A/N : Fairly long chapter here. I actually had it ready to post earlier, right when had a problem and wouldn't let me log in! Anyway, the new chapter is now here! Thanks to; Spuffyfan4eva, Rachel, books41, rubi-elektra, spikeswife1, SlayGal, spikesqueen, slayafreek (twice!) for the previous reviews. Hope you like this new chapter, there's just one more after this (which I've already started writing) and then an epilogue. More of Our Little Secret coming soon too!
(For discliamer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 15
"Hello mate" Spike greeted as he and Buffy walked, hand in hand, into the conference room where Connor had been asked to wait.
"Hi, Spike" he replied, smiling, which the vampire took to be a good sign. After Angel's stories about the boy a small part of him had been fretting about running into the pointy end of a stake too soon.
"Connor, I hope you don't mind that Spike brought me along" Buffy smiled good-naturedly at the young man, "He told me all about you and...well, I can leave if you want to talk to him alone"
"No, it's fine" Connor assured her as all three of them sat down.
There was silence for a while til Buffy shot Spike a look telling him to say something, anything, to the poor kid on the other side of the table.
"Er, so, you okay?" he asked awkwardly and the Slayer fought the urge to laugh at how bad he was at this, but he got points for effort at least.
"I'm fine" Connor nodded, "actually better than fine, but I have something to tell you and I'm not entirely sure you'll like it"
"Try us and see" Buffy offered, pretty certain that she'd heard worse things than he was about to tell her, she'd heard, seen, and fought just about all the worst things there were before she was twenty-five!
Connor sighed as she stood up and turned to look out of the window.
"I'm different" he announced as if it weren't obvious, "I always knew there was something but I never knew what...it's like my mom, the woman I call mom, she says it's like when you go out and think you left the iron on or something"
"I hate that!" Buffy commented on the analogy, not thinking about the fact she was interrupting something important until Spike shot her a look and she mouthed an apology to him. Connor, it seemed, didn't notice at all.
"Anyway, when I had the dreams and the memories came back, then I knew why I was different, and it was like this missing piece fell into place. I know where I really come from now" he continued, turning back to face his audience, "I know why I felt different, even though I'm not so different anymore"
"Okay, now you've lost me, mate" Spike admitted with a shake of his head.
"I don't have powers anymore" Connor said simply, "No strength or speed or extra-special hearing, I know that I used to have them before but now I'm just me, I'm human"
"Wow" Buffy commented, not intentionally aloud, "A little surprising" she admitted.
"No, it's not" Spike smirked at her and then a gaping Connor.
"You knew" the boy realised - it was a statement and not a question.
"Of course I bloody knew" Spike rolled his eyes, "Vampire here, remember?" he gestured towards himself with his hand, "I may have the soul and all that rot but I'm still a demon, if you had a trace of your demon self left I'd feel that too"
"Yeah, I guess I would too" Buffy considered, "Being a Slayer and all"
"And you don't get any...'vibes' off me" the boy air-quoted, unsure which was the best term to use.
"There's something" Spike admitted, "Somethin' in the scent, but that's pretty much a blood thing, what with my grand-sire being your Dad and all that..." he rambled on but Buffy interrupted, noticing how quiet and still Connor had become.
"Are you okay?" she asked, getting up from her seat and moving to stand by his chair instead, "I mean, with the whole non-special deal" she checked, reaching out a had to his arm.
"I'm okay" he promised looking up at her and placing his hand over hers, "I have another life now, people who care about me and love me...I needed to know where I came from, but I'm happy with the existence I have now"
"I get that" the Slayer nodded, as the two shared a smile. Spike cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly.
"I hate to break up the touchy-feelies" he said when he got both their attention, "but you happen to have your hands on my woman" he announced, only slightly joking.
Buffy rolled her eyes as she walked around the table and smacked him playfully across the shoulder as she sat down beside him again.
"You two are...dating?" Connor looked puzzled, this was a vampire and a Slayer after all, although it was no different to his Dad dating Buffy all those years ago.
"It's a little more that just 'dating'" Spike snapped, almost annoyed by the accusation that it was not a completely serious eternal-love type deal between him and his Slayer.
"It's kind of a love thing" Buffy grinned, picking up Spike's left hand in both of hers and kissing it to calm him down, "We were heading back to England in a couple of days but it's a good thing that you came around, Spike didn't wanna leave til he'd made sure you were okay"
"Easy Slayer" the vampire snapped indignantly, "You'll have the boy thinkin' I care or something" he couldn't help but smile slightly on the last part, giving away the fact that he did have some kind of feeling for Connor, didn't like the idea of him being alone and confused and such.
"Well, now you know I'm fine" the now normal miracle child grinned, "So you can go to England and be in love and do whatever it is that you do" he shook his head as he realised he actually had no idea.
"That was the plan" Spike told him, turning to kiss the Slayer and almost touching his lips to hers when she suddenly shouted, "Oh, Connor, you should so come to our party!" she realised, leaving Spike mid-pout with no-one to kiss, "It's kind of a bon voyage thing for us, we'd love for you to be there tonight"
"I would" Connor told her, "but it'd be awkward. Wesley and Gunn and Fred, I remember all of them but they have no idea about me"
Buffy nodded sadly that she understood, it was sort of a shame really.
"Besides" Connor looked embarrassed when he added, "I kind of have an anniversary-type date with my girlfriend anyway"
Spike opened his mouth to make some smart ass comment and Buffy took the opportunity to give him that kiss he'd seemed to want before, anything to stop him from further embarrassing the poor boy!
After that there were the goodbyes, hand-shakes, hugs, and kisses. The Slayer gave her ex-loves son a piece of paper with the address and phone number of the Slayer Training Centre on it, just in case he ever needed them and Connor wished the pair luck in whatever they did.
"Well, that went better than I thought" Spike sighed after Connor had left the room and Buffy went into his arms to hug him, "Although I still feel sort of bad, flitting off and leaving him here without anyone who knows the soddin' truth" he admitted.
Buffy reached up to kiss him soundly, smiling as they parted.
"You really are just a big softy underneath it all, aren't you?" she grinned, knowing that even as a joke that would piss him off some.
"Hey, you take that back!" he warned her, "Or I'll show you just how much of an animal I can be"
"Ooh, is that a promise" she smiled suggestively, breaking into giggles as he growled and attacked her neck with kisses, before picking her up and carrying her back up to her room. They had a couple of hours before the party, and what better way to kill time than to spend it in bed, just loving each other unconditionally.
- - - - - - - - -
"Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends" Lorne spread his arms wide as he entered his night-club, followed by Buffy whom he was addressing. She was tucked under Spike's arm, just where she liked to be, and Wes and Fred followed behind with Gunn bringing up the rear.
"It's beautiful, Lorne" the Slayer grinned, "I have no frame of reference since I sadly never saw the original" she admitted, "but this is an amazing place"
The new Caritas had been built on the site of the old one but it had been entirely re-vamped, no pun intended despite a few demonic clientele that fit the bill. The money and resources the old AI gang had acquired when taking over the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart, meant re-building the club was simply simple! Plus the access to ancient texts and books, as well as mystical people and creatures, meant finding a better protection / anti-violence spell was easy too. Caritas was truly the sanctuary for all, that it should always have been.
The party kicked off in true Lorne style as he took the stage and broke into song. The order of the night was mostly love songs, and the kareoke was put on hold for this evening so The Host's special guests could enjoy dancing to real tunes and not the garbled squawking of various guidance-seeking demons and humans alike.
There were of course drinks and Buffy took great delight in picking out weird and wonderfully named cocktails for the bar staff to concoct for her. There was no bill to pay, just pretty liquids with cherries and umbrellas to consume, or straight up spirits if you were Spike.
He was trying to encourage Buffy to have a non-alcoholic drink every now and again, but the Slayer was well past sober by then and wasn't really paying attention. The vampire didn't want her getting completely smashed but she seemed to be coping, just a lot more giggly than usual.
"Oh, look at the pretty lights" she gasped, looking up at the ceiling, tipping so far back that the barstool began to tilt too. Spike stood up behind her in a flash, setting the seat back straight and warning her that maybe she'd like to stop looking at the ceiling now.
"Do you realise how much I love you?" she said suddenly, not in the least bit giggly for that moment.
"Probably not" he smiled, pushing her hair off of her face. She'd spent so long asking 'Do you realise how much I hate you?'. As much as he believed now that she loved him and could accept it, it still surprised him when she said the words.
Buffy knew she didn't have a real answer to her question. There just weren't words for how much she really cared for Spike. It'd taken her so long to realise and now that she had, the feelings over-whelmed her.
Leaning forward she put her lips to his and kissed him passionately, almost knocking them both off their stools. Spike was only glad he didn't have to spoil the moment by stopping to breathe, unfortunately, Buffy did.
"You understand now?" she grinned as she stayed leaned into him, forehead resting against his.
"I think I'm gettin' it" he smiled back, rolling his eyes when he realised the rest of the LA gang were watching the exchange.
"You have to be the cutest couple ever" Fred blurted out. She quickly stepped further into Wesley's embrace when Spike shot her what was supposed to be an evil look, though he didn't pull them off half so well these days.
"I am not cute" he said grumpily, making Buffy laugh again, "C'mon Slayer" he urged, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet, "You know you wanna dance"
"In a minute" she promised, as he pulled on her hand and she fell into his arms, "First, I have to go..." she tilted her head to the left, and he kissed her briefly before releasing his hold on her so she could go to the ladies room. At least, that's where he assumed she'd been going. As he turned back to lean on the bar and order another drink, Buffy stepped up onto the stage and whispered in Lorne's ear...
"Good evening you bunch of beautiful people" the green demon grinned as he addressed the crowd through the microphone once again "Well, have I got a sweet treat for you? Tonight some of my very best friends are here and we're sadly saying bon voyage to two very special people as they head off to that little jewel of a place that is England" Spike turned to look up at the stage, feeling bad that Buffy was missing this, "Point is folks, these two are so in love it makes me wanna sing, but I've done quite enough of that tonight, right? So I'm gonna pass the mike on over to the girl herself cos she has a little something she wants to say to her lover-boy. Ladies and gentleman, Buffy Summers"
Spike's mouth dropped wide open as his Slayer stepped into the spot light. Lorne passed her the microphone and disappeared.
"Hello LA" she grinned, squinting slightly against the bright light that shone on her alone "Okay, now, I've never done anything like this before and I admit it did take several drinks for me to get up the courage to stand here in the pretty lights with the mike in my hand" she giggled a little before becoming completely serious again "but my being a little drunk does not mean I don't mean what I say" she said solemnly, looking over at the vampire she adored "Spike you know better than anyone how I like to make inspirational speeches, well, this is a little different" she smirked slightly as she pointed her finger at him "but you better appreciate this buster, or you know I'll kick your British ass!" he laughed at that but soon fell silent along with the rest of the club as the music started to play. A few bars of instrumental he was almost ashamed to say he recognised and then Buffy herself began to sing.
Edited 01.05.05 - Buffy's sings 'Chain Reaction' and Spike joins her on the stage. This scene has been cut due to lyrics ban
Buffy really couldn't manage another word as Spikes lips attacked her neck, kissing and pretending to bite. She took the mike away from her face as she collapsed into uncontrollably giggles in his arms. She knew she'd just made such a fool of herself but she just wanted to do something special, and the song fitted them so well.
The backing vocals played on by themselves as other patrons of the club clapped and cheered at the performance, only growing louder when the Slayer turned in her lovers arms and kissed him soundly, letting the microphone drop to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.
"I love you" she told him breathlessly.
"'Love you too, pet" he promised, "but y'know" he whispered in her ear, "Anything you can do..." he trailed off as he let go of her and walked towards Lorne who'd just come back onto the stage.
"Oh God" Buffy gasped, still laughing as she realised what he meant - anything you can do, I can do better! Was he really going to sing? He held his hand over the mike and whispered in Lorne's ear before they both grinned and the vampire headed back towards the Slayer.
"I thought you were gonna sing?" she frowned a little, kind of disappointed. She remembered he had a good voice from when he'd sung to her under Sweet's spell and those couple of times she'd heard him in the shower at her house in the months before the fall of Sunnydale...
"Don't be daft, pet" he smirked, grabbing her hand and leading her off the stage. As they reached the dancefloor he pulled her impossibly close and whispered to her; "Not when I could be dancing with you"
The lights in the whole place dimmed on Lorne's signal and two spotlights shone through the dark, one on the demon himself and one of the couple in the centre of the floor.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked, suddenly a little embarrassed as so many eyes watched her, and feeling slightly faint from the intensity of the love she could see in Spike's eyes.
He didn't answer her question, merely smiled as the music started up again and Lorne's voice reached their ears, singing Wind Beneath My Wings.
Buffy smiled shakily as tears rolled from her eyes. This was their song, her and Spikes. He'd remembered way back over eight years ago now, to that spell Willow had cast and they'd gotten engaged. The love had been less real then but ever since declaring this should be the melody of the first dance at their wedding, Buffy could not hear it without remembering the wonderful feeling of being in love with Spike. Now they loved each other deeply and it was so real and beautiful.
"I love you Spike" Buffy told him, burying her tear-stained face in his shoulder and gripping him tightly as if he might disappear, "I was so lost without you"
He moved until he could see her face again and brought up a hand to remove the water from her cheeks.
"You don't have to be without me anymore" he assured her, moving her hair off of her face "that's what this is about, the song and everything. It's to say that I love you more than un-life itself. It's my promise to never leave you again. I swear, Slayer, by your side is where I belong and it's where I'm always going to be"
Buffy had no more words to say. What could she say to follow such a declaration? She wanted him to know she felt the same but to say it didn't seem enough somehow. Instead she reached up and kissed him, showing him just what he meant to her. When the kiss ended they held each other close, swaying gently to the music and Buffy had a thought.
"Y'know it's kind of a shame this song isn't literal" she mused, reminding Spike that for all her seriousness before she was still a little drunk, "It'd save a whole lot of plane fuel when we head back to England"
Spike laughed lightly and kissed the top of her head.
"I do love you, Slayer" he smiled in amusement at her words, truly meaning that he adored every aspect of her. He only hoped things could stay this way when they did head back to her new home. The Scoobies weren't exactly his biggest fans. Would it all turn out as Buffy thought it would? Spike resigned himself to think of it no more tonight. He could worry about tomorrow when it came along. For now, he would just enjoy holding Buffy in his arms, loving and being loved, unconditionally.
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : All reviews welcome, I love to know what you think:-)
Extra Disclaimer : The Bee Gees wrote Chain Reaction and Diana Ross made it famous! I am not these people, I do not know these people, and the song does not belong to me.