Title: Dear Boy
Writer: Azure K Mello
Part: (14/?)
Thanks for all the feedback!!
Challenge/plot bunny by Angela (who is a kick arse beta [please?]), who wanted chipped Spike interacting with human Darla and for Angel to swoop in playing our golden boy's brooding knight!
Not Beta-ed
Setting: After Angel's Untouched and set directly after Buffy's Crush which has been moved up in the time line as Dru went straight to Sunnydale and was never in LA.
Rated R
Note: in this story Buffy isn't a total bitch. Are ya shocked? Also a bit of this is focused on Xander angst. Sorry if it offends.
She couldn't accept it. And she didn't have to. She was the slayer. Creatures of the night obeyed her. Even Spike obeyed when forced. She wasn't going to force him to do anything though. She would never force him to be with Xander. But what if he loved Xander as much as Xan loved him? What if Spike was leaving because he was miserable and didn't want to be close to the boy if he couldn't have him? Maybe this whole "going off with a "friend"" excuse was just that, an excuse.
Well she wasn't going to leave it be. She couldn't. Xander deserved to be happy and if there was anyway for that to happen then she had to pursue it. So there she was, walking through the graveyard. The sound of laughter floated over to her and she could tell it was coming from Spike's crypt. She knew that laugh. Her Angel was there!
As she got close she could hear them talking. The crypt had crappy sound insulation. They just didn't make mausoleums the way they used to. "Why do you have boxers with Doctor Who on them?" she heard him laugh again as through he were out of breath, which was impossible.
"Xander gave me them as a gift, you dolt." Spike had the decency to sound slightly embarrassed.
"Exterminate. Exterminate," Buffy couldn't understand why Angel was talking in a robot voice; of course she also had no idea who Doctor Who was. "You don't really expect me to pack these do you?"
"Look you're the one who said I was too injured to pack for meself. You have to pack everything."
Angel's voice was low and dangerous when he said, "Even gifts from other men?" Buffy nearly swallowed her tongue. Her blonde hair came from a bottle and she was smart enough to get what Angel was implying. So Angel was the "friend" Spike was leaving with? Buffy wasn't even hurt so much as deeply confused.
"He's my friend, sire." Spike's voice was tired, "So drop it, just pack the damn things."
Buffy knocked. The conversation stopped and she could hear someone coming up the stairs. Angel opened the door. And he looked totally shame faced when he saw Buffy. "I was expecting someone else."
"Who?"
"Blood delivery."
Buffy smiled. Angel sill looked ashamed when he spoke of blood. Meanwhile Buffy had gotten over that squiff years ago. "Sorry, I'm bloodless girl. Well, I have blood, but none for that purpose."
"There's a knife down here if you choose to donate!" called Spike.
Rolling her eyes she smiled faintly at Angel. There was a time when she would have threatened Spike with death for the comment. But when she threatened Spike Xander looked sad so she had stopped. "Excuse me," she said softy as she walked by him. As she climbed down the ladder she said, "So Xander tell us you're moving away with a "friend". Care to explain?" She turned and wiped her hands on her jeans. Would it kill Spike to dust? And as she looked up all thought of house keeping fled her mind. "Holy fuck."
He couldn't help but smile at her obscenity. Miss Sweetness and light cursing about a vampire being wounded. "You should have seen me before the poof arrived and poured ten gallons of blood down my throat."
She didn't laugh. "Oh. . . you're a pigheaded asshole ya know that?" he just looked at her with confusion. And that's when she laughed but it wasn't a happy one. "I'm not an idiot, Spike." He opened his mouth to make some doubtlessly witty comment about her hair but she just held up a hand to stop him. "You don't get wounded like this. So I'm guessing you got mugged by a human?" he said nothing. "And then you were too fucking proud to call us so you called him? Grow up, Spike. We're your friends, whether we like it or not. You should have called. Jerk."
And he smiled slightly because Buffy hated him but she tried so hard for Xander's sake. "I couldn't face it," he said honestly. "And I didn't call Angel he just sort of knew he was needed." She rolled her eyes. "Wait?" he said suddenly, "Xander knows I'm leaving? I haven't told him. Damn it, Angel!" Angel looked down not wanting to meet his childe's hurt look. "Git."
"Oh," said Buffy sarcastically, "So you were planning on telling us? That's sweet!"
Flinching Spike saw that Joyce had taught her daughter well in making people feel guilty. "I was gonna come to the Magic Shop and tell you all."
"A group goodbye. That's nice. No one could cause a scene or ask you not to leave!"
"I didn't realize you'd miss me so much," said Spike with a smirk but it was half hearted at best.
She looked at her ex-boyfriend. This didn't concern Angel. And she didn't care if Angel was sleeping with Spike. Her mind shied away from that though because she was majorly wigged. She was going to say her piece, "You know how much you mean to him. Why did you do this?"
Spike had the good grace to look ashamed. Unlike Angelus Spike was completely aware of how evil his deeds were. He knew how much pain he caused. And he didn't want to be the source of the boy's hurting. This was his punishment he was going to have to come clean to the slayer while his sire watched. "I knew he wanted me. And I wanted a friend. So I ignored it. I acted like I had no idea because I didn't think he'd want to hang out if it would lead nowhere. And now I can't say anything because it would be like pouring salt in the wound. So I kept pretending because I didn't want to lose him. And all along I knew. But I didn't want to face it."
Stunned Buffy actually understood his actions and she actually felt for him. She couldn't force Spike to love Xander. She couldn't force him to stay. But she could at least force him to say goodbye properly instead of all this cloak and dagger crap. With a heavy sigh she said, "Tomorrow, dusk, the Magic Shop. You're going to come and talk to him and explain why you're going and you're going to part with him on good terms. And you aren't going to act like this is no big deal. And you aren't going to do any half assed goodbye. You're going to talk." She turned to Angel, "And you're gonna come and we'll have a good long chat."
After watching her storm out Angel turned to Spike and said, "All things considered, that went well."
And Spike just laughed feeling tired. "Let's finish packing and go back to the hotel?"
"I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to help pack?"
"Fine, you pack. I'll just sit here feeling like a useless waste." He didn't try to move away when he found himself being hugged.
And Angel hated himself before he even opened his mouth. He hated that he did selfless acts when it came to this boy. But he didn't want to hurt Spike so he asked the question he didn't want to pose, "Do you want to stay?"
Egads! Will Spike say yes?!? Tune in next time to find out!
