DISCLAIMER: The fairies are mine, everything else belongs to Joss!!!!
NOTES: THANX for the Feedback …..I cherish it!
SECRETS
Their names were Seno and Len.
Len was the slender, grey-haired one, the taller of Selena´s two guards. He nodded, giving Buffy a wry smile as Selena introduced him to her. His clear, amber coloured eyes glowed dimly in the light and Buffy found herself remembering, that Len was also a shapeshifter ……..a silver furred wolf.
Senos was the burlier one, who reminded Buffy of a maori- warrior due to the intricate design of the tattoos on his face and naked arms. Up close he was even more intimidating with bulging muscles and a grim, seemingly unchanging facial expression. He looked like he might be able to snap the other guard´s spine like a twig. Still, if Buffy had to guess she was pretty sure that Len was the more dangerous one of the two.
Now they were standing in front of the window by the couch, while Selena was immersed in conversation with Dawn. Liath had vanished again, to prepare for their arrival in Los Angeles …or so Buffy had been told.
Xander was completely enchanted by the fairy´s beauty and simply sat there, staring at her as though in a trance.
Willow had been sceptic at first, but even the Wicca could not quite withstand the fairy´s charms as they all listened to Selena telling a story about Puck´s chance meeting with an English writer named William Shakespeare.
Even though she looked to Buffy from time to time, trying to discern if there was a problem.
It was almost ironic, Buffy thought to herself.
Explaining to Dawn and her friend´s that there was a fairy- princess in her house and that she would have to leave Sunnydale for a few days in order to help her had not been as big a deal as she had expected it to be.
She had been sure that Dawn would not be happy about it, but as soon as the word fairy had left her mouth, her little sister had been head over heels.
The prospect of Buffy coming to a fairy´s aid had erased all negative feelings that Dawn might have come up with about this mission.
Selena was good, Buffy had to give her that.
She was completely different with Dawn, radiating serenity, love and warmth. She was everything her little sister wanted to find in a fairy, everything Dawn needed to see after all the darkness and pain they had all experienced over the last few months.
Buffy felt the weight of the princess´ gaze on her. She looked up and their eyes met…….Selena knew. Buffy wasn´t sure how, but somehow the fairy knew what Dawn needed to see, needed to believe.
Maybe she could read it in Dawn´s thought´s, Dawn´s heart.
Her little sister had grown so much over the last few months, mentally grown to fill a void in their midst. Sometimes Buffy knew that it was far to easy to forget that after everything that Dawn had seen and done, after being a mystical power for half of eternity, …….Dawn was still a girl, a teenager who had lost her mother, lost her sister …..almost lost her life several times.
And now, after all the chaos and pain and destruction the girl needed to see something good, something pure and unadorned, something to show her that there was more than evil to this world.
Buffy could see all that in the fairy´s eyes. Selena understood and she would give Dawn exactly that. She would be everything that Dawn needed to see, perfection, beauty and kindness.
Buffy could see it; the way Selena smiled, the way she seemed to glow from within, the way her eyes sparkled for Dawn ………
The fairy´s laughter was a sweet, innocent sound like the faint ringing of wind-chimes, something almost touchable. Selena´s voice was like a warm current, drifting through the room as she entertained them with a seemingly unending flow of anecdotes about the royal court.
Buffy smiled at Dawn´s facial expression. Her little sister was amazed and happy. She would do nothing to burst Dawn´s bubble …..she liked her sister happy.
" May I use your shower?"
" Ha?"
Buffy tore her eyes away from Dawn to find Siobhan in front of her.
" I´d like to take a shower, before we leave for L.A…..I still smell the club on me, the Bronze with all the smoke . May I use your shower?"
The slayer stared at her for a second, comprehending the request.
She should probably freshen up and start packing a few things ……
"Okay…."
First I get blackmailed by a fairy and now the banshee wants to take a shower, Buffy thought to herself ……..no her life could not get any weirder.
" Where ?"
" I´ll show you!"
Once Selena and the guards were completely immersed in talking to Dawn, Spike followed Buffy up the stairs.
Quietly he entered her room. Buffy was packing her bag, mentally listing things she would need.
Spike closed the door from the inside, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest.
" I need you to tell me what she said."
Buffy looked up, glancing directly into his incredibly blue eyes.
Selena had been right, the simple idea of never seeing him again made her stomach turn. The thought that he might leave and never come back made her chest so tight, that for that moment Buffy couldn´t draw another breath.
She held his gaze for a second, then quickly averted her eyes, afraid of what he might read in them.
If this world is wearing thin
And you are thinking of escape
I´ll go anywhere with you
Just wrap me up in chains
But if you try to go all alone
Don´t think I´ll understand
Buffy heard an angry moan escape her lips, before she could control it.
The banshee´s velvety voice cut through the silence between them like a knife.
Of course …of course she had to sing under the shower. The bathroom was next door and Siobhan´s unnatural voice carried far ……. DAMN HER!
" Not much …." She lied, trying to sound casual.
Too casual by far, considering the events of this night.
He wasn´t buying it.
" I need you to tell me, love!"
Stay with me
Stay with me
" Now me and that bloody banshee are along for the ride, if we want to or not! But there is no reason for you to put yourself in that position so soon after the big battle! She has no power over you, you don´t need to be part of her rescue- mission!"
There was reason enough, she thought, but she´d rather bite off her tongue than tell him that.
Buffy sighed.
" Look, Spike …there is really nothing to it, okay? She explained the situation to me, asked for my help. As far as I can tell she is trying to save someone …..she has no sinister masterplan to destroy the world, she just wants her friends save. I can relate to that, that´s why I ´ll be helping her!" she told him impatiently, stuffing a black sweater into her bag.
Spike lifted his scarred eyebrow at her.
She did not tell him everything, he knew it …..he could see it in her face that the slayer was hiding something.
That damned, stubborn woman!
" I know you, slayer! I know that look on your face, something is up…!"
Even though he tried he could not quite keep the anger and frustration out of his voice.
After all this time, after all the fighting and almost dying and bleeding together…….she still withheld things from him. She did not trust him.
He took a deep breath to keep his cool.
" Listen, love. I have dealt with the fairy before, I know what some of them are like. She´s putting on a very nice show down there for the little bit, that´s just fine. But I know for a fact that most of them don´t take no for an answer. So what did she tell you in order to make you come with her? Did she threaten your friends or the bit?"
Buffy looked up.
" No…" she answered, biting her lip. Technically it was not a lie…..
" She has given me her word that they will be safe, whatever happens. She´s even leaving the big guy here to keep them safe, just in case."
In fact Selena had not even hinted at the possibility of hurting anyone …..not physically. She did not have to …..she had found another price that Buffy was not willing to pay.
Spike shook his head.
" If it´s not the whelp, the witch and the niblet…..what kind of leverage does she have on you?"
Buffy swallowed hard. It was too painfully obvious and right in front of him, that he hadn´t guessed so far was a small miracle ……but she could not have him know!
She was not ready for that yet, she didn´t know what to do ……..she just didn´t know!
" Is that what it´s about?" Buffy snapped.
" You can´t imagine that I would want to help her because it´s the right thing to do?"
Spike pushed himself off the door, bridging the distance between them in three quick strides.
What were they fighting about anyway?
Why couldn´t she see that he was only trying to protect her? Sure, he bloody well knew that she could take care of herself, but she was dealing with something entirely different this time and he needed her to see that!
" She´s a bloody fairy, pet! There´s always a catch when you deal with them! They may look like a better, purer, kinder version of humans, but they are not!"
Buffy zipped up her bag, remembering what Selena had said about some of her kin. That the boredom of an eternal life had made them cruel…….
" I know this is not going to be a walk in the park, Spike! Even so ….I gave her my word! I´ll go to L.A with her just like you and Siobhan.
In the silence of your room
In the darkness of your dream
You must only think of me
There can be no in- between
When your pride is on the floor
I´ll make you beg for more
Spike still stared at Buffy, letting out an exasperated breath.
„ Look ……you should not be involved in this! Please believe me just this once, pet! This whole thing is more dangerous than you can ever imagine!"
" Spike , I ….."
" No …..bloody hell, woman ! Can you just listen to me? I know what you see when you look at them, Buffy! I know better than you because they cannot hide from undead eyes! They are beautiful, opalescent …..they are everything they are said to be. And her majesty …..with that hair, the pointy ears and all that light bouncing of that perfect skin just the right way…..how old do you think she looks, ha? About Dawn ´s age ….give a year or maybe two? So sweet and harmless….."
She thought about it for a second…….there were times when the fairy indeed looked like a young girl, but Buffy had seen the other side. She had gotten a glimpse of the pain, the grief, the anger …….
" She is not harmless, I know that , Spike!" Buffy told him impatiently.
" No, she is not and you´d better remember that every step of the way! They can enchant you…..I´ve seen it happen. They may be beautiful, but some of them are monsters, love. Worse than me or peaches or anything you can imagine, unlike anything you have fought so far. And you cannot spot them by their horns or teeth, because they are dazzling and bright and you cannot kill them."
He stared at her, looking into her eyes as though he was willing her to understand.
"You can scar them, cripple them if you´re lucky enough, but best case scenario is that you slow them down a little. No matter what you do to them, they´ll just keep on coming …..
I have seen someone shove a spear straight through Selena´s chest and she didn´t even flinch! They can take a lot more damage than you and me, love!"
Stay with me
Stay with me
Spike stared at her until Buffy finally lifted her head to meet his gaze, her face unreadable.
He tried to think of something, anything to say, but he knew deep down inside that she had made up her mind. There was nothing he could do to change that and he could not force her to tell him the truth.
She was keeping something from him, he knew it and it hurt…..
" Fine…." He finally said coldly.
" Have it your way!"
He turned to leave, but Buffy got a hold of his coat.
" Spike ….please, let´s not do this."
He could see the exhaustion on her face and sighed inwardly.
" I´ll tell you, I promise…….when this is over……..we´ll …."
" It´s ok, love!"
He didn´t have the heart to tell her that when this was all over, they might be dead.
You better hope and pray
That you make it save back to your own world.
Cause when you sleep at night
They don´t hear your cries back in your own world
Only time will tell
If you can break the spell back to your own world
He squeezed her hands lightly, only to find Buffy´s arms slide around his hips. Closing her eyes, Buffy leaned against him until the lines of their bodies were pressed together ever so lightly. Her head rested on his shoulder.
Spike hesitated a moment, then his arms went around her back, pulling her to him.
Buffy sighed. She felt so tired……but she knew, more now than ever that she could not loose him. She might still not be ready to give in to her feelings, she was still too angry, to scared or too proud …………but she could not loose him.
The feeling of his cold, hard body against her …so reassuring, so save ……
Stay with me
Stay with me
Stay …..Stay with me …..
" We´ll get through this, right?" she whispered huskily, not quite ready to leave the comfort of his embrace.
" Let´s make sure of it, pet!"
He carefully stroked her hair, just standing there together in silence as Siobhan turned off the water next door. Spike pressed his lips together……
Whatever it was that Selena had said to Buffy, it had the slayer scared…..…..
