Title: Revenant, Ch. 6
Xander woke up to the early morning light, and stretched. Well, he tried to. A warm body was in the bed next to him, laying across his right arm.
For a brief microsecond, he thought it was Anya, but the scent of strawberry shampoo hit his nostrils.
Willow.
'Okay, this was getting to be a recurring thing.' Xander thought. 'Again with the Willow not being able to sleep unless she climbed into bed with the Xan-man.'
Xander almost reached over to nudge Willow awake, when she turned and nuzzled against him, her nose gently butting into the dip between his collarbone and his neck. 'Eeep!' Xander thought, desperately trying to will away his body's natural reaction as she curled one leg across him in her sleep, her shin resting directly across the now aroused member below his waist.
Xander tried to use his personal anti-erection mantra that he's used in the hot tub the week before, but this time it was of little use. 'Mr. Happy' seemed to be convinced that Willow's leg was directly addressing him.
Willow yawned, and curled into the warm body she lay next to, and partially on top of. Her brain wasn't awake enough to formulate the words, but the feelings fell into certain lines.
'Warm. Warm good. Sleepy. Safe. Like this.' However, something was poking her, against her inner thigh. 'Male scent. Oz? No, Oz gone. Not Oz- smell. Xander-smell.'
'Wait a minute.' Willow's brain thought to itself, finally kicking into gear. 'Xander-smell, something poking me-' Ooops.
'Xander?????' Willow's eyes snapped open, as Xander tried to decide whether arching an eyebrow or just looking sheepish was the appropriate action.
"Um, good morning?" Willow asked. Definitely both, Xander decided.
"You know, Wills, if we keep waking up together like this, people are going to talk." Xander said, half jokingly. Willow 'Eep'-ed inside over the truth that seemingly innocent statement held.
"Ah, yes, Xander Harris, demon-magnet. 'Gee, Xander and Willow are together a lot. Dark Willow's back, and it's black hair dye season again!'," she joked. "They're our friends, Xan, they're not going to think anything except that we had another all-night buddy-session again." She reached over and brushed the black curls from his face, revealing the drooping eyelid that covered the empty socket on one side. Xander grabbed at her hand, as she placed it gently against his face. "Fred and Knox said that they've almost got that bio-prosthetic eye implant ready. It'll be good to look you in both eyes again, regardless of how dashing the super- spy look is."
"I knew letting you read my 'Nick Fury : Agent of SHIELD' comics was a bad idea."
"Actually, it was that TV movie with David Hasselhoff that made it click."
"Never, EVER, let me hear you utter those words again. It wasn't Hasselhoff's acting that made both of us sit up for those late-night Baywatch marathons."
"Nope, it was the bouncing beach-babes that we were both drooling at. Tara never did get our fascination with that show." She chuckled in reminiscence. "Seriously, though, Xan, the new eye'll help. You'll get your depth perception back, and I can look you right in both big, brown eyes again. Makes giving you 'Resolve Face' SO much easier."
"Um, very well, Spike, what can I help you with?" The chief Watcher replied, curious as to what brought the former vampire to his office so early in the morning.
"Well, it's a bit.. awkward. I need for you and that Fred bint to check me out."
"What, you need medical care?" Giles sat up straighter, shocked that Spike came to him for something like this.
"Not really sure, Rupert. I- well, it all started two nights ago, me an' Buffy were out stalking a cemetery over on DeHaviland, fighting that quartet of vamps she told you about. One of them had a Renfield, and the mortal decided to attack me, thinking that old Spike still had the chip inside."
"A rather unfortunate assumption."
"Would've been. Me an' my flair for a show, I decided to go into game-face and tear him a new one, teach the little wanna-be what a real vampire was like. And I did. For all of three seconds."
"Well, I'm not surprised, a warrior of your skill."
"Actually, the fight lasted seven seconds, he knew what he was doing. If he'd already been vamped, we might have had a serious problem. As it is, I could only stay in game-face for three seconds at a time. Sometimes I can't even get it to come on at all!"
"You mean you can't, er, well, as Buffy would say, vamp out?"
"Not without some serious concentration. And it's getting harder!" Spike practically seethed in frustration.
Giles cleaned his glasses and came out from behind the desk. "Have you lost any noticeable strength or reaction time?"
"No, not that I've noticed."
"Any increase or decrease in hunger? For blood, I mean."
"Bloody hell. That's another odd thing. I haven't been as hungry for the red sauce as much lately, but my healing time doesn't seem to have slowed down any."
"Astounding. Yes, we should check with Fred and Knox, and perhaps Wesley and Willow, too. Wesley thought something like this might happen, especially after he read Buffy's account of the Shadow-men and their creation of the First Slayer." Giles paused, unsure if he should reveal what they suspected. "Spike, a Slayer is the merger of a living human girl with the spirit and power of a powerful demonic spirit, with the girl's mind and soul in the forefront. A vampire is similar, the merging of a predatory Turak-Han demon with a dead human corpse. Except you, Spike, are now in a living, breathing body."
"And?"
"And, it appears that Wesley's guess may in fact be happening, although we need to confirm it. Your demon may be merging with you and your soul, now that your body is alive once more."
"Just what are you getting at, Rupert?"
"Congratulations, Spike, you may just be transforming into the worlds first male Slayer."
T.B.C.