Catastrophe

by

Princess McPhee

Disclaimer: I don't claim. Not mine. Bow to Joss Whedon.

Author's Note: Okay. Truth or dare is cliche. But I love reading truth or dare stories, so I figured if I wrote, one, someone else would get a kick out of it. Plus, it's always a good way to air things out. : )

Summary: An AU version of the events after 'The Weight of the World.'

Rating: PG, so far.

"What the hell was that for, Dawn?" Buffy asked, looking a little hurt. Dawn cringed inwardly, but put up her strong, teenage-brat front on the outside, determined to see her plan through.

"Just the truth."

Buffy looked away from her sister and shook her head in disgust. "Pardon her," She said to the group. "I think she's tired and ready for bed."

"I'm not a little child, Buffy."

"Then don't act like one!"

"I'm not," Dawn told her sister calmly. "I'm just airing out things that the rest of you are afraid to talk about, because this hotel is getting really tense. Now, may I please stay up?"

Buffy looked at Dawn, her expression reflecting equal parts confusion and annoyance. "Yeah. I guess you may."

The room fell silent again, and Dawn just waited, sure that her plan would work. But when someone finally broke the silence, it was Cordelia, something not on the list of 'things that might happen next'. "So, are we still playing?"

Everyone roused a little at that, and Dawn seethed inwardly. The trance-like state of shock and emotion was broken, and Spike looked around the room and shrugged. "Guess so, pet. That would make it my turn, right?" When no one objected, a slow smile spread across his face, and he started to survey the room.

Dawn cursed silently. Her plan had failed this time, but she was going to make it happen.

An hour later, Spike could feel the game drawing to a close, and decided that it was time to bring out the touchy questions for Buffy. After all, if she ran off now, the game was almost over anyway. He smirked with a bit of his trademark evil grin, and Buffy recoiled a little, as much as she was capable while sitting in her seat. "Okay, why do I get the feeling that Spike, wearing that look, is not a good thing?" She asked nobody in particular.

Angel piped up without turning his head to address the Slayer, just watching Spike carefully, too. "Because it's not."

"Damn."

Through all of this, Spike still wore the same devilish grin.

"Slayer... truth or dare?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, not quite sure what she was getting into, and was about to say 'truth' when something impulsive exploded inside her brain and she said "Dare."

Spike's eyes widened in surprise, but he had a dare ready for the possibility she might do this, however slim he'd thought it was. A bloke had to be ready for anything in a game such as truth or dare, that was his motto. "Alright, then. Here goes." He rubbed his hands together, and looked her full in the eye. "You have to kiss Peaches, and then me, and then tell the room honestly which one was better."

Buffy's eyes flew open to saucers. "What? No!"

Spike stayed firm. If he played his cards right... the Slayer might be just drunk enough to do this... "You asked, pet."

"Well, now I'm un-asking! That's a totally not-fair dare, Spike!"

He leered at her. "Sure. Probably is. But truth or dare isn't really about fair, now is it, Slayer?"

Buffy looked down at her hands, and now that Spike couldn't see her eyes, he wasn't sure what was going through her head. He sent a glance at Dawn, hoping she would intercept it and interpret it for what it was.

She did. "Buffy..." She taunted. "Remember a certain conversation?" She caught her sister's eye, and tried to transfer a meaningful look. Buffy got it, but didn't seem to see it in quite the same light she did.

"That has nothing to do with this!" She insisted. "Nothing at all!"

Spike piped up again. "Tell you what, Slayer. I'll give you a choice. Tell us what you and the Bit are talking about, or kiss me and Angel like I already said."

"No!" Buffy looked around the room for support, but didn't find any. "I won't."

Nobody answered her, and she sat there, looking furious and righteous for a long moment before she realized that nobody was paying any attention to her at all, and everyone was just waiting for her to calm down before they tuned back in. She sighed. "Alright. I'll do it."

Spike leered. "Which one, Slayer?"

She looked at him as though he were distasteful, and watched him out of the corner of her eye as she spoke to the room. "I'll kiss you."

Spike kept his expression carefully neutral, while inwardly jumping for joy.

Buffy stood reluctantly, but Spike shook his head and motioned for her to stay seated. "There are some rules to this, pet."

The Slayer groaned, rolled her eyes and tossed her head back. "What?" She groaned.

Spike grinned now that she wasn't looking at him, and Angel glared at his grand-childe. "One, it can't take less than ten seconds." Buffy groaned, but didn't reply. "Two, it must involve at least light tongue." At this, the Slayer's eyes flew open and her head forward. "What? No!"

Spike met her eyes and stared her down. "You asked, Slayer."

Buffy groaned again, harder, and slumped in her seat. I can't believe I'm doing this. I must be really drunk. "Alright, alright. Is that it?"

The platinum-blond vampire smirked, and nodded. "Yep. That's it."

Buffy rose even more reluctantly than before and headed for Angel. They could do this, couldn't they? After all, they'd been apart long enough, there should be enough distance to kiss and still stay separate. And as much as she hated to admit it, she and Angel were not exactly platonic best-friend types. They usually ended up kissing when they met, anyway.

Sitting herself down on his knees, facing him, Buffy looked into her ex-lover's eyes. His pain reflected hers at the fact that this was unlikely to ever be real again, but at the same time, Buffy had a feeling that, oddly enough, this was going to be the easy kiss to get through. Wetting her lips delicately, she closed her eyes and leaned in.

Angel's soft lips pressed hers with gentle passion, and she could feel the fire blazing underneath his careful restraint. It was something that they'd both learned to tame after all this time together and apart, but their connection was strong enough, Buffy suspected it would always be strong enough, that they could still feel the tamped down emotion wanting release. When she opened her mouth gently and allowed his tongue entrance, fire spurted through her body, but pain followed in equal quantity. This was something that could never be, and it only hurt them both. Pulling away slowly, she opened her eyes lazily and stared into his eyes for a long moment before standing wordlessly and sitting on the other vampire's lap.

Spike didn't bother to disguise his leer as she sat down on his knees, nor had he bothered to even try and hide his jealousy as she'd sucked face with his grand-sire. She glared at him as he opened oogled her, but he'd expected that, even been trying for that reaction, so he didn't mind. If she was reacting to him at all, she felt something, and Spike was willing to settle for that, for now.

Staring him down, as if telling him to be good, Buffy just glared into the vampire's eyes for a long moment. Impatient as always, Spike rested his hands on his hips, and cocked his head sideways to ask when she was going to get on with it. "Slayer-"

She cut him off by pressing her lips to his. Even surprised as he was, Spike didn't forget to act immediately. Ten seconds wasn't a lot of time, and clearly she wasn't going to take the initiative in this kiss. Sliding his lips over hers, he let the passion he felt for her roam wild through his body, transferring as much of that fire as he could to her lips. Reaching out, he put his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him, and caught up in the kiss as she was, Buffy forgot to respond. Throwing caution to the winds, Spike pulled her up against him so that their torsos were touching all along their fronts. Buffy still let him, surprised at the power his kiss had over her.

Pushing his tongue not harshly but not entirely gently against her lips, Spike gained entrance by Buffy's mild shock. Her lips parted gently, and he slipped his tongue through, without bothering to ask her tacit permission, as Angel had. Caressing her mouth and nipping her bottom lip with dull human teeth, he put all of his feelings into the kiss, letting everything escape for one ten-second lapse in control.

When Buffy pulled away from him, her face was flushed and her body felt on fire. She'd always known that the vampire was passionate about everything he did, but she'd never seen it in such a clear display until that moment. When Spike wanted something, he went for it with a fire that was unsurpassed by nature, and Buffy had just seen that directed at her. Wordlessly, she went back to her chair looking as though in some kind of daze. Dawn cheered inwardly.

"So, pet?" Spike asked, his eyes twinkling with what he'd managed to achieve. "Gonna tell us which vampire rates higher on the Slayer-o-graph?"

Buffy woke up at that, and looked over at him. "What? No!"

Spike just smirked. "Pet, you promised."

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I'm not going to."

"It's really that hard to decide which one of us is a better kisser?"

"No!"

"Then why don't you just enlighten us?"

"Because... because I don't want to."

"Love your reasoning, pet."

Buffy's tone grew warning. She really didn't want to try and talk about this right now, her own emotions were enough to deal with. "Spike..."

"Slayer-"

Angel cut him off, looking something between jealously pissed and sad and confused. "That's enough, Spike."

"Who said you got to decide, Peaches? It was her dare, this was part of it!"

"I get to decide because you're being an insensitive ass!" Angel exploded, his jealousy and anger at his grand-childe winning out over his desire to be supportive of whatever Buffy decided to do with her life. She could date Parker, Riley, as many human boys as she wanted, but when it came to his grand-childe, Angel wasn't going to let her make that decision on her own. He'd left her so she could have a normal life, and Spike wasn't it.

Spike recoiled just a bit, though he didn't look hurt, just surprised. "Well, well. Think somebody's a bit jealous?" He asked the room. Nobody answered him.

Buffy didn't look at Spike, but she addressed the room as a whole. "That was kind of insensitive, Spike." Her voice was quiet, eerily calm for her.

Immediately, Spike's supposedly non-existent conscience flared up. "Sorry, pet," He said, meaning it. "Sometimes I just get bloody caught up in... well, you know me and Peaches."

Buffy smiled a little, still looking dazed. "It's okay. I think I'm gonna go to bed now, though."

Rising, Spike made to follow her out of the room. She could stand and even walk now without the crutches or walker, but she tired very easily, and still had trouble dressing and undressing herself. She could do it, but she got so frustrated and it took so long that for the most part, she still had Spike helping her. It was kind of an unconscious agreement the crew had made. Dawn, because she didn't want Spike to see her naked and because he had no particular desire to see her 'in the buff' either, got helped by Cordelia. Buffy was Spike's charge.

Buffy shook her head. "I'm okay, Spike. I can do it myself tonight."

Picking up quickly on the tension between the two of them, he offered her an out. "You sure, pet? I'm sure the Seer'd help if you want..."

The Slayer shook her head again. "I'm really okay. But if you could help Dawn, Cordy... I think it's bedtime."

"Buffy!"

"Dawn," She answered in a warning tone.

Dawn slumped down in her seat. "You're no fun," She complained.

Buffy looked at her little sister. "Yeah. I didn't just let you stay up 'til three am playing truth or dare," she responded semi-sarcastically. "Bed. Now."

Dawn pouted, but didn't object when Cordelia rolled her off towards the Summers' sisters' room, Buffy trailing behind.

Spike followed the Slayer to the doorway, trying to get away from Angel before he spoke to her. "Pet?"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"Sure you don't want some help?"

Buffy smiled tiredly at him. "No. I'll be fine. I just... I just need to think, okay, Spike?"

He nodded mutely, surprise written on all of his features. He knew he'd made the Slayer feel something with their kiss, but apparently it had been more than he'd expected. "Sure."

"Good-night, Spike."

"'Night, Slayer."

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