A/N: Bit of a short one but very very important!
—-
Kat sat on Buffy's bed, waiting for the girl to come back from kicking some demon ass. She really needed to speak to her. A few months had flown by since she'd reluctantly accepted what she'd done. It played on her mind still, but she was getting better. She'd thrown herself into being a Scooby once more. Buffy had her and Spike help train the mini Slayers so they had some real world experience with fighting vampires and she went out fighting with the others too. It was different now though. She didn't need to patrol so much since the organization had more than 100 Slayers now. And it was good because it meant more people were being helped. But it also meant Kat had a lot of time on her hands to think, and that wasn't so good.
She'd settled into a nice routine here at Slayer HQ and everyone was mostly normal with her now. Even some of the newer Slayers were nice to her, although a few were wary. Not that she blamed them and she wasn't about to throw a fit about it. They should be wary, she was still a vampire. She'd even had her much needed reunion with Giles and Dawn which had been stupidly emotional and hadn't left a dry eye in the room. Even Spike had gotten a little emotional over it even though he vehemently denied it when she brought it up afterwards. It jarred her to see how grown up Dawn had become in her absence. It had only been months but it seemed like years and the young girl was more responsible than Kat had ever seen her. She'd turned into a mini Giles. Her and Spike were practically back to their usual selves but she'd been thinking a lot about their relationship lately and she was left feeling confused and dejected. Back before the fall of Sunny D, he'd proposed to her. But he hadn't mentioned it since. She'd figured he'd bring it up at some point, now she was basically back to normal, but he never did. And she was too chicken shit to bring it up herself because she had a theory on why he'd not said a word about it.
So she patiently waited for her cousin, knowing she'd be back soon. Spike was out with Angel and his gang fighting the good fight, and she wanted to speak to Buffy before he got back. After a while, Buffy's door opened and the girl gasped, her hand flying to her chest.
"Jesus, Kat. You scared me!" She muttered, regaining her composure as she shut the door and turned to look at Kat.
"Really?" Kat asked amused. She raised a brow at Buffy's words, glancing down at herself to her current outfit. She was wearing some black pajamas with little rainbows on them and some pink fluffy bunny slippers. Ironically, someone had gifted them to Anya, who had promptly freaked the hell out. So Kat took them off her hands on the condition she'd not wear them around the ex demon. Anya was more than happy with that agreement.
"Shut up," Buffy scoffed playfully as she moved to the bed. She threw herself on it dramatically before glancing at Kat.
"How'd the slayage go?" Kat asked, looking at a worn out Buffy.
"It was okay. Few vamps, done and dusted," she chuckled, making Kat snort.
"So what brings you to my humble abode. Need a little girl talk?" Buffy asked with a knowing smirk, moving to sit next to Kat against the headboard.
"Something like that," Kat sighed, picking at the frayed hem of her pajama shorts.
Buffy looked at her for a moment before elbowing her in the side gently.
"Come on, spill it," she demanded. Kat heaved a large sigh.
"So… you remember the big battle in Sunnydale?" She asked, knowing it was a stupid question but she'd always been terrible with words.
"How could I forget?" Buffy asked wryly.
"Well… before it happened, when me and Spike left…" she trailed off, feeling silly for even talking about this. She knew if she didn't get it off her chest though, it would eat her alive.
"Please don't give me a play by play on what you guys got up to," Buffy teased, scrunching her face up. Kat flicked her in the leg with a mock glare.
"We went to the crypt. He had it all lit with candles and rose petals all over the floor," she stated softly, a little smile curling her lips at the memory.
"That's actually pretty romantic," Buffy grinned with a dreamy sigh. Despite being dedicated to the life of the Slayer, Kat knew that Buffy was a romantic at heart. She wanted to be swept off her feet. Mostly by a certain tall and broody vampire. Things had been heading into more relationship territory with the pair of them lately and Kat was pretty happy about it. But she was also glad they were taking things slow given all of their history.
"I know. Well… then he kind of… well… he… proposed to me," Kat admitted shyly.
Buffy's jaw dropped, eyes wide as she stared at her.
"He did what?! And you didn't tell me?!" She screeched, making Kat wince with her sensitive hearing. Kat gave her a deadpan look, given the fact everything fell apart right after the big fight. Spike had died and she'd gone and lost her soul so there hadn't been anything to tell. But she tried to push those thoughts away so she didn't spiral into more depressing thoughts.
"Oh, don't give me that look! You've been okay for months now and you still didn't tell me," she huffed. Kat sighed again, leaning further into the headboard.
"Yeah, well… I didn't know what to say because he's not mentioned it since. I keep waiting for him to bring it up, but he hasn't. So then I started thinking… I think he doesn't wanna marry me anymore. Because of everything I did when I lost my soul," she frowned sadly. She knew Spike would be the last person to judge her but it was the only thing that made sense to her. He'd worked hard to be a good man, maybe he just couldn't stand to marry her after what she'd done.
"That's a load of crap!" Buffy scoffed, making Kat look at her again.
"You're being silly, Kat. Spike adores you and even though he didn't like what demon you got up to, he still loved you. Even without your soul," Buffy soothed, reaching over to take Kat's hand.
"Then why hasn't he brought it up since?" Kat asked dejectedly.
"You've been through a lot, so has he. Maybe he's just not found the right time to talk about it," Buffy suggested. Kat nodded, nibbling her lower lip.
"Yeah… maybe," she muttered. She just couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than that. But she also knew she was her own worst enemy and she loved to overthink. It could easily be something simple and benign, but it could also be her worst fears. That maybe while he still cared about her, he didn't love her the same as he had before. When she'd been all squeaky clean and hadn't gone and murdered people.
"I'm sure it's fine, Kat. Don't worry so much about it," Buffy smiled at her before she yawned.
"I'll get out of your hair and let you get your beauty sleep," Kat murmured, moving off the bed.
"Not that I need it," Buffy scoffed teasingly.
"Of course not," Kat smirked before she left the room.
Buffy stared at the door for a long moment after Kat went. She knew she should sleep, she was bone tired. But she couldn't get Kat's sad face out of her head. She still felt responsible for what happened to Kat and she didn't want her to hurt anymore than she had. She sighed before heaving herself off the bed and leaving her room. She jogged down the stairs and as she reached the foyer, Spike, Angel and the rest of them were walking through the front doors of the building.
"I need to talk to you," she said to Spike, not stopping as she carried on walking to the other side of the foyer away from prying ears.
"Oooh, someones in trouble!" Gunn sang mockingly.
"Sod off," Spike grumbled as he obediently followed her.
"What?" He asked her after she'd just looked at him for a long moment.
"Do you think differently of Kat after what happened with her soul?" She asked bluntly. He looked shocked by her words as he shook his head.
"Of course I don't. Part and parcel of being a vampire. Girl could drag me through hell and I'd bloody follow her willingly," he admitted. The words made her smile a little. She never thought in her wildest dreams that she'd be happy for Spike and Kat to be together. But it was nice knowing Kat had someone who loved her so unconditionally.
"Good," she breathed, feeling relieved.
"Why?" He asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at her a little. Part of her wondered if she should even tell him, but she knew Kat well enough to know she'd never bring it up herself.
"She told me how you asked her to marry you. You know… before you died and everything. And now she's got it in her head that you don't wanna marry her because of what she did since you've not mentioned it since," Buffy admitted hesitantly. She tried not to feel guilty by telling him, knowing she was doing Kat a favor.
He looked like someone smacked him across the face at her words before realization dawned on him. They all knew what Kat was like. She thought too much and spun herself into a hole that didn't even exist.
"I didn't mention it 'cause things have been hectic since it all happened. Wasn't sure if I could bring it up yet, with things only just startin' to settle down" he murmured with a frown on his face.
"Well I tried to tell her she was overthinking it, but you know how she is," she smiled ruefully, making him chuckle with a nod.
"Thanks… for tellin' me. Didn't realize she was even thinking about it," he muttered.
"That's what I'm here for. Slaying vampires and helping prevent relationship problems," she grinned and he rolled his eyes goodnaturedly at her.
"If I'm honest, I regret askin' her the way I did. Was too rushed, didn't even have a soddin' ring," he frowned. He seemed genuinely upset by this and Buffy smirked.
"You really are a hopeless romantic, aren't you?" She asked in jest. He narrowed his eyes at her in a scowl.
"Tell no one!" He huffed.
"If it makes you feel any better, I have an idea," she shot him a toothy grin and he raised a curious eyebrow at her.
—-
Kat hung up the ax in the training room cabinet before closing it and locking it behind her. She was a little tired after sparring with some of the recruits and she couldn't wait to just flop in bed with Spike. She'd been trying to ignore her stupid thoughts but she was having a hard time. It was one thing she missed about not having a soul. She didn't overthink anything and didn't get so much in her own head. The training room door burst open and Kat's head whipped towards it to see an out of breath Willow.
"There's an emergency, you need to come to the library!" she muttered breathlessly.
"What is it?!" Kat asked panicked but she didn't get an answer as Willow was already gone. Kat used her vamp speed to catch up with her, worrying about what was wrong now. Things had been going smoothly for once and she really didn't feel up to an end of the world type of deal right now. Willow pushed open the door and Kat followed her in, her eyes quickly adjusting at the weirdly dark library. The only light was coming from fairy lights that seemed to be strewn up everywhere and candles that she only just noticed were floating. She blinked at them dumbly as her eyes swept the room. The main gang were there along with Angel and his group.
"Am I missing something?" She asked with an awkward chuckle. She looked around when she realized Spike wasn't here and she was wondering if she'd missed someone's birthday. Buffy grinned at her, gesturing with her head to behind Kat. Kat turned around and her eyes widened even more to see Spike behind her on one knee. It was reminiscent of the crypt except this time he had a velvet box in his hand with an ornate silver ring that had a large diamond in the center, two small rubies framing either side of it.
"What…?" Kat trailed off, her heart feeling like it was ready to start beating again.
"I know I've asked before, but given all that's happened, figured I'd ask again. Do it right this time," Spike started, his blue eyes shiny as he looked up at her. She felt her lower lip wobble a little as overwhelming happiness took hold of her.
"Never met anyone like you before, Kitten. You complete me in a way I never knew existed. You make me whole, a real man. I'll spend the rest of my unlife tryin' to be the man you deserve… Katherine Summers, will you marry me?" He asked softly, his voice wavering a little. Her eyes welled with tears as she nodded with a grin.
"Yes," she beamed, earning cheers from the audience she'd forgotten was there. Spike slipped the ring onto her finger before he stood up, looking happier than she'd seen him in a long while. He pulled her in for a quick but firm kiss, his hands either side of her face.
"I want you forever and nothin' will ever change that, luv," he murmured as he leaned his forehead on hers.
"Can anyone say party?" Xander asked with a grin. Kat laughed, holding onto Spike as the celebrations began. She felt happy, completely weightless. She had a sneaking feeling Buffy was behind this but she couldn't complain. All her worries had melted into nothing with the weight of the ring on her finger. Her soul was fully in her body and she was getting married. Things might actually be looking up.