing. She kissed him on the cheek and hopped off. "Sing my song again?"
"No! You know the rule, only once a day. And you got me to do it in public! I shouldn't have to sing it for a week!"
She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. "Pretty please?"
"Don't give me that look!"
"PLEASE?"
Spike groaned. He never won when she pouted. "Fine! But only when we get home. I'm not singing like a poof on the streets of LA."
"Thank you, baby," she said, hugging him.
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. "You're a infuriating little bint, you do know that don't you?"
"Yes, William, and you love me for it."
He sighed and put his arm around her. "I don't know what I'd do without you, luv."
He really didn't. She kept him sane these past weeks, dragging him out of his Buffy-induced depression. He still couldn't believe how long he had known her…………
*****
New York, 1977
It was a cool spring night. There was a fair going on in Central Park. People walked around, unaware of the creature of the night that blended in with them. Spike wandered around, still basking in the glory of killing his second slayer two days ago. He was on a roll, eating women, men, children; whatever he wanted, he took.
So many people, so little time, he thought. Who's going to be the lucky victim tonight? He leaned up against the back of a game booth and lit up a cigarette.
"Those will kill you, mister."
Spike looked to his right to see a little girl, about 10 years old standing next to him. He took a long drag and said, "Didn't your parents teach you it's dangerous to be out at night by yourself?"
"They're home. I do what I want, when I want. I wanted to go out, so I snuck out," she replied. "And those will still kill you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Pushy are we? Well, I didn't want it anyway." He said, flicking it away. Then he crouched down so he was eye level with her. "Actually, I'm hungry."
He morphed into his demon visage as he grabbed her around the waist. Before he leaned in to bite her, she put her two small hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes.
"There you are, William."
For the first time in his life, William the Bloody, a.k.a. Spike, a Master Vampire, was rendered speechless.
"And you just killed a Slayer? Bad William!"
Spike let go of the girl like she was a cross. "Who in the bleedin' hell are you?"
"I'm Cecelia. I see into people like you."
"How? What do you mean?"
She sighed. "When I was born, I was stillborn. Somehow the doctors were able to revive me. Kind of like a miracle. Ever since then, I've been smarter than other children. And I can see people like you for what they really are, who you used to be."
"People like me?"
Cecelia was getting annoyed and put her hands on her hips. "Demons, stupid! Vampires, werewolves, witches, anything supernatural. Do you always ask this many questions?"
Spike just sat down on the grass and started at this young girl that dared to talk to him like he was a child. He thought for a minute. "So… what do you see in me?"
She put her hands back on his cheeks and looked. "William. You came into your own many years ago, breaking away from a very strong and truly evil person." She paused for a moment, looking confused. "Something is going to happen to him that will change him in a drastic way. I would need to look into him to see what that is. Anyway, back to you. You try to be evil and bad, but it's not in you to be bad. It's more of a bad habit that needs to be broken. And it will. Forcibly broken, actually. You were a good man when you were alive, and those qualities stayed with you throughout your unlife. You also have a great amount of love in you. This is unusual, not because you can love, but the strength of your love. And loyal. You are a very loyal and determined person. You will come across much turbulence in your unlife, but not all will end favorably. In the end, though, things will work out for your well being. You will also come across a few people who will wind up becoming very close to you who will affect these outcomes. Probably friends." Cecelia stepped back and looked at him, head tilted. "You are a very special vampire."
Spike tried to absorb all this. "I'm not a good person, I'm evil! And I don't have friends. It's just me and Dru. No one else. And my name is Spike," he said, stubbornly.
Cecelia smiled at him softly and sat down in his lap. "I'm sure, William. Please take me home," she said, putting her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder. "I find myself very tired."
He held the little girl for a moment, just trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. He wasn't sure about what she was saying, yet some of it sounded true. He stood up. "How do I get to your place?"
And William the Bloody made his first friend.
*****
1983
For the next 3 years, Spike stayed in NY. He and Cecelia became great friends. She lived in a corner apartment building in the village with her parents. Her bedroom was by the fire escape, so Spike would always sneak in to see her after dark. Or she would sneak out. They were great for each other. He helped her with her schoolwork. Not that she needed it, but Spike liked to do it. They learned to play guitar together. She helped him out when he was down. Being able to see into him helped her figure out what bothered him. Since she was pretty good with demons because of her gift, she didn't need much of his protection. So he guarded her from evil boyfriends. He liked scaring humans. And she was the only one who he allowed to call him "William."
One night, when she was about 16, Spike was wandering around NYC. He and Dru had been bumming around the country all the while, but every few months they would return to the city. Dru liked the upscale food on 5th Ave. and Spike got to check up on Cecelia. This particular night, she was on a date. And Spike didn't like when she went on dates. He got all nervous and worried, almost like he was her dad. So he sat on the fire escape and smoked until she came back. About midnight, he heard a car pull around front of the apartment building. Good, she's finally home, he thought, relaxing. He waited for about 10 minutes before he started to worry again. Where is she? She knows I'm waiting for her; she usually rushes right up here to tell me how it went.
Then he heard the yelling. "I said no! Get off of me!"
Spike immediately vamped out and ran down the fire escape to the front of the building. In the car parked out font, he could see struggling going on in the front seat. Enraged, he opened the driver's side door, ripping it off the hinges. He grabbed the guy by the neck and flung him on the hood of the car. His grip was cutting off the teenager's air supply. Cecelia stepped in. "William, no, don't kill him. I'm okay. Look at me," she said grabbing his face so he would look at her. "I'm okay. Let him go."
Face going back to normal, Spike grabbed her and held her to him. She turned her head to her date. "Go now, before I change my mind about him killing you."
After a few minutes of just holding her, Spike pulled away. "Are you sure you're okay. Let me look at you." Her shirt was torn and she had bruises on her upper arms where he had grabbed her. And she was shaking. "You should have let me kill him."
"I don't want to talk about it now. I just want to get some sleep."
After she got cleaned up and was safe in bed, Spike started to leave.
"William?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't go. I'm… I'm scared."
He took off his duster and laid it over her desk chair. Then he gathered her in his arms and sat on the bed. "Don't worry, pet. I'll never let that happen again."
"Sing my song?"
Spike smiled softly.
Cecilia, you're breaking
my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home
Come on home
Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom (making love)
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed
Someone's taken my place
*****
3 weeks ago
Spike and Cecelia kept in touch and visited each other until about 1997, when he and Dru left for Prague. They lost touch after that, not on purpose. Dru was attacked by a mob while in Prague and they wound up in Sunnydale. And the rest is history.
It had been one week since the scene in the Bronze. He spent the whole week cleaning out the crypt in preparation to head to L.A. And now he was here. What was he going to do? Go see Angel? Hell no! Then he remembered. Cecelia went to UCLA years ago. I wonder if she stayed in the area?
He went to a phone booth and looked in the yellow pages that were chained to the bottom. Yes!!! She stayed in L.A! Time to go pay her a visit. He wrote down her address and took off.
An hour later he was knocking on her apartment door. When it opened, she just smiled at and gave him a hug. "Welcome home, William." Feeling him in the embrace she said, "Come in and tell me what's wrong."
Spike told her everything. Angel/Angelus, Prague, Dru, the Gem of Amara, Glory, Dawn, Tara and Willow, Xander and Anya, The Initiative, Adam, his chippage, and Buffy. Especially Buffy, since she was the reason he was there. Everything that has happened between '97 and now, he told her. It felt good to tell someone who actually cared what he felt.
"You know," he said, "You were right about everything. That very first day I met you. About Angel, about my chip, about me being more good than evil. Everything."
"It's about time you realized that I'm always right," she said, jokingly.
"You are not always right, you silly old bint!"
"Who are you calling old? I'm only 35, you've got to be nearing 150, buddy. And it's nice to see you've regressed back to the '70's with that gear and the eyebrow ring. Very retro."
"Shut up," he said, flinging a pillow at her.
Cecelia laughed at him merrily. "I'm so glad you're back." She paused, looking at him carefully. "When did you get that," she asked, pointing at the tattoo on his bicep. It was of a heart that was surrounded by flames and had a knife going through its middle.
"Oh, that. I got that after Buffy decided she didn't want to bother with me no more. Sort of how I felt. Like my heart was being ripped apart." He looked at her sadly. "I love her so much, C. That's why I had to leave. She was killing me." He took off his shirt and turned his back to her. "I got this one because of her too," he said. The one on his back was just a plain yin-yang sign in black and white on the back of his shoulder. "Darkness and light. Me and her."
"Don't worry, baby," Cecelia said, gathering him in her arms. "Remember what else I told you that day: In the end, things will work out for you well being."
"I hope you're right, C."
Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing.
Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing.
*****
Present day
Spike was brought out of his reflection by a car screeching away, down the street.
"God, they'll let anybody have a license in this day and age," Cecelia stated.
Spike was quite for a moment. He had gotten a look in the window. And he recognized Joyce's old car. "That wasn't just anybody, pet," he said.
"Buffy's in L.A."
End Part 6
TBC
* So did I do good? LOL This part was a bit longer. Sorry it took so long to update! I'll try to update sooner this time! Cheers! :-) *