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 7

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon that Xander pulled into a gas station on the edges of San Angelo. The intense heat pounding down from the staggeringly bright sky, which made sections of the asphalt ahead on the roads look wet. Looking for a pump in the shade, Xander pulled over by one of the pumps that was still sheltered from the afternoon sun and filled his gas tank of his rental car. He energetically walked over to the convenience store, as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket to pay for the gas. His feet not touching the ground, Xander could feel the elation from the previous night permeate every fiber of his being and made every moment seem an almost divine experience.

When he had gotten up that morning, it was with a smile on his face and lightness around his heart that he had forgotten was even possible. He had been unconsciously humming all morning as he moved around the lifeless corporate apartment, preparing for the weekend in Junction. The current assignment in Texas was only supposed to last five weeks, so Xander had accepted living in the company's drearily mundane apartment for the time being. He had become accustomed to the dull dishwater décor that was indicative to standardized corporate apartments. After past eight years of existing while trying to cope with the loss of Anya, the stale corporate housing seemed like a benignly vapid comfort to him. It did not challenge or violate the sheer monotony of his current life and did little to remind him of what he had lost.

The exception was this morning; he was overcome with the beauty of the world around him as he sauntered out of his bedroom toward the kitchen. This morning, the sublime charm of the overly bland living room set impressed him as never before. As he made his way over to the tiny utilitarian kitchenette, he picked up a slightly worn brown and beige stripped throw pillow as he passed the innocuously flavorless living room set. He repeatedly chucked it in the air, watching with satisfaction as the pillow's corners spun in the air in front of his face between tosses. As Xander reached the kitchen, he turned and pitched the pillow with a flashy pose and yelled "Pow" when it landed on the couch.

Xander went into the kitchen and using the tiny coffee maker, made a full pot of coffee which consisted of four cups. He then got out a box of one of those healthy grain based cereals that the best thing that could be said about it was that it could bring down your cholesterol. 'Too bad, it wasn't pancakes.' he mused. He poured himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. After pulling out the milk from the refrigerator and adding a glug of milk into his cereal and his coffee, he leaned back against the counter and began to eat the cereal. Pausing a moment between chews of the toughly edible twig like cereal, Xander began to rewind the events of the previous evening.

'How? How in the world could it be?' Anya was back. Not that he was complaining, mind you. His Anya. No. Wind it back: Annalee. What the hell does it matter what she calls herself? He would be will to call her any name she desired. The only thing that mattered was she was back. 'Thank you. Thank you.' he thought to anyone who was listening. Not only was she back, but she was okay, it occurred to him. It seemed the terrible events in Sunnydale had never touched her. Just knowing of her mere presence in the world seemed to awaken a part in him again, he had thought had gone with her passing. He had not really noticed that he had just been existing in the years since Sunnydale, but to see her was to breath the air again, the see colors again, to taste food again. Xander paused and looked down at the bowl he was holding. Wrinkling his nose, he turned and put the half eaten bowl on the counter with distaste. He pushed himself away from the counter and went back to his bedroom.

He opened his closet to pull a bag to pack for the trip. He paused as he thought My God; it was like someone had hit the reset button on his soul. All the misery, guilt, pain and other crap that had been weighing him down had suddenly evaporated when he saw her smile at him again. Thoughts of seeing Anya again this weekend kept him bouncing around the room the entire morning as he packed his bags for the weekend in Junction. Once he zipped up the bag, he canvassed the room for anything he might have forgotten. It was then that he remembered his phone. He looked around for it but it didn't seem to be in the apartment. He checked his coat pockets. 'No, it wasn't there. Oh well, it must be in the car,' he thought.

As Xander entered the convenience store to pay for his gas, he saw the refrigerated wall of soft drinks and beer lining the back of the store. 'Wasn't he supposed to bring the beer?' a voice spoke up in his head. He decided that he should grab a couple of cases just to be friendly. He put his wallet back in his back pocket as he walked down the aisle next to the clear refrigerator doors. There was quite a variety of beer to choose from. He had a feeling that he would be judged on his choice of beer at the gathering, so he did not want to make an ass of himself in front of the group. Xander turned around and walked toward checkout counter. A man and a woman were standing there wearing the unflattering unisex vests that announced their official position with the gas station. The man had his back to Xander as he was busy jamming cigarettes into the tiny racks on the wall behind the counter. The woman was leaned back against a stool near the cash register, watching the man with a painfully bored expression as she picked at some peeling nail polish on her finger.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you could recommend some beer. You see, I have to supply the beer for a get together." Xander asked with a nervous smile.

The woman shifted her heavy lidded eyes toward Xander as he spoke. His question did little to break her out of her apathetic state, only her mouth being pulled to the side was an indication that she was considering his request. Xander stood there waiting for her anxiously waiting for her guidance as if she was an Oracle giving divine instruction at Delphi. Finally, she slightly opened her mouth and her nasal voice cut through the air with the high pitched Texas whine of the more economical trailer parks in the area. As she spoke, the disinterested look on her face did not shift.

"Yeah. Bud Lite or Coors Lite are real popular. You should also get some Shiner Bock, if you want to impress people ..." She said, indicating the back of the store with a slight lift of her head.

Making a shopping list in his head of the woman's recommendations, Xander returned to the refrigerator section and pulled a number of cases. On his way back to the cashier, he grabbed a cheap Styrofoam cooler with two bags of ice, a couple of bags of potato chips, a box of chewy granola bars and a package of powdered doughnuts. He unloaded his haul at the cashier counter and was soon out the door having paid for the gas and other items.

Once Xander reached his car, he opened a rear door and unloaded his groceries onto the back seat. He sat the cooler on the ground next to car and after putting the beer inside it, began covering them with ice. He was just emptying the second bag of ice over the beer in the cooler when he heard his phone ring. He was right, he had left it somewhere in his car. Placing the half empty bag of ice next to the cooler, Xander quickly opened up the front passenger door, looking for the ringing phone. After some scrabbling, he finally located the errant phone. It had somehow slid under some paperwork that was lying on the seat, so by the time he picked it up the call was just about to go to voicemail. He grabbed the phone without looking at the screen and quickly pushed the send button to answer the call.

"Hello."

"About time you picked up!" The voice on the other end, declared vehemently. Xander recognized Buffy's voice immediately.

"Heeeey, Buff!" Xander said in a long drawn out way, to cover his unease at being caught unaware on the phone with her.

"Don't you 'Hey Buff' me!" Buffy snapped back immediately.

"Huh? What?" Xander responded with confusion.

"Oh, you know. You don't just ..don't just leave a message like that and then don't answer your phone." Buffy said, while trying to keep a reign on her emotions. "A reasonable person would be ready to wring your neck! Thank God! I am not known for my reason."

"Eh, yeah. Sorry, Buff. I mislaid my phone and just now found it." Xander said as he began to rub the back of his neck. "There was something that I wanted to tell you. I am not sure if this is something I can tell you over the phone…"

"Something about Delbrock?" Buffy prodded, an edge creeping into her tone.

"Oh, yeah." Xander nervously chuckled. "I mentioned it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you sure did." Buffy confirmed, with a definite edge in her tone.

"Okay. Hmmm. There's …ah well..there's something you should know." Xander began slowly.

"Oh, I think I already do." Buffy interjected, cutting Xander off in midsentence.

"You mean, you know? About Delbrock?" It was Xander's turn to sound surprised.

"Where do you think I am?" Buffy stated, as if talking to six year old.

….

After letting Xander know that she was sitting in the English Feed store in greater Delbrock and guess who she ran into, they decided to meet up there. Buffy did not tell him about her earlier escapade with her car and the even more so delightful details of her encounter with Spike. She had recently had her fill of humiliation for the day, and just didn't feel like sharing at the present time. As she was sitting there, one of the English boys drove back in a pickup from where the two men had taken to go to see about her car. With a mixed reaction of disappointment and relief, Buffy saw that it was not Spike that had returned. It was someone who resembled Spike, but was taller and had brunette hair. He had moved a few feet inside the door, when he motioned Jewel Ann to come over. Buffy hung her head, as she waited patiently for the diagnosis of her car's situation. As she was looking down, she saw the shadow of Jewel Ann approach.

"Buffy honey, the boys took a look at your car. It has turned out that there was more wrong with your car than just a flat tire. You broke the axel." Jewel Ann said gently.

"UH! Oh great!" The guttural sound broke out of Buffy's throat when she heard the report.

I hope you got the additional insurance." Jewel Ann prodded hopefully.

Buffy kept her head down as she nodded. Knowing her own past history with driving, she knew that she needed every bit of insurance that was offered.

"Is there someone you can call? I can always get one of the boys to drive you somewhere…" Jewel Ann offered.

"No. I'm sorry, but I used your phone over there to call a friend. I hope you don't mind. My cell phone won't work here." Buffy said, still mortified "He's on his way here now."

"That's fine, Sugar. We just don't have enough towers out here in the hill country to merit using cell phones." Jewel Ann said comfortingly. "We're a little behind the times. Would you like to use the phone to call the insurance company?"

"I guess I should." Buffy took a deep breath and gathered herself to stand when a thought hit her. "Oh, I left the rental agreement in the glove compartment in the car."

"Don't worry. Russell has to go back down there and help Bill. I'll tell him to bring back the paperwork when they come back. Okay?" Jewel Ann said comfortingly.

Buffy nodded and watched as Jewel Ann retreated back to the area over to the side of the store where there was a door. A minute later, Russell came out carrying a large milk jug of cold water and had a heavy looking tow chain lain over the other shoulder. He was polite enough, not to look directly at Buffy who was still sitting there emanating dejection. He quickly moved through the store and back out to the pickup sitting out front. Buffy heard the engine start up and the sound of gravel being flung about as the pickup pulled away.

Jewel Ann returned back to the store counter. She began straightening papers and adjusting pamphlets in their holders. She told Buffy that they were going to try to tow her car up to the Feed store, if they could manage it.

It was well over an hour and a half later that Buffy heard a pickup pull up front of the store. Spike and Russell came in through the front doors. Russell followed Spike in the doorway and traveled over to room behind the counter as Spike came over to where Buffy was sitting. He had her rental agreement in his hand. From her seat, she looked up at him. Spike was sticky, sweaty and dirty as he stood there looking at her. Buffy thought she had never seen him look so glorious. The light was beaming in the windows behind him while the sweat glistened over his tanned body. She had to look away as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her as it reminded her of another time he glowed with light. The pungent smell of his body filled her nostrils…Oh God, it smelled like him. She had forgotten how good he smelled. He didn't smell like windblown meadows or waves crashing against rocks or anything you would see on an aftershave commercial. It was just intrinsically Spike but with the heat and being human again, it was even more so. Buffy could feel another volatile emotional episode coming on. She gripped her hands tightly on the edge of the bench and willed most of it back. Feeling the blood rush to her face, she did her best to plaster a calm look on her face as she tried once again to look up to his face.

Spike surprised her as he knelt in front of her. He held the packet of the rental agreement just above her lap. He looked into her face with a caring look which brought back so many memories to her.

"I brought you the paperwork from your car." Spike said quietly. The simple statement alongside the low tone he used was enough to provide an intimacy between the two of them

Unfortunately, with that small gesture, Spike had punched a hole in the wall of reserve that Buffy had constructed to keep the more dramatic emotions at bay. Buffy could feel her eyes welling up with unshed tears, as she looked down at the contract being held in front of her. Buffy took the contract in her hand, and looked away from Spike for a moment to try to regain control.

Spike did not move as he watched the attractive young woman still having a hard day. He moved the hand that had handed her the paperwork over to her upper arm, in order to provide some comfort. Buffy closed her eyes as she felt his hand on her arm, she could not help but wonder about how warm it was. A few tears escaped her closed lids, as she moved her opposite hand over to lie across Spike's forearm. Although Buffy knew he didn't know her, she had to indulge in touching him one more time.

…

Xander had pulled up in front of the English Feed and Supply a few minutes before. He entered the glass doors at the front of the store and strained his neck upwards as he looked around for Buffy. He maneuvered through the maze of displays as he worked his way back to the counter he could see in the center of the store. He did not see Buffy and Spike there by the counter until he was almost on top of them. First thing, Xander noticed were the tears that were sliding down Buffy's cheeks. Seeing Buffy there, in an obvious state of distress with Spike holding on to her arm, brought up all the knee jerk reactions of Sunnydale to the surface in him. He immediately stamped over to the couple who up to that moment seemed unaware of him. He reached down and angrily pushed Spike on the shoulder away from Buffy. As Spike rocked back, he looked up at Xander with surprise on his face.

"What the hell did you do to her, Spike?" Xander demanded in instinctive rage, standing there with his hands in fists by his side.

Suddenly, Xander felt a heavily calloused hand clamp down upon his shoulder.

"If I were you, I would be thinking real hard about my next move, son." An older man with a British accent warned in good natured, but ominous tone.