Title: Butcher's Blue
Author: hisluvpet
Series: BtVS
Genre: Drama/Romance
Part: 3 – So Black and Blue
Rating: R
Started: 09/21/04
Summary: Spike's interaction with Buffy in Something Blue kicks off a hellish voyage of discovery that might just be the making of the man. Manifestly AU after that delightful episode, but I pull bits & pieces from other eps as I go.
Pairing: Spuffy, Wara, Xanya, Spander-lite
Disclaimer: I've got a wine cellar for any lawyers that stop by.
Posting: Let me know...then sure!
A/N: For Melissa – who made me feel so welcome again – Thanks so much!
A/N2: This is an AU that branches from "Something Blue", the setting is Season 5-ish, Riley's around but Buffy and him haven't gotten deeply involved. Joyce is ill but still OK. Dawn's around so Glory's around. Willow and Tara are together and out. Crush & IWMTLY have not happened, nor will they. IOW, I've rearranged it all to suit myself, because, as I've mentioned a time or two, I'm evil :p
A/N3: The story now is moving into some slash-type stuff (Spander), nothing graphic, but if you don't go there, don't go here! I'm exploring my take on Xander's complicated relationship with Spike.
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Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil….
--Luke 6:22
What did I do to be so black and blue?
--Andy Razaf (1895–1993)
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Giles looked at Buffy, who appeared to be stable for now, sighed, and went over to where Spike lay slumped on the floor against the chair. His innate sense of fair play told him that he owed the vampire at least the courtesy of basic first aid, while his rage against Spike's kind urged him to dump the bleached blond out into the street and let something nastier-than-him take him out. Neither won out, due to the fact that Spike awoke and blearily peered up at him.
"What's this then, Watcher?" he murmured, his diction and tone remarkably toff sounding compared to his usual parlance.
"I'm rather afraid you passed out," replied Giles wryly, reaching down to help him up into the chair.
"Oh, sorry about that," Spike offered, sounding for all the world like he was apologizing for dropping a biscuit on the carpet during tea, and Giles' eyebrows rose a bit. Spike rubbed his hand through his hair, dislodging his careful grooming into a mass of curls. "I don't feel very well," he added quietly.
Giles caught him just as he was pitching forward again and seated him back into the chair, pulling out his legs to prop him up. "Try to stay put, Spike. I've got to get some more bandages and disinfectant," he awkwardly patted the vampire on one shoulder as he moved toward the kitchen.
"I'll just stay here then," Spike agreed, and his head lolled to right, coming to rest on the padded wing of the chair. The room continued to go in and out of focus, it grey/green color now augmented by occasional bursts of light on the edge of his vision. He looked over in Buffy's general direction, but her form remained fuzzy no matter how much he blinked his eyes. He listened carefully and discerned the beat of her heart; it was slightly elevated, her breathing slow and harsh. Not well, but not in any acute distress he decided, hazily noting that the lamplight made her hair shine golden.
Giles returned with yet more supplies just in time to catch Spike as he listed to port then started slumping forward. The Watcher swore he heard the vampire murmur "Something effulgent…" as he shoved him none too gently back upright in the chair to get him to stay that way. He proceeded to clean the vampire's wounds in a brisk, yet not unkind manner. Beyond a low hiss at the contact the disinfectant liquid had with the wounds, Spike didn't say anything further.
Giles could not remember a time when the vamp had been so quiet. It worried him in an odd sort of way, rapping at his inner Watcher as if to say, "Well, you've gone and decided he's worth saving now, haven't you?". He then proceeded to quash that particular reaction and concentrated on his first aid. Knowing that there was little he could do beyond cleaning the wounds, he decided against bandaging the vampire. His supernatural healing ability should take care of him.
"That's the best I can do, Spike," Giles said as he rose up from where he'd been kneeling on the floor to attend to his leg wound. Getting no response, he took the vampire's chin in his hand and lifted it up. "Spike!" he called out louder, but the vampire was out for the count. The Watcher sighed and decided to leave him where he was.
Crossing back over to where his Slayer lay on the couch, Giles reached out and put a hand on her forehead gently. Her temperature had risen; he could feel beads of sweat forming on her brow. "Oh, Buffy," he lamented in a low tone. He went into the kitchen to get a bowl of cool water, catching his cordless phone in one hand on the way. Time for a Scooby meeting.
After a short call to Willow, who assured him that she would gather the other Scoobies, Giles took the bowl of cool water and began bathing Buffy's face with a wrung out cloth. His heart contracted at seeing his Slayer's feverish countenance. A low moan from Spike made him glance over at the vampire. He was still collapsed bonelessly, multiple dark bruises mottled his skin, and he had an odd cast to his normal pallor. He was also sweating, something Giles was certain was impossible for a vampire to do. The doorbell rang, and Giles got up to let the Scoobies in.
"Giles," Willow's voice was low and full of concern. "What happened?" She glanced over to where Buffy lay on the couch and her face became even more troubled.
"And what the heck is the Bleached Wonder doing here?" snarled Xander. "And, did he have anything to do with what happened to Buffy?"
Tara didn't say anything but she looked worriedly at Buffy and spared a glance of care for the vampire, who was not looking very well at all.
Anya just looked sleepy and slightly put out as she came to stand next to Xander. Then, she took a better look at Spike and Buffy. "Are those Othanyskr demon scratches?" she asked with no little horror in her voice.
"Yes," Giles replied to the ex-demon, always a little surprised when Anya showed her experience and knowledge of the demon world. "What do you know about them?"
"Just that their wounds are fatal to humans, and often to vampires, too," she replied bluntly, but her eyes betrayed her sorrow.
"Who cares about Spike," came Xander's unsurprising reply. "What's gonna happen to Buffy?" his agitation clear.
"Apparently, the only reason Buffy is still alive is because Spike brought her here for treatment so quickly," the Watcher replied tersely, having no time for Xander's insecurities. "I've done all I can for her. Spike seems to think that her Slayer healing will help her overcome the toxins. I confess I know little to nothing about this particular species of demon. Anya, can you tell me anything else?" his voice growing desperate.
"I think that Spike could be right," Anya began, scrunching her face up as she thought back through over a millennium of memories. "All I can remember is that the poison causes a high fever and hallucinations." She looked sad, "I'm sorry, I can't remember any more. Perhaps we could research?" she added hopefully.
Giles nodded and began selecting texts. Tara gravitated to Buffy, taking the cloth from the bowl and wringing it out. "Do you have any icepacks, Mr. Giles?" she asked quietly.
"In the freezer, some of those blue ice things," he called over his shoulder as he went upstairs for a few more volumes that he kept in his bedroom.
"I'm on it," Anya called out as she moved toward the kitchen.
Xander motioned to Willow and they moved over the opposite side of the room.
"What?" Willow was puzzled by Xander's need for privacy.
"Are you as bothered as I am by the presence of Spike?" he asked her.
"Well, it seems that he was helping," Willow replied slowly. "Giles did say he brought Buffy here for help, so, he was with the helpage, which should be Ok, right?" she trailed off, looking at the growing anger in her friend's face.
"How do we know he's not the one responsible for her getting hurt in the first place?" he said with malice, his fear for Buffy taking a handy outlet – his anger for Deadboy, JR.
"Well, I guess we can't say for certain until we talk to Spike," Willow looked over at the vampire. "And, I'm guessing that won't be for a while. He looks pretty bad."
Xander looked over at Spike and had to agree, but he didn't have to say anything, so he didn't.
With Tara caring for Buffy, Giles and the others set up research shop at his kitchen table and began looking for any and all information regarding Othanyskr demons. After a few hours, they pooled all available data, but nothing particularly helpful had sprung out at them. Most of the information confirmed what Spike and Anya had said. Giles sighed, terribly worried and frustrated because there was apparently nothing they could do but wait.
"Mr. Giles," Tara called out suddenly. "I think Buffy's waking up." The Wicca continued to bathe the Slayer's face, but Buffy became restive and pulled away from her ministrations.
Giles came over immediately and knelt down next to his Slayer. She was tossing her head and mumbling, then called out, "Spike! Don't…help…No!" The Watcher took her shoulders to help calm her agitation. Whatever hallucinations she was seeing, they bothered her a great deal. She slumped back, still mumbling in distress.
"That's it!" Xander ground out. "He's dust," he added crossing over to the vampire and tugging a stake out of his pocket. Spike remained as still as he had been the whole time, but his skin held a greenish cast, and he was still sweating.
"N-no!" Tara called out and she crossed over to where Spike sat slumped in the chair. "I mean…we don't know he's responsible for Buffy's injuries, right?" she appealed to Willow and Anya, who had joined them around the vampire. She glanced over at Giles, who was busy with Buffy and paying no attention to the Scoobies.
Anya wanted to abstain, because she knew this was a hot button issue for Xander, but her innate frankness and practical nature prevented her from presuming guilt on the part of the vampire. "I think we should wait and see what Spike says," she finally said.
"What? Ahn, you can't really mean that," Xander sputtered.
"Xander, I know you have conflicted feelings about Spike," Anya replied conciliatorily. "But, we don't know exactly what's happened, and he's occasionally useful, especially on patrol. That means, you patrol less and stay whole a lot more," she finished nodding her approval at this situation. She didn't even add that a less injured Xander made for more orgasms for her. And they said she didn't have any tact.
"And, she's probably hallucinating right now, so what's she's seeing is probably not exactly what happened," Willow tried to appease Xander, who was still looming over Spike.
Xander was mystified, "Why are you defending this bloodsucker? He's tried to kill us all more than once." Once again, Xander found himself reacting with an almost irrational anger regarding Spike. It was like he was watching himself from afar, reacting and overreacting.
"Well, not me," Tara offered quietly. "He's only tried to help me." She ducked her head, not comfortable with speaking out in the group, even though she did feel strongly about this.
"I know, honey," Willow said putting an arm around the blond Wicca. "But, Spike's, well, he's not really been the nicest person, uh, vamp," she trailed off at the look on her lover's face. "But, hey, we don't have to stake him now, right Xander? I mean, we can just, like, take him back to his crypt. He'll be ok there, then no Spike problem, huh?" she tried to be supportative friend and lover at the same time, all the while doing her best Willow-babble.
Xander shook his head, then conceded the point, out-voted as usual, but not happy, and for darn sure not accepting it. "Ok, ok, I can see that you aren't gonna see reason on this. I still say he's probably responsible for this mess. Let's get him the hell outta here so we can concentrate on getting Buffy better."
"I'll help you," Tara said walking over to Spike, at a loss as to what to do to help the vampire, but feeling very bad for him.
"Umm, Tara, why don't you stay here and help take care of Buffy," Willow suggested carefully, well aware that Xander was not going to tolerate her lover's more gentle approach to Spike. "I'll help Xander."
"All right," Tara replied, her worry for Buffy warring with her concern for Spike. As she passed by Willow on her way back to Buffy's side, she said in a low voice, "Please make sure that Xander doesn't hurt him, Willow. He's very angry right now. I don't like his aura." Willow nodded, happy that she'd struck a balance between her friend and her lover without further conflict.
"We're relieving you of the Bleached Wonder, G-man," Xander came over and spoke quietly to the Watcher.
"Ah, yes," Giles was distracted; his only concern right now was his Slayer. "You can take him back to his crypt and he can rest. Nothing really to be done for him except wait and see if he survives I suppose." With that, his attention returned wholly to Buffy, who continued to be restive.
"Has anyone called Buffy's Mom?" asked Tara.
"Not yet," replied Giles. "Perhaps I should to that now," he glanced at the clock, noting that dawn was not far off. He gestured to Tara to take over with Buffy and he picked up his phone.
In the meantime, Xander, Anya, and Willow had managed to get Spike out of the chair and were in the process of carrying him awkwardly out the door.
"We'd better hurry," panted Willow. "It's almost dawn."
"No, we wouldn't want that," muttered Xander, as he hefted up the torso of the compact yet muscular vampire who was the bane of his life. He steadfastly blocked out any notice on his part of what could only be called the beauty of Spike's features, despite the obvious illness that plagued him. These feelings only added to his anger. A confused Xander was not a happy Xander he maintained. The train firmly back on the track to Denialville, they finally got Spike into his piece of crap car and made their way to the vampire's cemetery.
The skies in the east were tinged pink and gold as the three friends vamp-handled Spike into his crypt, laying him on his bier.
Panting a little, Willow frowned at the vampire and said, "He doesn't look very comfortable."
"And I'm all broken up about that, Wills," Xander snarked, rolling his shoulders, glad their task was done.
"I mean, his clothes, they're all bloody and icky," Willow replied wrinkling her nose.
"Oh, for Pete's sake," Anya interjected. "I'll take his clothes off if that means we can get out of here."
"No way, Ahn," exploded Xander. "You're not getting anywhere near Deadboy, JR without his clothes."
"That's nice of you, Xander," Anya patted her boyfriend's shoulder. "You can see what you've been wondering about all this time while you help him," she added beaming.
"Thank you, Anya," Xander muttered, ducking a red-tinged face and avoiding Willow's quizzical gaze as she and Anya moved to leave the crypt.
Xander groaned silently as he moved over to the bier and looked at Spike's unconscious form. He really looked like shit. Added plus that his shirt was torn and dirty, likewise his jeans. Only his faithful duster had survived intact, if muddy.
"Ok, Xan-man," he thought to himself. "Watcha gonna do now?" He could dust Spike at will, and no one was there to stop him. In the truth voice reserved only for himself, he admitted to being in denial about his feelings toward the vamp. He was alternately scared, angered, and intrigued by the bleached vamp who lay before him. Now that Spike was sick, really sick, he had to also deny worrying about him.
Not liking the discomfort that all this introspection caused, he sighed and began removing the vampire's clothing. The duster was salvageable, and he draped it over the end of the bier, but the rest of his clothing was a loss. He tugged off boots and dragged off the shredded t-shirt and jeans, steadfastly not looking there. But, like not thinking of the pink elephant, the second he turned, blanket in hand to cover Spike up, his gaze zeroed in on the vamp's chest and ran inexonerably down.
"Oh, God," he thought, this is not happening. He flung the blanket across the still form, and with a last panicked glance at the vampire's ill countenance, he quitted the crypt at a dead run.
TBC