Title: Dancing Around Love (6/13)
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=62966
Rating: I'm gonna go say R for semi-explicit sex.
Spoilers: Up to As You Were.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: What if Buffy wasn't the only one with an illicit affair?
Author's Note: Okay, so we've got major T/Xness, along with some W/X, W/T, and the A/X demanded by the time setting. I'm not fond of A/X. You have been warned. Also, due to popular demand, I'm throwing in some B/X to go along with all that. ^_^'
* * *
"By mission parameters, I'm done here. But I have authorization to take the Doctor out. Do you want me to do that?"
Buffy blinked, thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No. You'd be surprised how useful he is with that chip in his head, demon egg deals notwithstanding."
He nodded. "All right." He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is what he said true? About Xander?"
She winced, "Y-yeah. I don't really know why. I mean, I don't know why _now_. He's always been there for me, yeah, but... I don't think I could've picked a worse time to start seeing him that way, what with the whole Tara situation."
Riley shook his head, "It's still pretty weird seeing those two together."
"Tell me about it," Buffy deadpanned. "I figured Xander might cause some problems between them, but on the Willow side, ya know? Not... not Tara."
"Well, we'd better get going."
"Yeah, you'd better," she smiled faintly. "You know, that night... I never got the chance to tell you... h-how sorry I was. About what happened between us."
"And you never have to."
* * *
"Hey, it's okay," Xander hugged Buffy and gave her a comforting pat on the back.
"Thanks, Xander," she sniffled. "It's just... seeing him again... married..."
"It'll be okay. I'm here for ya, Buff. Always."
She looked up at him and asked in a small voice, "You promise?"
"I promise," he said, then smiled, "at least until something Hellmouthy kills me, anyway."
Glaring at him, she said, "Don't. Don't even joke about it, Xander. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"Sorry, Buff, but... you know me. Joking equals coping."
Leaning into his arms again, she let that slide and instead whispered, "Hold me."
And he did.
* * *
Buffy kicked down the door to Xander and Tara's apartment. When she'd heard the Tara's panicked voice on the phone, she had just returned from patrol. She didn't even bother grabbing any extra weapons -- she didn't even know what weapon would work best, and she hoped her stake would be enough.
You'd be surprised how many things that'll kill.
Tara was crouching over Xander's prone form and chanting something in Latin, her hand extended toward the demon. The demon rained blows down on an invisible barrier that rippled and shrank with each impact. It was obvious Tara was tiring and that her spell would soon fail.
The Slayer dropped to one knee and scooped up an axe that lay nearby. Twirling it once for added momentum, she hurled it at the demon, and the axe head buried in its back. The demon howled and stumbled over to Buffy's left, clawing at the axe.
"Buffy!" Tara called. She tugged a broadsword free of Xander's limp hand and awkwardly threw it to the Slayer, who easily caught the weapon and turned, swinging the blade in a high arc. It connected with the demon just above its shoulders, cleanly decapitating it.
Dropping the sword, Buffy whirled and crouched next to Xander, opposite Tara. "Is he...?" she couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
"H-h-he's alive, b-but he's hurt. Badly."
"Get him to a hospital," Buffy said, her eyes hard. "There's something I have to do."
* * *
CRASH!
"What the _bloody_ hell was that for?!" Spike snarled, leaping to his feet.
"You know exactly why I'm here," Buffy bit out. "That was a Suvolte demon that attacked them."
Pain exploded in his face, and he found himself flat on his back, staring at the ceiling of his spare crypt. He sat up, "Wha-?"
"You... do... _not_... try to kill my friends. You're useful, Spike, you help me Slay. That's the _only_ reason I didn't have Riley kill you before he left." She raised her stake and poked him pointedly in the chest, "Try a stunt like this again, and you're dust in the wind. I mean it."
That said, she spun on her heel and began to leave.
"What's it take?" he hissed under his breath. Louder, he called, "At least tell me, what does Tool Time have that I don't?"
She paused and looked over her shoulder at him for a long moment, almost as if she was measuring him carefully. When she finally gave her answer, her voice was soft and almost sympathetic.
"A soul."
* * *
"How is he?" Willow asked, wringing her hands anxiously as she stepped into Xander's hospital room. He looked so... peaceful lying there, his face free of the lines of worry and fear and manufactured humor that plagued him daily.
"Th-the doctors say he's stable," Tara said, looking up. "H-he broke some ribs a-and his arm, a-a-and he's got a c-concussion. Th-they say h-he'll be fine i-if he w-w-wakes up tonight."
Willow looked at her ex-girlfriend sharply, "And if he doesn't?"
Tara looked away.
"Oh," she said automatically as her mind processed the implication. "Oh, God, no! Xander!" she dropped to her knees and took his cold, limp hand into her own.
"I-I'll be outside," Tara said quietly, then matched action to words.
"Don't do this to me, Xander," Willow snarled. "Don't do this to _us_. Don't you _dare_ die on me, do you hear me?!" she practically screamed before she buried her face in her hands, against his unresponsive hand, sobbing uncontrollably for several long moments. Summoning strength from she knew not where, she looked up and said firmly, "Wake up. Look at me. Make a joke. Resolve Face. You are _going_ to wake up. I'm not giving you a choice here, Xander, you _have_ to wake up! Because I... I..." she stumbled over the words she never expected to say to him ever again.
"I love you."
He stirred, and her heart rose, "Xander?"
She felt his hand twitch. She saw his eyes flutter slightly. She watched as his lips moved, trying to form words.
"T-Tara?"
She felt her heart shatter one more time.
"Tara!" He shot upright, gasping in pain, and his eyes darted around wildly, his gaze finally stopping somewhere over Willow's head, "Tara, are you...?"
"I'm okay," came Tara's quiet voice from behind her. "Buffy came, saved us both."
Willow turned and saw the other witch standing in the doorway behind her. How long had she been there? How much had she heard?
She didn't know, but she had to do something -- anything -- to ease the pain she felt in her heart, the pain of losing the two most important people in her life... to each other.
"I'll go get a doctor."
"Wait," Xander said. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at him. He smiled, "Thanks, Wills. For being here."
She gave him a small smile, "Anytime, Xander. Anytime"
* * *
"How're you feeling, Xander?"
"Drugged up to the eyeballs, but otherwise, I'm okay. No pain, if that's what you're asking," he replied. "Thanks for saving me."
Buffy smiled and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers, "You're welcome." Shaking her head, she said, "Oh, Xander, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You got there as fast as you could. It's not your fault."
She shook her head, "Yes, it is. I... remember when Riley was here?"
He nodded, still not understanding where this was going, "Tracking that Sewage demon and its eggs."
"Suvolte demon," she corrected. "Well, we found the eggs, and we kinda blew them up. Th-that was a Suvolte demon that attacked you."
He shrugged as best he could, "So you missed one. Big deal. Doesn't make it your fault."
"You don't understand," she shook her head. "We found the eggs in Spike's crypt, nowhere near your new apartment. Spike sent that demon after you."
"So how does that make it your fault?"
"Because..." she said hesitantly, "because before he left, Riley offered to kill him... and I said no."
"Hey, I'm sure you had a good reas-..."
"I slept with him."
Xander stared at her, then chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry, Buff. I guess the drugs must be working overtime. I could've sworn you just said..."
"I did. And it's true. I slept with Spike," she said, hanging her head. She was ashamed... and she knew she was going to lose him now, forever.
After a long moment, he finally asked quietly, "Why?"
"Because... he made me feel... alive again," she said haltingly. Fighting tears, she looked up at him and said, "I'm so sorry, Xander."
She knew. She'd hurt him. A lot. She could see it in his eyes. And that hurt more than any rejection or angry tirade he could offer her.
Closing his eyes, he said, "I'm sure... there's a lot of witty things I could say right now, and I'm sure I should be really pissed... but I'm too tired to be mad. All drugged up like this... I can't think of anything to say except... don't be sorry. Not to me. It's not my place to tell you who to sleep with. It never was," he paused, then cracked a smile, "though that never stopped me before."
"Xander..."
"But... thank you, Buffy. For trusting me with this."
"I trust you with so much more than that, Xander," she said with a faint smile. *Like my heart.*
* * *
Author's Postscript:
I leave it to the reader to decide whether Spike really did do this or not. If anyone needs an explanation as to how he has more demon eggs, pretend he had it in a second stash in a bolthole somewhere (perfectly reasonable, given he would've died long ago if he were _that_ stupid) and that in canon, he sold the rest and spent the money on the motorcycle and his trip to Africa.
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=62966
Rating: I'm gonna go say R for semi-explicit sex.
Spoilers: Up to As You Were.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: What if Buffy wasn't the only one with an illicit affair?
Author's Note: Okay, so we've got major T/Xness, along with some W/X, W/T, and the A/X demanded by the time setting. I'm not fond of A/X. You have been warned. Also, due to popular demand, I'm throwing in some B/X to go along with all that. ^_^'
* * *
"By mission parameters, I'm done here. But I have authorization to take the Doctor out. Do you want me to do that?"
Buffy blinked, thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No. You'd be surprised how useful he is with that chip in his head, demon egg deals notwithstanding."
He nodded. "All right." He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is what he said true? About Xander?"
She winced, "Y-yeah. I don't really know why. I mean, I don't know why _now_. He's always been there for me, yeah, but... I don't think I could've picked a worse time to start seeing him that way, what with the whole Tara situation."
Riley shook his head, "It's still pretty weird seeing those two together."
"Tell me about it," Buffy deadpanned. "I figured Xander might cause some problems between them, but on the Willow side, ya know? Not... not Tara."
"Well, we'd better get going."
"Yeah, you'd better," she smiled faintly. "You know, that night... I never got the chance to tell you... h-how sorry I was. About what happened between us."
"And you never have to."
* * *
"Hey, it's okay," Xander hugged Buffy and gave her a comforting pat on the back.
"Thanks, Xander," she sniffled. "It's just... seeing him again... married..."
"It'll be okay. I'm here for ya, Buff. Always."
She looked up at him and asked in a small voice, "You promise?"
"I promise," he said, then smiled, "at least until something Hellmouthy kills me, anyway."
Glaring at him, she said, "Don't. Don't even joke about it, Xander. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"Sorry, Buff, but... you know me. Joking equals coping."
Leaning into his arms again, she let that slide and instead whispered, "Hold me."
And he did.
* * *
Buffy kicked down the door to Xander and Tara's apartment. When she'd heard the Tara's panicked voice on the phone, she had just returned from patrol. She didn't even bother grabbing any extra weapons -- she didn't even know what weapon would work best, and she hoped her stake would be enough.
You'd be surprised how many things that'll kill.
Tara was crouching over Xander's prone form and chanting something in Latin, her hand extended toward the demon. The demon rained blows down on an invisible barrier that rippled and shrank with each impact. It was obvious Tara was tiring and that her spell would soon fail.
The Slayer dropped to one knee and scooped up an axe that lay nearby. Twirling it once for added momentum, she hurled it at the demon, and the axe head buried in its back. The demon howled and stumbled over to Buffy's left, clawing at the axe.
"Buffy!" Tara called. She tugged a broadsword free of Xander's limp hand and awkwardly threw it to the Slayer, who easily caught the weapon and turned, swinging the blade in a high arc. It connected with the demon just above its shoulders, cleanly decapitating it.
Dropping the sword, Buffy whirled and crouched next to Xander, opposite Tara. "Is he...?" she couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
"H-h-he's alive, b-but he's hurt. Badly."
"Get him to a hospital," Buffy said, her eyes hard. "There's something I have to do."
* * *
CRASH!
"What the _bloody_ hell was that for?!" Spike snarled, leaping to his feet.
"You know exactly why I'm here," Buffy bit out. "That was a Suvolte demon that attacked them."
Pain exploded in his face, and he found himself flat on his back, staring at the ceiling of his spare crypt. He sat up, "Wha-?"
"You... do... _not_... try to kill my friends. You're useful, Spike, you help me Slay. That's the _only_ reason I didn't have Riley kill you before he left." She raised her stake and poked him pointedly in the chest, "Try a stunt like this again, and you're dust in the wind. I mean it."
That said, she spun on her heel and began to leave.
"What's it take?" he hissed under his breath. Louder, he called, "At least tell me, what does Tool Time have that I don't?"
She paused and looked over her shoulder at him for a long moment, almost as if she was measuring him carefully. When she finally gave her answer, her voice was soft and almost sympathetic.
"A soul."
* * *
"How is he?" Willow asked, wringing her hands anxiously as she stepped into Xander's hospital room. He looked so... peaceful lying there, his face free of the lines of worry and fear and manufactured humor that plagued him daily.
"Th-the doctors say he's stable," Tara said, looking up. "H-he broke some ribs a-and his arm, a-a-and he's got a c-concussion. Th-they say h-he'll be fine i-if he w-w-wakes up tonight."
Willow looked at her ex-girlfriend sharply, "And if he doesn't?"
Tara looked away.
"Oh," she said automatically as her mind processed the implication. "Oh, God, no! Xander!" she dropped to her knees and took his cold, limp hand into her own.
"I-I'll be outside," Tara said quietly, then matched action to words.
"Don't do this to me, Xander," Willow snarled. "Don't do this to _us_. Don't you _dare_ die on me, do you hear me?!" she practically screamed before she buried her face in her hands, against his unresponsive hand, sobbing uncontrollably for several long moments. Summoning strength from she knew not where, she looked up and said firmly, "Wake up. Look at me. Make a joke. Resolve Face. You are _going_ to wake up. I'm not giving you a choice here, Xander, you _have_ to wake up! Because I... I..." she stumbled over the words she never expected to say to him ever again.
"I love you."
He stirred, and her heart rose, "Xander?"
She felt his hand twitch. She saw his eyes flutter slightly. She watched as his lips moved, trying to form words.
"T-Tara?"
She felt her heart shatter one more time.
"Tara!" He shot upright, gasping in pain, and his eyes darted around wildly, his gaze finally stopping somewhere over Willow's head, "Tara, are you...?"
"I'm okay," came Tara's quiet voice from behind her. "Buffy came, saved us both."
Willow turned and saw the other witch standing in the doorway behind her. How long had she been there? How much had she heard?
She didn't know, but she had to do something -- anything -- to ease the pain she felt in her heart, the pain of losing the two most important people in her life... to each other.
"I'll go get a doctor."
"Wait," Xander said. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at him. He smiled, "Thanks, Wills. For being here."
She gave him a small smile, "Anytime, Xander. Anytime"
* * *
"How're you feeling, Xander?"
"Drugged up to the eyeballs, but otherwise, I'm okay. No pain, if that's what you're asking," he replied. "Thanks for saving me."
Buffy smiled and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers, "You're welcome." Shaking her head, she said, "Oh, Xander, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You got there as fast as you could. It's not your fault."
She shook her head, "Yes, it is. I... remember when Riley was here?"
He nodded, still not understanding where this was going, "Tracking that Sewage demon and its eggs."
"Suvolte demon," she corrected. "Well, we found the eggs, and we kinda blew them up. Th-that was a Suvolte demon that attacked you."
He shrugged as best he could, "So you missed one. Big deal. Doesn't make it your fault."
"You don't understand," she shook her head. "We found the eggs in Spike's crypt, nowhere near your new apartment. Spike sent that demon after you."
"So how does that make it your fault?"
"Because..." she said hesitantly, "because before he left, Riley offered to kill him... and I said no."
"Hey, I'm sure you had a good reas-..."
"I slept with him."
Xander stared at her, then chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry, Buff. I guess the drugs must be working overtime. I could've sworn you just said..."
"I did. And it's true. I slept with Spike," she said, hanging her head. She was ashamed... and she knew she was going to lose him now, forever.
After a long moment, he finally asked quietly, "Why?"
"Because... he made me feel... alive again," she said haltingly. Fighting tears, she looked up at him and said, "I'm so sorry, Xander."
She knew. She'd hurt him. A lot. She could see it in his eyes. And that hurt more than any rejection or angry tirade he could offer her.
Closing his eyes, he said, "I'm sure... there's a lot of witty things I could say right now, and I'm sure I should be really pissed... but I'm too tired to be mad. All drugged up like this... I can't think of anything to say except... don't be sorry. Not to me. It's not my place to tell you who to sleep with. It never was," he paused, then cracked a smile, "though that never stopped me before."
"Xander..."
"But... thank you, Buffy. For trusting me with this."
"I trust you with so much more than that, Xander," she said with a faint smile. *Like my heart.*
* * *
Author's Postscript:
I leave it to the reader to decide whether Spike really did do this or not. If anyone needs an explanation as to how he has more demon eggs, pretend he had it in a second stash in a bolthole somewhere (perfectly reasonable, given he would've died long ago if he were _that_ stupid) and that in canon, he sold the rest and spent the money on the motorcycle and his trip to Africa.