Lost in the Smoke
Chapter 13
(Disclaimer in part one)
Buffy walked into the living room and looked at the assembled group, the Scoobies. All of them had a haunted look on their faces; wondering why and how one of their former comrades could try to kill one of them more than once. None of them even had a second thought at suddenly considering Spike one of them, not even Xander.
"Buffy. What made him do it?" Tara asked. It was hard for her to ever imagine that the strong woman that Buffy was now would ever follow Angel around like a lovesick puppy. And she couldn't ever see him being the kind person they all said he had been, having only seen his behavior of recent.
Spike saw that Buffy was going to stay quiet for a bit, so he answered. "I heard him. The wanker just didn't want her to be happy s'all, Glenda."
"No, it's not that he didn't want me to be happy. He just wanted me to be his brand of happy. He wanted my life to be easily categorized and normal after he left. Angel didn't realize that my life will never be normal, and that normal just doesn't make me happy," Buffy replied squeezing her vampire's hand.
She took a few cleansing breathes then continued. "I don't know what to do about Angel, but for now it can wait. I need to distress. I'm going to out on the porch and she if I can count all the stars." Buffy walked toward and out the door, never letting go of Spike's hand.
**********
Angel looked up when he heard footsteps fall on the stairs. Trying to head off an argument before one started and he was forced to think about her with Spike, he spoke, expecting it to be Buffy that was coming to confront him. "You're just wasting your time. You might as well go back upstairs because there is nothing you can say to make me accept that my excuse of a grand-childe is really what you need."
"Well, I don't know what you've hearing, but Willow's the only one around here that's taken to batting for the other team." Xander joked.
"Sorry Xander. I thought you were Buffy."
"I know what you thought and I know what you secretly wanted. You wanted to belittle her and tell her that she's making a gigantic mistake and don't you even try to deny it. I know better than anyone how that line of thought goes, because I've lived it oh so many times. I've always been on the anti-vampire boyfriend bandwagon, but not this time."
"How can you even say that? Spike is evil. He's killed hundreds of people. Their deaths don't seem to bother him even though he has a soul. How can you just accept and condone him being in the same room as her?"
"I accept it because I finally see what you won't let yourself see. He loves her, simple as that. And she loves him. Spike loves Buffy; even when he didn't have the soul, he loved her. That's what it all boils down to he can do something you never could."
Xander waited a few minutes, trying to gauge whether the creature before him, that he used to consider an ally, would acknowledge the truth in front of him. What scared him the most was that in Angel's behavior he saw himself and the way he had acted in the past. He realized there was nothing he could do to help the current situation he returned the main floor of the house.
Angel watched him leave and wondered to himself whether it was really his own sense of self rather than any facilitated fears of Spike that had driven him to this point.
*********
Out in the backyard, Spike sat in one of the wood lawn chairs looking down at his Slayer. Buffy was in his lap, molded to his chest, looking up at him. He envisioned that the moonbeams made her glow with an ethereal haze, and she pictured the twinkling of the stars was reflected in the sparkling of his eyes. All she wanted to do was to simply get lost in the depths of his gaze, to not have to face the reality of life that was trying to barrel her down.
"Whatcha thinkin' bout pet?" Spike asked, venturing to break the silence that surrounded the pair.
"Trying to decide what I'm gonna do about the poof currently chained to my basement." The bleached vampire had to laugh at her unconscious use of his name for Angel.
"It's your decision luv, but we'll all back you up not matter what. You know that don't you?"
"Yeah. If I just let him go He'll probably come after you again and I can't let him do that, but I can't leave him in the basement forever either. The best solution would be to kill him so I could sleep knowing I won't wake up to a bed full of ashes care of him staking you, but I don't think I can bring myself to do it."
"And I wouldn't even consider asking you to. There is an alternative. We just haven't thought of it yet s'all."
Buffy's only response was to nod her head and bury her chin farther into the comfort of his side.
After some time Buffy shifted, her body a tad restless in his embrace, and Spike sensed resolve coming off of her in waves. Her natural Slayer confidence was filling her, replacing the vulnerability she had been letting through from the past hour or so. Without saying anything she moved from his embrace to stand above him, reached out for his hand and led him back into the house.
**********
The Scoobies were startled by the whirlwind that was the Slayer and the vampire in her wake come storming through the residence. From their positions on the various pieces of living room furniture where they had been discussing the current predicament, Xander, Dawn, Tara, Willow, and Anya could all clearly see the tenacity played across their friends face. The kind of face she usually only pulled out for apocalypses.
Worried, Willow called out to her, "Hey Buff, what are you planning on doing about Angel?"
Without pausing, Buffy yelled behind her, "Don't worry. I'm taking care of it."
**********
Buffy didn't stop walked until her feet had carried both her and Spike to the basement, directly in front of her captive. She locked her stare with Angel and snaked her arm around her lover in defiance of what Angel thought.
"Alright Angel, this ends here and now. I am the Slayer and as such, as far as you're concerned, I am the law. I am going to tell you how things are going to be, and there will be no discussion.
"Although I probably should, I'm not going to kill. You will not be back in Sunnydale. You will not have any contact with any of my friends or family. And if there are any attempts whatsoever, to cause harm to Spike, I will assume you were behind it and will have no reservations about performing my sacred duty by dusting your sorry ass."
Buffy walked over to the wall, glaring at her ex-lover the entire way. She unlocked to the manacles tethering him to the wall and nonchalantly reported to him.
"I want you out of this town by the time Dawn has to be at school in the morning. You might want to hurry. Sunrise is in a few hours; it'd be a shame if you got caught out without your sunscreen."
Angel gave his love and his grandchilde one last look and then bounded up the basement stairs. Seconds later, the sound of the front door slamming shut and the exclamations of the Scoobies could be heard throughout the house.
**********
It had taken some time to convince the gang that there was nothing left to worry about and to convince them that fists and just words had been used to diffuse the crisis. Eventually they had conceded and only Buffy, Dawn, and Spike had been left in the house. After promising a more detailed account to Dawn in the morning, they split up and went to bed.
Buffy checked to ensure that no light could in around the curtains when the sun came up, then turned off the light and crawled into bed beside the true love of her life. She fit herself into the curve of his body and he encircled her with his strong, pale arms, the only things separating them were his boxers and her silk nightgown. Both of them drifted off to sleep with a smile on their faces, knowing that this was the way they would spend eternity, being in the arms of the person they love.
FIN
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So everybody, this is the end. I know that there has been a gigantic lapse between the previous chapter and this one and I am so very sorry for it. Writing the ending was so hard because I wasn't ready to admit it was over even though it was. I want to thank everybody who has read all the way to the end and especially those who have reviewed. This was my first attempt at a multipart story and also my first Buffy story, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but you guys seem to have liked it, so I guess it wasn't that bad. It's taught me some things that should definitely help in future stories. I haven't decided what to write about next, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Please review and tell me what you think about the entire story. And once again, thanks for reading and enjoying my work. -Aenigmatis
