A/N: Sorry I've been sparse with the updates lately, but my laptop is still broken and most of my fanfics are trapped inside, so once it gets back from the repair shop look for the next chapters in Dirty Sunshine and The Way We Were.
A New LullabyChapter 3
Spike sighed as he made his way to the Magic Box the next evening. Time for another lame 'Scooby' meeting, where he had to sit around and listen to the slayer and her friends talk about the latest big bad and other things he couldn't care less about, but Spike still enjoys these meetings, looks forward to them most of the day actually, because at least then he gets to see her.
Buffy, the love of his life, and yet he doesn't know her, not really. He sees her when she's fighting evil and when she's talking to her friends, but never to him, he never sees her, never lets her see him, not the real him. She's his girl in his mind, he pretends to know her, pretends that he knows all about the curve of her hips or how the sunlight falls on her hair making it shine a golden blonde, but he's never seen it and he knows he never will. He'll never be the one she wants.
Spike walks into the Magic Box and greets the rest of the Scooby's with a scowl, noticing at once that Buffy's not there.
"Where's the slayer?" Spike asks, leaning against one wall.
Willow looks up at him from the book she thumbing through and raises an eyebrow curiously.
"Y'know, so we can get this sodding thing over with quickly," Spike added, shifting on his feet and looking at the carpet. But before she can answer him, Buffy walks in, Dawn in tow and takes her jacket off, setting it on the table inches from him, without a glance in his direction, as if he wasn't even there.
Willow closes the book she was looking at and she and Tara look up at Buffy in anticipation, as do Anya, Xander and Giles.
"You're late," Giles observes casually as he takes off his glasses and cleans them on the hem of his shirt.
"Yeah," Buffy agrees, "Had a little vamp trouble on the way over. They really don't like to be staked." She jokes with a grin, taking the wooden stake out of her pocket and dropping it on the table in front of her with a thunk.
Giles nods, "I couldn't imagine so."
Buffy sits on the edge of the table and looks around at her friends with a curious glance, "Is it just me or has the vamp population hit a serious decline?"
"I wouldn't know, because somebody won't let me go on patrol with her." Dawn grumbled quietly.
The group ignored her as they all nodded, "Maybe you killed them all." Anya suggested, trying to be helpful.
"Look on the bright side, Buff," Xander interjected, "At least you get a vacation from the slayage."
"Yeah…" Buffy agreed, sounding doubtful, "But usually when they go underground like this, doesn't it just mean their preparing for an even bigger bad?" she looked to Giles to confirm this.
"Generally so," he agreed, "So we mustn't let our guard down"
"Tara and I could do the research thing," Willow suggested.
"Yeah, and Anya and I could do the sitting around and trying to look busy thing, y'know, while we watch Wills and Tara go at it." Xander blushed, "With the research, I mean." After getting a smirk from Buffy and a stern glance from Giles, Xander looked around the group, "Anyone else want to contribute?"
Spike, tired of being ignored, stepped forward, "I suppose I could go underground, see if anything things 'bout to happen." He suggested trying to sound bored, "Maybe Darla'll…" he paused as all eyes fell on him at once.
"Darla?" Buffy repeated.
Spike's eyes widened as he realized what he'd said and quickly tried to change it, "Uh, yeah, I heard she might be town…I'll check it out, though I could 'a sworn that bint was in LA though, trying to romance your poofter." He didn't know why, but suddenly Spike felt the overwhelming urge to protect Darla.
Buffy narrowed her eyes at him and shrugged, "Whatever Spike, do you come here just to annoy me?"
He felt a stab of regret, he could tell her everything about Darla, she'd stake her surely, but then, maybe then, Buffy would believe she could trust him. More than likely she'd just pat him on the head like a good little boy and go back to ignoring him until she needed him again and it wasn't really worth Darla's life to find out. The thought angered Spike, he didn't have to put up with his; "Yeah, luv; annoying you is what I live for." He said sarcastically stalking out of the Magic Box, heading back for his crypt.
He thought of Darla, she was asleep when he'd left, all curled up on his bed, she looked peaceful, so much more so than the many years he'd known her when she was with Angelus. And suddenly, Buffy's criticism of him didn't seem quite so bad, because, at least he had someone to come home to. Given, it was only Darla, but still, it was something.
A/N: Please review and tell me how I'm doing, and what you'd like to see in upcoming chapters.
