Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 4

Xander sat frozen with a mouthful of pancake while he staring at Spike for what seemed minutes but was actually only seconds before he remembered to start chewing. He looked back to the table with a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he studied his plate. After a beat, he came back to himself. Xander tilted his head to the side and tried to look casual as his eyes flew around the table to see if anyone had noticed his odd behavior. "Lucky for me, I'm the new guy in town." he thought relieved.

At the table, Russell continued to talk to Spike as Anya slightly turned in her seat, enjoying the badgering between the two brothers. Xander turned his head just enough to see Anya. He purposefully kept his eyes away from the man standing behind them as if the man was a solar eclipse. The formidable woman from earlier, walked up to the table to greet the group.

"I see that you managed to join us, Bill; but I didn't see you come in the front?" the primly aggressive lady said.

"Oh Hello Mrs. Fryley. How are you doin this evenin?" Spike said with more than a little charm.

"I'm doing well. Of course, we are all working very hard to gather enough money to purchase the new software upgrade for the computer in the Church office. We're very close to our goal, so every dollar counts…" The older woman said, looking pointedly at the brothers

"That's why my brother was just on his way over to pay for his and my tickets." Russell added confidently, smiling seemingly admiringly at Alex. "I think you just may be able to get him to give an additional donation while you're at it. Mom is so proud of him."

"Uh, Yeah" Spike said, looking at his brother, rather puzzled.

"Well, let me escort you to the ticket table. I know Judith would love to say hello to you." Mrs. Fryley began to guide Spike toward the ticket table by the main doors. "She always looks forward to seeing you. She thinks you're such a nice young man."

"It'll be my pleasure, mam." Spike said offering his arm. As he swung Mrs. Fryley around, the smile from his eyes disappeared as he glared at his smirking brother. To the delight of the table, he mouthed the words: "You bleedin asshole" silently behind Mrs. Fryley's back.

As the laughter at the table died down, Xander watched the pair walk back to the front of the hall from over his shoulder. This joke had given him an opportunity to take a good look at Spike. Xander looked at the "new" good old boy version of Spike walking away from the group. The punk style hair was gone and the hair was now dark blonde and cut close to the head to deal with the curly hair. Instead of the black and red ensemble with a leather coat, Spike was now wearing slightly worn pair of blue jeans with a brownish plaid shirt rolled up at the sleeves. There was something else different about Spike, but Xander couldn't place his finger on it. Then, the realization hit Xander.. "Wow, Spike with a tan!"

He watched as Spike put down a twenty for the two tickets and an additional donation at the ticket table. Spike was talking to the lady handling the cash box, turning on the charm on the mature heavy woman, who blushed in response. That must be Judith, Xander thought. He watched as a little dark haired girl began to wrap herself around his leg. Xander watched as Spike looked down in surprise and greeted the little girl with a small pat. Spike then excused himself from the conversation with the older ladies and addressed the little girl. The girl pointed to a three older people that had just come in the door. It was obvious that by looking at them exactly who two of them were. There were elements in both people that had translated on to Spike. The woman had intense blue eyes and what looked to have been once strawberry blonde that hung down to her shoulders. One man had the same strong bone structure that Spike and Russell had. This couple, if they were going to be anyone, they had to be Spike's parents. The third person, an older man had a gentle smile that was somehow oddly reminiscent. Spike was led by the little girl over to the trio. He chatted amiably for a few minutes and nodded his head toward the table where Xander and his group were sitting. He turned back around to see Russell raise his hand in greeting.

The adults made their way over to the buffet line while the little girl made a bee line toward their table. She was soon standing behind Anya and put her hand on her shoulder.

Hi ya, Honey! Did you have a good time with Granddad today?" The little girl nodded. Anya wrapped her arm around the little girl's waist.

Are you hungry?" she asked, as she smoothed the little girl's hair behind her ear.

"Granddad's going to get me some paayn-cakes. " the little girl responded with a Texas drawl on the word pancakes.

Xander looked a little surprised at the discussion going on and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, let me introduce you. This is my little girl, Holland or Hollie for short." Anya smiled and said proudly. "Hollie, this is Mr. Harris."

"Hello Hollie. It's nice to meet you." Xander was able to choke out.

The little girl turned her brown eyes toward Xander and shyly smiled at him with a smile like Anya's and her Grandfather's. Although he tried not to show it, at that moment Xander's world fell apart. At the table beyond them the Spike and the other adults were sitting down. After he put down two plates of pancakes, the older gentlemen with the now reasonably familiar smile waved to Anya.

"Go visit Granddad. He's got your pancakes." As she scooted the little girl off with her hand.

"Cute little girl. You must be proud of her. I bet her father is too."

"Oh he is. That's Micah, right over there. Hollie was the best thing that came out our marriage" she said indicating a dark haired well built guy over the wall.

"Did I hear the word "was"?" Xander said hopefully

"Yeah, we divorced about when Hollie was two. We got married too quickly. I had an unreasonable fixation drive to marry and get settled with a good guy. She laughed. "Don't know where that came –probably some deep seated need, psychologically speaking."

Xander cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable. Just then, a short, well endowed young woman came by with a roll of tickets and a money bag. She had undistinguished features with a cap of over-bleached blond hair with tell tale roots stating that she actually had dark brown hair naturally. It was her air of aggressiveness and doggedness that made her difficult to politely turn down and made the ladies church group think she was the perfect choice for selling the lottery tickets.

"Hi Mary Sue. I see they let you out of the kitchen." Russell said as he saw the short woman approach the table.

"They thought my talents were better suited to lottery ticket sales. You burn a few pancakes.." She then turned on the sales pitch. "Would anyone like to buy a lottery ticket? There only five dollars. They're going to pull the winner at 7:30. The big prize is a weekend cabin rental on the Llano River in Junction. Remember, all proceeds are going to the church."

All the men at the surrounding tables pulled out their wallets, one or two did so with a resigned sigh. Russell and Clay each pulled out two fives and handed them over to Mary Sue. She tore off the tickets and handed them to the men.

"Here, I'll buy four." Xander spoke up and pulled out a twenty.

Mary Sue raised her eyes in surprise when she saw the twenty dollar bill come toward her.

"Wow, you're my biggest sale yet. That's a personal best for me." She tore off four tickets and handed them to Xander. "Good luck!"

About a half hour, the minister, Brother Craig stood up with a microphone and waved quiet to hall. Mary Sue stood beside him with a large plastic bucket in her hands which had obviously come from a Sunday school classroom.

Okay, everyone! We're going to draw for tonight's lottery prize. It is a weekend rental of a two bedroom cabin at the Shady Grove campground in Junction. It was donated by our friends and owners of the campgrounds: Ed and Darlene Murchison." Brother Craig announced. "I would like to thank them for their generous donation."

Brother Craig clapped his hands toward the couple sitting at one of the tables at the front, which everyone in the room soon followed. Ed lifted his hand in acknowledgement as Darlene tilted her head and grinned at her husband.

Okay, let's get this goin." Mary Sue stirred up the ticket stubs in the bucket and held it just above her eye level. Brother Craig reached over and pulled out a stub to announce the winning ticket.

It was with a great deal of surprise, that Xander realized that he had won the big prize. Everyone in the room laughed at his startled expression as he made his way over to Brother Craig. Brother Craig shook his hand while Mary Sue patted him on the shoulder. She handed him the certificate as he gave a small wave to the room. When he made it back to the table, the group congratulated him on his win. Hollie made her way over to her mother and wrapped her arms around Anya's neck. Anya pulled her onto her lap. Hollie laid her head on her mother's shoulder. Anya stroked her daughter's back and whispered to her. The little girl shook her head slightly. Anya turned back to Xander with a sigh.

I'm so sorry. I don't think that we're going to be able to get the truck thing done tonight. I need to take Hollie home. Can we reschedule? Anya looked over at Xander.

"How can I ever resist her?" He thought. He smiled and said "Sure. After all this wasn't a total loss. I'm the big winner around here" Xander held up the certificate and waved it back and forth.

Anya laughed.

"Hey, we're all going down to Junction this weekend to go tubing and attend the music festival. You've got cabin rental, why don't you come along?" Anya suggested.

"Yeah, Cuz. You're more than welcome." Clay joined in

"Yeah, come on. It's gonna be a good time.. but you're bringing the beer" Russell added

"Alright, you twisted my arm." Xander smiled.

…

Later that evening, Xander was smiling as made his way out to his car. As he opened his car door, he thought of Buffy. Spike was here. Did he dare tell her? Did he dare not? Would he have wanted to know if the situation was reversed? He asked himself. Hell yea! He picked up his phone out of the glove compartment. Out here in the country, the cell coverage was kinda spotty. He looked at the screen on his phone- no bars. He moved around the parking lot, as a single short bar would appear and disappear on his screen. He finally stopped in a location where the bar did not waiver. He hit the button to automatically dial Buffy's number. His call, although faint, did go through. Buffy did not pick up, so his call went to voice mail. Xander left the following message:

"Buffy, it's Xander. Something important has happened. I really can't tell you on a voicemail, but it is vital you call me back. You need to get to Delbrock, Texas. God help me, I don't know how to say this. Call me as soon as possible."

Xander's phone went in and out, so this was message that Buffy heard:

"Buffy, it's Xander….has happened..can't tell you….it is vital you ..get to Delbrock, Texas…help me…..as soon as possible."