Her Last One… Dinner
Disclaimer: Escaping reality by writing fanfic is a God-given right. Besides, I don't own them just playin with em.
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Downstairs…
Unaware of the drama being played out upstairs, Giles faced his 'children'. "What has been going on here?"
Tara was the only one to even attempt an explanation. "We got here just a little while ago. I guess Mrs. Summers, Spike and Dawn had been watching the parade. The three of them came into the kitchen but Dawnie didn't stay. She went to her room. I think Mrs. Summers and Spike were washing dishes. Anyway, Xander asked if she was in a vamp thrall and Buffy said, 'No, she just likes Spike.' Then Buffy told us that her mom was afraid that this would be her last Thanksgiving and wanted to make it special. A couple of minutes after that, Spike flew through the living room and up the stairs like something was about to dust him. We came in here to find out what happened and then you came in."
Everyone gawked at the blonde witch in wonder. They had never heard her say so much at once. She ducked her head as she realized what she'd done. "S-sorry."
Willow hugged her girlfriend. "It's ok, Baby. We just didn't expect all that."
Giles removed his glasses. "Quite. Thank you, Tara. Until we can get an explanation from Spike, I suggest we attempt to finish Joyce's dinner preparations. Does anyone know what's left to be done?"
Anya walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. "There's quite a bit done here." She moved to the stove and opened the oven revealing a foil-topped golden brown turkey. The aroma made everyone's mouth water. "That's doing well." She stated.
Xander spotted a stack of lists fastened to the refrigerator door with a magnet. He pulled them down. "Maybe these will help." He held them out to Giles.
"Very good. Thank you, Xander." Giles replaced his glasses and took the lists. He separated the one that listed the dishes that she'd planned and set the others aside. Tara moved closer to the older man and peeked at the list in his hand.
"Can you cook?" He asked her quietly.
She nodded with a self-conscious smile. "My mother taught me."
"Oh, thank God." He breathed almost inaudibly.
She giggled. "Ok, here's what we need to do." She held her hand out for the list, which Giles surrendered willingly. "We need to compare the dishes already made against the list and figure out what else needs to be done."
Buffy pulled the refrigerator door open again. "Ok, let's hear it."
All of them working together managed in a very short amount of time to figure out what was finished, what was prepared but needed cooking and what still needed to be made. Tara was elected to oversee the remaining preparations. Buffy was put to work pealing potatoes while Willow was tasked with the job of opening cans of sweet potatoes and draining them before emptying them into a shallow baking dish. Tara showed her how to add butter, brown sugar and marshmallows to the orange vegetables. Giles discovered the dinner rolls rising under a clean dishtowel. Anya offered to set the table.
Xander and Riley were banished to the living room to watch football and stay out of the way. Giles tried to join them but his dislike of American football and his fears over the dinner being ruined kept driving him back into the kitchen.
It took over two hours and Giles was on his third glass of wine – thanking all the Gods that he'd brought two bottles – but dinner was finally ready.
Upstairs…
Spike woke slowly, noticing with relief that it wasn't yet time for the alarm to ring. He propped himself on an elbow and allowed himself the luxury of just gazing at Joyce while she slept. She gave a soft snuffle and wiggled closer to him. She floated back to consciousness with the realization that she was being watched. She hummed a little as she shifted over to lie on her back. She lifted sleepy eyes to see him watching her with a small contented smile on his face.
"Hi." She greeted him softly.
"Hi." He brushed a lock of silky hair back from her face.
"Are you all right?" She asked as she remembered what had happened just before they'd lain down.
He inhaled a deep unnecessary breath. "When the docs know what's wrong and get you all fixed up then I'll be great. Until then, I think I'll be a quiet wreck." He admitted with pain in his eyes.
She rolled over to face him and pulled him into a hug. They stayed there clinging to one another for long minutes until the alarm sounded, startling them apart. She sat up on the edge of the bed and looked back at him over her shoulder. He'd collapsed onto the pillow and thrown an arm over his eyes. She poked him in the ribs, knowing full well how ticklish he was.
"Hey! No fair." He yelped, glaring up at her in outrage.
"Have to get up." She stated. She grinned when he pouted.
"Don't want to; want to stay here with you." He gazed up at her with his best puppy eyes.
"Don't pull that look on me, mister. I'm immune." She turned and leaned over to kiss the pouty lower lip.
Spike sat up and ran his hands over his head to smooth his hair, grumbling as he went. "Comes from getting involved with a parent. All the best looks are wasted cause she's immune."
Joyce stood up and straightened her clothing, thankful she'd worn slacks for the day. Walking around to the other side of the bed, she stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips. "Are you complaining?"
He looked up guiltily. "No, Ma'am."
She leaned down and kissed him deeply. "I didn't think so." She went into the bathroom to freshen her makeup and comb her hair, leaving him sitting on the edge of the bed with a dazed expression on his handsome face.
She returned and handed him a comb. "I'll go down first. Want to follow in about five minutes? Bring Dawn with you if you would, please."
He could only nod, licking his lips from her kiss. She gave a satisfied smile as she unlocked the door and left her room.
She gasped in delight when she saw the dining room table. They had obviously located the extra leaves for it and had set it with her best linen, china, crystal and silverware. Candles waited ready to be lit in the center and the overhead light had been dimmed in anticipation of the flicker of the tapers. She could hear the others talking in the kitchen and she braced herself for the disaster area she knew she'd find. Past experience of her eldest daughter's cooking had made her wary of entering the room.
Joyce cautiously peeked around the corner into her kitchen, pleased to see it in relatively good order. Obviously someone had taken charge and ensured things stayed in control, privately she put her money on Tara.
Anya noticed her hovering in the doorway. "Mrs. Summers! Dinner is ready. All we have to do is serve it. I hope we finished your preparations all right. We want to help make today special." She stopped when Xander gave her a warning frown.
"Well, the table looks wonderful." Joyce assured the ex-demon.
Anya beamed. "I did that. I'm so happy you like it."
Giles turned from the sink where he'd been washing some of the dishes. "How are you feeling, Joyce?"
She smiled, watching him dry his hands on a dishtowel. That was a sight she'd never thought she'd see. "I'm much better. I don't know what came over me. I suppose I just tried to do too much. I keep forgetting that Buffy is old enough to help me with the cooking."
"Yes, well…" Giles trailed off at the glare his slayer directed toward him. "Would you like a glass of wine?" He said instead.
Joyce smiled. "Yes, please." She accepted the glass he held out. "Has anyone gone up to wake Spike?"
"I'm here." Spike said as he entered the kitchen. "Could do with one of those if you don't mind, Watcher." He indicated the glass of wine in Joyce's hand.
He accepted the glass Giles handed him. "Thanks, Mate."
Joyce took a long sip of her drink and used the opportunity to study Spike's face for signs of his earlier distress. To her relief, the Big Bad was firmly in place. Only someone very familiar with him would notice the occasional glimmer of anxiety in his sapphire gaze.
Dawn bounced into the room. "I'm hungry, when's dinner?" She demanded.
Xander held out a dish filled with cranberry sauce. "Right now, take this to the table." He directed.
The teenager stuck her tongue out at him but obediently took the dish. The others grabbed various dishes and joined the youngest Summers in the dining room. In no time they had everything in place. Spike lit the candles with his Zippo.
Joyce stood at the head of the table and directed where she wanted everyone to sit. She had Buffy sitting on her left with Spike opposite the slayer at her right. She'd planned that knowing that Spike was left-handed, it ensured his left side was obstacle free. Dawn sat next to Spike with Xander next to her. Anya completed that side of the table. Giles was at the opposite end from Joyce, the turkey in front of him for carving. Next to Buffy was Riley with Willow beside him. Tara sat on the other side of Willow.
"Well, it looks like you all did a wonderful job of finishing for me." Joyce observed as she took her seat.
"Your list made it easy. Most of the work was already done." Tara told her.
"I think it all looks amazing." Spike said. His foot, hidden under the table, nudged Joyce's.
Dawn looked over all the mouth-watering dishes in front of her. "Are we gonna say 'Grace' or will Spike spontaneously combust if we do?"
Spike burst into delighted laughter at her ingenuous question. "No, Bit. I won't combust. Go ahead with your prayers. Just don't expect me to join in, yeah?"
Joyce slipped her foot out of her shoe and slid her bare toes up to rest on Spike's shin. With a short nod toward everyone, she watched as everyone but Spike closed their eyes. With a quick wink at her vampire, she closed her eyes as well and led the humans in a short prayer.
Spike took the opportunity to gaze at her, love for her filling his unbeating heart. He didn't pray but he did pause for a moment to reflect on how thankful he was to have found her.
No one thought it odd that Giles was given the honor of carving the turkey. He filled two platters with the succulent meat before moving the remainder to the sideboard. Soon, everyone had full plates and was enjoying the wonderful meal. By unspoken agreement, no one rushed in their eating, intent on enjoying every bite.
Xander pointed his knife at a dish. "What's that?"
Spike helped himself to a sausage and held the plate up to be passed. "Blood sausage and it smells delicious. Pass this to Rupert, please."
Giles smiled as the dish was given to him just as full as it had been when it had left Spike's hand. "Didn't anyone else want any?"
A chorus of 'No's' answered him. Spike sneered. "Your loss." He took a bite of the sausage and closed his eyes as the spices exploded on his taste buds. A low moan escaped before he could stop it. A look of complete bliss appeared on his face. He chewed slowly before he swallowed. "That is ambrosia." He declared.
Joyce beamed. "Giles gave me the recipe." She admitted, happy the dish had turned out all right.
"Rupes, I'm hurt. You had this recipe all along and didn't make me any?" Spike sent a teasing glare at the elder Brit.
"I didn't like you enough to go to the trouble. That recipe has been in my family for generations and is saved for special occasions." Giles told the vampire tartly.
The meal continued in peace with only the clink of silverware on china and the low murmur of conversation filling the room. Under cover of the table, Joyce kept her bare toes on Spike's shin, sending a warm glow of happiness through his cool body.
During a rare lull in conversation, Dawn looked over at Giles. "What did you do with the wishbone?"
He swallowed his bite of dressing in surprise. "It's on the platter with the turkey, why?"
"I want it." She chirped.
"No way!" Buffy shrieked. "It's mine."
Dawn shook her head decisively. "You had it last year. It's my turn."
"You weren't here last year. You were with Mom. And last year it was my turkey and my wishbone. I still get this one." Buffy turned pleading eyes to her mother. "Mom, tell her the wishbone is mine."
Joyce shook her head. "I'm staying out of it." She declared.
Spike listened with a frown as the sisters continued squabbling over the tiny bit of bone. His concerned blue eyes were focused on Joyce, noting the pallor that stole over her lovely face as the argument escalated. Everyone else studiously paid attention to their meals hoping to stay out of the line of fire.
His stern voice sliced through the shrill tones of the warring sisters. "That's enough! Why don't you let your Mum have it this year, yeah?"
The spat stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Both girls turned guilty eyes toward their mother. "We're sorry." They apologized in unison.
"You can have it Mom." Dawn told her in a tiny voice.
"Yeah, Mom." Buffy agreed.
"Thank you both. That's very nice of you." Joyce gave them a small smile. Under the table, she rubbed Spike's leg in gratitude. He nudged her other foot with his in acknowledgment.
All too soon, everyone was groaning about how full they were. Compliments were passed around to everyone who'd had a hand in preparing the meal. Joyce stood up to begin clearing the table. Riley placed a hand on her arm, halting her movements. No one noticed the quick flash of gold in Spike's eyes before he controlled his temper.
"How about you let me, Xander and Dawn do the dishes?" The former soldier offered.
Joyce looked at her antique china and expensive crystal. "Well, I don't know." She said hesitantly.
Tara spoke up. "Willow and I will help." She assured the older woman.
Joyce smiled in relief. "Thank you." She accepted.
The others moved into the living room to watch television. None of them admitted to it but they waited for the sound of breaking dishes. With five of them working on it, the task of cleaning up was accomplished in record time. It would forever remain a secret that Xander almost broke Joyce's great-great-grandmother's gravy boat. Tara saved it with a quick levitation spell.
Spike sat in a chair away from the others, tense now that dinner was over and he no longer had an excuse to sit next to Joyce. He listened with little interest to Giles and Buffy discussing ways to get around the column of smoke that still surrounded the high school. An overwhelming urge for a cigarette drove him outside. He was happy to see that the sun had set although it wasn't completely dark yet. By the time he returned to the living room, the clean up crew had finished.
The Scoobies hadn't made any progress on figuring out the cloud of smoke surrounding the Hellmouth. Finally, Spike got tired of listening to them speculating wildly about it. He got his duster and shrugged into it.
"All right, then. Everyone, get your coats. We're going to go take care of it now." He directed.
Giles narrowed his eyes on the blond vampire suspiciously. "You do know what it is, don't you?"
Spike paused in his task of helping Joyce put on her coat. "I don't know what it is but I know how to get rid of it. And I think I know who put it there. If I'm right, I need the slayer to promise she'll let me handle it."
Buffy noticed that her mom and sister were preparing to go with them. "Mom? What are you doing?"
Joyce blinked. "Putting on my coat like Spike said."
"You are sooo not going with us!" The slayer declared.
"It's ok." Spike assured her. "There's nothing dangerous. I thought Joyce and the Bit would like to see a little of what you do to keep this place safe." He turned to Dawn. "Niblet, would you go get your boom box, please?"
Dawn nodded and raced up the stairs. Spike moved over to the cd collection in the living room. "Joyce, where did you put… oh, never mind, I've got it." He pulled a cd out of the rack and slid it into his pocket.
Dawn came back and handed her portable stereo to Riley. "Um, thanks. I think." He stuttered.
Spike smirked. "Ok, everyone figure out who you're riding with and let's get this over and done."
Giles glared at the suddenly over-helpful vampire. "You're riding with me." He said through gritted teeth.
"Then you're riding with Joyce." Spike grinned. "Cause I'm riding with her and the Bit."
"Fine, then." Giles agreed with a snarl.
Divided into three cars, the group made their way quickly to the high school. The still-working parking lot lights illuminated the scene the same way they had the night before. The column of smoke appeared to be as thick and impenetrable as before. Everyone gathered into a close huddle against the chilly breeze that had sprung up during the day.
Spike clapped his hands for attention. "Right, then. Time for a little history lesson. Rupert, pay close attention. What I'm about to tell you should be in one of your old watcher diaries from about 70 years ago." He looked around at the varied expressions on the faces of his audience. Buffy and Riley looked outright hostile. Xander and Anya appeared bored. Giles looked interested but annoyed that he was. Joyce and Dawn were hanging on his every word. Willow and Tara just looked puzzled.
He took a deep unnecessary breath and went almost unconsciously into 'lecture mode'. It was something few people, or demons for that matter, were ever allowed to witness. "As I said, it was about 70 years ago in Europe. Dru and I were hanging around the Hellmouth that's just outside Paris. You did know about that one, eh, Rupert?" He paused for Giles' nod. "Good. A rumor got started that there was a column of smoke around the Hellmouth and that no one could get by it. They tried everything available at the time but couldn't make it go away."
He smiled as his memories became clearer. His voice grew softer. "You all know that my Dru is a seer. Therefore, she knows things. I'm just about the only being that can make heads or tails out of most of the stuff she spouts. She gave the watcher that was documenting all the goings on all kinds of cryptic little bits. Confused the hell out of the poor bloke but he wrote down every word. She thought about eating him but decided he had to stick around to be able to pass on what she'd said. As it turned out the way to get rid of the barrier was for someone to dance. It had to be a couple and it had to be the right couple. It was early enough in the evening that there were several couples around and they all gave it a shot but nothing happened. They weren't the right couple. Dru watched it all with real glee when they all failed. Then she did something unexpected. She pulled me into her arms and made us start dancing. Apparently we were the right couple because the smoke went away in no time. I never could figure out what made it work for us when no one else could do it but Dru just clapped her hands and watched the rest of the show. It seemed that a couple of demons from another dimension had gotten ahold of a book of spells. The problem was that the book was full of trick spells. That means that any spell they used out of the book backfired on them. I made them promise to put the book away and stay in their own dimension. They're a peaceful lot, just wanted something like a vacation getaway."
He turned from his speechless audience to survey the barrier. "Slayer, I want you to promise that you will let me handle whoever it was that cast the spell." She gave a reluctant nod.
"How do we decide who the right couple is?" Dawn asked, looking at all the different couples standing around.
"Well, we have to do it like they did back then. Just let everyone have a go at it and hope we get lucky." Spike answered her as he looked over the small group gathered around. "Who wants to go first?"
Buffy grabbed Riley's hand and pulled him forward. "We will."
Spike nodded and took the stereo from Xander. He set it on the pavement and inserted the cd. The slow strands of a waltz flowed from the speakers.
Buffy sent Spike an incredulous look. "You have got to be kidding."
Spike shook his head with a smirk. "Nope. Go on then, show us what you've got."
Riley pulled Buffy into his arms and started a slow, awkward approximation of a waltz. They danced for all of thirty seconds before giving up and standing back to survey the smoke. It was as dense as before. Buffy pouted and kicked at the pavement.
Xander shrugged and pulled Anya forward. He wrapped his arms around her and started shuffling his feet, not even attempting a waltz. Spike snorted, not in the least surprised when the cloud remained stubbornly thick.
"Right, then. There weren't any same sex couples, at least not publicly, back in the day but I guess it wouldn't hurt for you witches to give it a go." Spike waved his hand at Willow and Tara, motioning them forward for their shot.
They did a little better than Xander and Anya in that they at least looked as if they were waltzing but the column was still unmovable.
Giles watched the younger members of the team try and fail. He wondered just what the right couple needed to bring the barrier down. He approached Joyce tentatively. "May I have this dance?" He was puzzled when she glanced at Spike before nodding and placing her fingers in his.
Spike restarted the waltz and gritted his teeth as Joyce moved into Rupert's arms. He kept his gaze lowered because he just knew that gold was flickering through the blue. They moved fluidly as they danced in time with the lilting music. The Scoobies clapped when they finished their short dance but the smoke was as impenetrable as ever.
The strands of the waltz faded away as they all looked at the barrier in silence. "Well, that's it then." Xander said. "I guess you're wrong, Fangless. Back to the books for all of us." He moved to pick up the stereo.
"Wait!" Dawn exclaimed. "Let Mom and Spike try."
"No!" Buffy moved to stand between her mother and Spike. "Over my dead body."
"Nothing I'd like better, Slayer, but I think you should let your mum decide who she wants to dance with." Spike turned away and lit a cigarette to hide his shaky hands.
"Well, what could it hurt?" Joyce asked quietly. "Dawn, start it over." She walked over to stand in front of Spike. "May I have this dance?"
TBC