Confusion
By: Lynn
Summary: See Chapter 1
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The usual.
A/N: Sorry it's been awhile!
Chapter 5
Spike sat up straight in the bed.
"You what?"
Looking away from his bare chest and blushing with all the propriety of a gentlewoman, she repeated herself.
"I believe you. I believe you come from the future."
"Why?"
Victoria shrugged. "I don't know. I just do."
"And you snuck into my bedroom to tell me this why?"
"I want to make a deal."
Spike raised one eyebrow. Interesting…
"And what would that be, pet?" He leaned back against the headboard and ran a hand through his hair. The demon in him thrilled at her obvious discomfiture at his nakedness.
Ah, the good old days of "proper ladies". I could have some real fun with this one. Too bad all I can think about is getting home to Buffy…
"Well, Edward and my brother only allow me to accompany them because they do not want me to go out on my own. But I do not know how to fight. And I want to so desperately. What if something happens to the two of them when we are out one night – I need to know how to defend myself. And, more importantly, I'm tired of being the girl they have to protect. I want to take care of myself!"
Getting worked up, Victoria stood and walked around William's bed, clenching her fists in exasperation.
"They make me so frustrated! 'Victoria, do not concern yourself with such things. That is for us to worry about.' They cannot accept the fact that I'm not a little weakling who always needs them by my side. I mean, the Slayer is a female! They do not act appalled when she fights, do not try to insist she stands aside while they destroy the vampire."
Taking notice of the fact that she was acting very un-ladylike, Victoria quickly composed herself.
"In exchange, I will research at Headquarters for a way to send you home."
Spike needed no time to think about it.
"Deal."
* * *
"And these are videos. Videos are different from TV. You need a VCR to play them in. And they're usually movies, which are like TV programs, but longer and self-contained." Dawn was kneeling on the ground before the TV, giving William a crash course in entertainment systems. He was sitting on the couch, sometimes listening to her and other times staring in awe at the amazing things around him. It took nearly twenty minutes to explain electricity to him. And, oh boy, running water…Dawn never wanted to entertain a time traveler again.
Dawn put down a well-used copy of Shanghai Noon and looked up to find William staring at her, a half-smile on his face. Tilting her head at an angle, Dawn met his eyes and blushed. William shook his head, clearing it of his thoughts.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Dawn. It's just that…I've never met such an energetic girl as you."
"Thanks." Dawn looked down, embarrassed. There was a time when words like that would send her heart beating into a tailspin of emotions. But that was because she wanted Spike to think of her as special. William – she didn't even know him. And yet she did! She just didn't know what to make of this whole situation. Here she was sitting with someone who, for all purposes, was the person who had become one of her closest friends. And yet, he wasn't Spike. Spike would know more about entertainment than she did. Spike wouldn't call her Miss Dawn. Spike would know that all she really wanted right now was for him to pull her into a big hug, wrapping his leather coat around her like a shield from the outside world.
Spike would know her.
* * *
Buffy opened the back door, tired from a long night of patrolling. Shrugging out of her coat, anger coursed through her when she heard sounds from the TV coming out of the living room.
"Dawn, it's 2:30 in the morn – William! I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."
William, minus his jacket and with his tie loose around his neck, stood abruptly.
"Uh- Miss Summers. I'm sorry. I – it's just. Television. This is amazing…"
Same old Spike…
"Ah…That's alright. I thought you were Dawn."
"Um…no. Miss Dawn retired a few hours ago."
"Good." Buffy walked over to him and sat down on the couch next to where he was standing. After she sat, William sat down as well, a respectable distance away, of course. They both avoided looking at the other for a few minutes until William cleared his throat.
"Miss Summers, I greatly appreciate being allowed to stay at your home."
"Oh…no problem."
With that conversation topic exhausted, they glanced around the room a few more times, until William suddenly turned toward her, scooting a little closer in the process.
"So… Ah…will you tell me a little bit more about…me?"
"About Spike, you mean?"
"Yes."
"Like, what?"
"What…sort of man – uh, I guess I mean vampire – is he?"
Buffy looked away for a second. What could she say that would possibly cover everything that Spike was? That could encompass his annoying, pain-in-the-assness, yet devoted, loyal, quirky self? What could she say that would describe how he was there for Dawn and, if she really was honest with herself, for her whenever they needed him? What could she say that would explain how hard it was for him to adjust after the chip and that she somehow knew that no other vampire would have been able to do half as well? That of all the vampires she's known he's the only one that's ever loved someone so completely – Drusilla, of course. His love for her wasn't real. Obviously. Right?
"Buffy?"
"He's…He's the…best vampire I've ever known." Angel included…As that thought crossed her mind, a surge of guilt and confusion coursed through her. But it's true…
* * *
Spike finished buttoning his shirt and left his bedroom. Walking down the stairs and around the corner, he went into the parlor as a rush of emotion filled his heart. Mom…Lady Lydia Spencer Carlisle was sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room, working on her needlepoint. She was never without it. He had missed her so much, and he hadn't even realized it until now. When he was alive, he couldn't forgive her for being Lady Carlisle, Society Woman, who had to have the perfect son and fainted at the slightest provocation because that's what ladies did. But now, after all this time, all he remembered was her concern for his happiness, spending quiet evenings at home just the two of them talking about poetry and books. How she had taught him about how a woman she be treated, how a man should be honorable, how a person should act. How to love and be loved. Father was always gone. He wasn't a bad father, just a busy man. He and I never had the same connection Mum and I did.
Lady Carlisle must have felt his presence, as she looked up to find him standing in the doorway. Reaching her hands out to him with a smile, she beckoned him into an embrace.
"We missed you this afternoon. The country was lovely."
"I'm sorry…" Spike cleared his throat, mentally kicking himself into speaking with the proper accent. "Sorry, Mother. I was unwell."
"And how do you feel now?"
"Better. I feel like myself again."
"Really." Lady Carlisle met his eyes. "And who would that be?"
Spike's eyes shifted away from hers. Fear dropped into the pit of his stomach.
"What – What are you saying, Mother?"
Lady Carlisle leaned forward, her eyes grabbing his again, boring into them, then flicking up to look at the tufts of blond hair sticking out from underneath his hat, and back into his eyes.
"Who are you? And where is my son?"