-NN-
It's time to let you know.
Time to let you know.
Time to sit here and say:
We are the lucky ones, dear…
--Bif Naked, Lucky
-NN-
Buffy watched as Spike faded into the distance. She had a goofy grin on her face and she didn't care. She gently pressed two fingers against her lips. Remembering, savoring; she closed her eyes for a moment. She breathed in the air around her and opened her eyes. And upon realizing where she was, she cleared her throat.
And just before she stepped out of the elevator, she came to a crashing realization: Angel would have heard everything. This would mean he would have questions and she would have to explain. Damn.
But the questions didn't come, not yet anyway. Instead what came was a friendly hug.
"Hey, Buffy. It's good to see you again."
"Oh Fred, it's nice to see you too--wow! You look great."
"Aww thanks, you too and might I add, your son is the cutest baby ever!" Fred exclaimed.
"Thanks." Buffy said, grinning. She sneaked a glance at Angel to gauge his face. hmm, broody...no diff there. She reached for the diaper bag to pull out some wet knaps to rid herself from any goop that got transferred to her.
"So Fred, how are you doing?"
-NN-
Running to the shower, Spike discarded his clothes along the way, a somewhat difficult task when his mind was running a marathon.
Buffy.
Here.
Spike had barely ducked into the shower when he ran back out to pull on a pair of pants again. Angel's pants, but he didn't think to care.
Buffy here.
With a baby.
Xander?!
"Xa— that whelp! Fuck! How could you? You're going to get what's coming to you."
-NN-
Fred was truly amazed with Alex. She leaned over him in his car seat while telling Buffy bits and pieces of what has been going on. The subject veered more towards her latest scientific findings.
Buffy couldn't help but smile, she tried her hardest to understand. But most of it just sounded foreign to her. She nodded and asked questions every now and then when appropriate. Buffy didn't want her to think that she was completely clueless.
"Seems you've been busy..." said Buffy.
"Yeah a lot has happened. So how was-- Oh, he's waking up."
"Really? I think he's getting better. He's been sleeping on and off throughout the day, and the trip we took didn't help his cold any."
Standing over Alex's car seat next to Fred, Buffy whispered, "There's my baby, are you feeling—"
I know we are… we are the lucky ones, dear.
We are the lucky ones, dear…
"Oh I love Bif Naked!" exclaimed Fred.
"And that would be my cell… probably Xander. Angel, can you throw it to me please? It's in my bag... the small pocket... yeah, that's it. Thanks." Buffy glanced at the screen to see who was the incoming call and then pressed a button to answer, "hey."
"Hey... just about to park, still in Angel's office?" Xander asked on the other end.
"Yeah, just come on up. You'll never guess--"
...click...
"Hello? Xander, hello?"
"What is it?" Angel asked; his first words since Buffy came out of the elevator.
"I dunno, the connection cut off."
-NN-
"Spike?"
"Well look what we have here. Come to pick up the slayer?" Spike asked.
"You're alive...err undead?" Xander asked, in shock. He was already stepping out of the car when Spike had snapped the phone out of his hands. Once Xander's shock subsided, he added with a grin, "knew we couldn't get rid of you that easily."
"Damn right." Spike exclaimed, giving him a toothy grin which faded just as quickly as it appeared. He looked at Xander and noted the changes. It's been a while since he regarded him this closely.
Xander seemed fit; a bit slimmer, but more muscular than he remembered. Although his attire may pay tribute to his new build. Wearing loose fitting jeans, a snug t-shirt under a blue button down, he looked like he walked out of a photo shoot. His hair was shorter but still long enough to be called shaggy. Of course, he still wore a patch over his eye, but it was no laughing matter. It only reminded him of how much he went through and what he was capable of surviving through, plus he had to admit, Xander could pull it off.
Spike knew that Xander's relaxed and friendly personality and matching appearance can deceive anyone who tried to take advantage of him. Xander wasn't one to underestimate.
He knew he could still take him, there was no question, but there was just too much history between them to actually do him in.
They were never actually friends, but there was a time when they were not enemies. Which is why he knew this had to be handled far differently than he would of handled it with anyone else. Plus there were other people to consider.
"While I'm here I might as well be of some use, eh? You know… help the good. Like the slayer, right?" Spike said with a straight face.
"Riight," Xander answered, cautiously. What the hell is the matter with him? He didn't go all evil again, did he?
"Good, first on my list to helping her, is to start with you. I'm going to teach you a bit of what I call... chivalry," Spike replied. Images of Xander and Buffy crept in his mind and he knew he had to deal with it all in some way. And before Xander knew it Spike was within inches of his face. Before he could think, act, Spike landed a blow to his gut. "You should be happy. I'm not even thinking about killing you. Well, it crossed my mind. But not going to, it'll just hurt Buffy more. That defeats the purpose. Looks like it'll just be good old fashioned torture."
"What's your... deal, Spike?" Xander asked, through clenched teeth while gasping for air that he lost from the blow.
But before Spike could answer, Xander got a shot of his own which landed square on Spike's nose. There was no way he was going to just let Spike get a hand up on him without dishing out a couple of blows himself.
"My deal?" Spike asked, while wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "What's your fucking deal?"
"What? You hit me first!" Xander replied. "Have you lost your nut?"
"Don't play games with me. Don't pretend like you don't know."
"Look Spike, you're going to have to clue me in, 'cuz-"
"How in hell could you father a child, more importantly, Buffy's child, and not do right by her?!" Spike bit out.
"One more time with the what!?" Xander asked, confused.
"You heard me. Don't you fuckin' deny it!" Spike demanded. "Alex, Buffy's baby, you nit. He's yours, isn't he?"
Xander was simply too shocked to say anything.
"I didn't see a bloody ring in any shape or form on that woman's finger. You didn't do right by her. She's Buffy, you don't do that to Buffy." Spike said, almost pleading. "And I'm sure as hell that she wouldn't go and tell another man–me, that she needs me with tears in her eyes, and goes and gives me a kiss that would fucking prove that paradise does exist... not Buffy, not if she wasn't free to do so. She's not someone who would go around cheating–it's not her style. So, means she's taking care of a baby all by her lonesome. How could you not take care of her, like any other man with some sense would? I would of."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm fucking serious! Do you realize what you did?" Spike asked, and without waiting for a reply. "You ruined everything. That's why you have to pay--for hurting her, for--why the fuck are you laughing?"
Xander couldn't help himself. This was just too good. "You... were going to… going to teach me... a lesson in chivalry?" Xander asked in between bouts of laughter and gasps of much needed air, and the pain in his gut from the blow earlier just made him laugh more.
"You think… you actually think... that... I'm… I'm the father?"
"Well yeah, who else could it be? And stop laughing you git!"
When the laughter finally subsided, he said with perfect clarity and with a seriousness he didn't think he could muster, "I'm not the baby's father Spike."
"You're not?"
"No, I'm not. Don't get me wrong though, I would be proud if I was. But I'm not."
"Well okay then, that's… that's good. Now, I don't have to kill you." Spike said, then, "You know what this means right?"
"What?" Xander asked in response. "Hey, wait a minute. Earlier, didn't you say that you decided you weren't going to kill me."
"Oh… well, I may have changed my mind when you started laughing your arse off. But need not worry, as you're not the baby's father," Spike said simply. "Now hear me out before I change my mind. Again." Spike started pacing, and explained, "What it means is is new plan. Someone out there, some wanker out there IS the bloody father and we have to do something about it. We aren't going to talk him into marrying her or any of that, 'cuz I'm NOT going to allow it, besides that would only bring him pleasure, we can't have that, can we? No, we want torture, pain—"
"Umm Spike?"
Spike ignored Xander and continued, "…he's going to pay for what he did, for hurting Buffy, for—"
"Spike?!"
"…he's human so—"
"Spike!!"
"What?! It's a working plan, okay?! I'm trying to think 'ere, what the—"
"Didn't you just promise me: no more plans without checking with me first?" asked Buffy.
Spike was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize Buffy was behind him. He did an about face and was nose to nose with a seriously brassed off--grinning Buffy. He glanced at Xander and mouthed, why the fuck didn't you tell me?.
Xander shrugged and said, "I did."
Spike glared daggers at him and then looked at Buffy again. "Buffy I…" Spike had lost all the bravado he was sporting earlier and he reverted back to age four; shifting his feet, looking at the ground when he knew he was caught red handed and knew there was no way out. "No, what I promised was that I wouldn't come up with any plans without checking with you first… IF you were involved," he said, trying to recall their exact words. A long shot but a bloke's gotta try, he thought.
"I'm not involved in this new plan of yours?" Buffy asked in reply.
"No," he said, cautiously.
"Didn't I just hear you mention my name?"
"Well, yeah, but…you see it may be about you, but the plan doesn't necessarily involve you. It involves me and well people who are… not you, so therefore, you are not involved."
Buffy only gave him a pointed look that said: that's bull and you know it.
"So, in other words, you are not a player in said plan," Spike tried. He knew she wouldn't buy it, he wouldn't either.
"I'm not involved," Buffy stated flatly, and then with a raised perfectly defined eyebrow, "I'm not involved if the person I care for is at…stake?"
"How could you care for the wanker who left you high and dry? Without even—"
"How could you blame him if he didn't even know?"
"You mean you didn't tell him?"
"I mean I didn't have the chance to," Buffy said in a clear even voice. And then in a whisper she was sure that only he could hear: "but it's about time he finds out."
-NN-
TBC...
