Title: Revelations and Explanations
Summary: Cecelia takes charge!
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.
Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of updates! It's the end of the semester. Term papers and finals galore! Ugh! They kind of took time away from my fun writing and made my fanfic muse all sleepy LOL. But I'm up and running again! Thanks for all the reviews; they really help!
A/N 2: I'm glad everyone likes Cecelia! : - ) This part kind of revolves around her. Just remember she and Spike arethisclose!!! So she knows all about him. And I know I've been making with the alcohol references lately. If I can't party, at least the people in my stories can! LOL
"Let's chat," Cecelia said.
Buffy was wary. She didn't expect to get into an argument with Spike. Well, not right away, at least. But she certainly didn't expect to get a talking to from whoever this woman was…. Girlfriend? Lover? Significant Other? What?
"So tell me," she continued, "Why are you here? That never got cleared that up."
"You know," Buffy said, jumping up off the couch and heading for the door, "this was a bad idea. I shouldn't have come here. I'll just leave the both of you alone now—"
"Stop. Turn. Sit," Cecelia said, politely but in a voice that stated 'I'm already aggravated; don't make it worse.' "Don't worry, I don't bite," she said with a grin. "That's not my department."
Buffy sat back down. This was bad. She didn't know what to think. Demons, vampires, even hell gods she could deal with. But Cecelia had seemed nice. Aside from threatening her earlier, of course. But for some reason, she was making her very nervous.
"Listen, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that William and I have a thing right?" She nodded. Okay, now she was giving Buffy the wiggins. Creep factor 1: First, she sent Spike to his room and he went. Spike didn't listen to anyone. Creep factor 2: Now she's getting into her thoughts. This was weird. Before Cecelia could continue talking, she blurted out, "Who are you? Are you a witch or something?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, you have this 'all knowing, powerful Wizard of Oz, don't mess with me' vibe coming off of you. What's going on?"
Cecelia got up and started to walk away. "Where are you going," Buffy asked.
"To get us a few drinks. It looks like it's going to be a long night."
She came back with a bottle and two glasses and started pouring. "Okay, it was 1977 and I was about 10 years old…."
*****
Spike was in his room nursing the bottle of Southern Comfort.
What the hell is it with me and women? Why do I always choose the craziest, strongest, most stubborn girls to love? His mind drifted to Dawn for a minute. He hadn't thought of her lately, and he realized now how much he really missed her. I'm lucky Nibblet isn't here otherwise I'd really be done for. He chuckled. She would try to kill me first for leaving and then probably be hysterical in m y arms because she missed me. My bit. Sobering, he thought to the current situation. Cecelia. She grew up into such a fine woman. He used to feel like a father figure to her, but as she got older, it became more of a big brother type of love. Actually, she seemed to be taking care of him lately, listening to his troubles. Like a mom. Spike groaned and put his head in his hands. I can't believe she sent me to my room……and I went!! Why can't I stick up for myself? Because you're turning into a great big, whipped poof. He snorted. Yep. That's what the Big Bad had become. A huge poof. He thought he was doing well in sticking to his guns with trying to keep Buffy away…… wasn't he? Buffy… I do love Buffy; I just can't deal with her denying me and lying to me anymore. He took a long drink and thought of the two girls inside. Fucking women. They'll be the death of me yet. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. And I hope they don't try to kill each other……
*****
"No! You're not serious."
"Yes I am! In '94 at the premiere of Pulp Fiction in LA, he wanted to turn Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Walken. Said they'd make wicked vampires. I said that Jackson would kick his ass. He didn't appreciate that."
Buffy giggled. "What? No John Travolta?"
"No. He just wanted to eat him for even thinking of making Staying Alive. I said no because I thought he was cute."
Both women looked at each other and were overwhelmed by a fit of laughing. After calming down, Buffy got serious again. After hearing Spike and Cecelia's history (and relieved that they weren't a couple), there was just one thing left bothering her. "What about Drusilla?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, until the whole Prague deal, I thought Dru never left his side. How did she let him be alone with you? Without killing you or anything?"
"Dru didn't let me or him do anything. We did what we wanted when we wanted. Don't get me wrong; William loved Dru very much. But she got bored very easily. Especially since he wouldn't let her eat me."
"Oh."
"So she'd go off and do her own thing and we'd do ours. And he never left her alone with me and she was never invited into my home. As much as he loved her, so was his desire to make sure I was safe."
"He protected you from her."
"Yes. He tried to protect me from anything that could hurt me. Like boyfriends," she said with a laugh. "Just like a big brother from hell. Literally."
"Like he does for Dawn," Buffy said softly.
Cecelia looked at her. "And just like he'd do for you or any of your friends. He cares about them. All of them."
"But what if he gets the chip out? He'll just try to kill us all again."
"And you truly believe that?"
"Yes," Buffy replied without conviction.
"Then you are nothing more than a stupid girl," Cecelia replied crossly. "If he really wanted to kill you, he would have. Four years ago. He never did because you intrigued him from the start. You were different than the others. The chip? It's just an excuse. Do you really think he couldn't have found a way to kill you all with it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Think about it. He could have easily saved himself a whole ton of pain and suffering by just telling Glory about Dawn. He didn't. Not to mention that he doesn't seem to have any problems lighting cigarettes. What makes you think he couldn't light something more dangerous? Arson can be very destructive. And even though they hate him now, the demon world still fears him. He's a master vampire who spends his time beating up other nasties. If he wanted, he could have hired anyone to go after you and your buddies. Get my drift?"
Buffy stared at her like she had three heads. She was right. Spike could have done any of those things and yet he never did. Dawn was right. Love was brains and emotions. He did love her, loved all of them. God, why did everything have to be so complicated?
Cecelia felt the confusion radiating off of her. "Listen, Buffy," she said, softening her voice, but keeping it firm. "He's hurt you and you've hurt him. There's nothing that can be done about that. Now he has done nothing but love you and all you did was throw it back in his face. He's trying to move on and you show up to throw him for a loop again. If you've come to just hurt him again, I'd just rather you leave. So tell me, why are you here?" She saw the answer in Buffy's eyes before she heard the words come out of her mouth.
"Because I love him," she finally admitted softly.
TBC
End Part 11