Go the Whole Wide World
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The standard "I don't own them, please don't sue" should suffice, don't you think?
Archive: If you've got my stuff already, otherwise just ask.
Summary: Wesley finds himself with business in
A/N: spikes_lady asked for Spike and Wesley bonding with possible Spuffy. I hope this suits.
Chapter 15: New
Beginnings
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.” ~Carl Bard
Dawn woke the next morning, earlier than she would have
liked. It was Sunday, which meant sleeping in, although she had homework to do.
It would be a relief to be done with high school at the end of the year, and
off to
It was odd, in a way. All Buffy had ever really wanted was to be normal, and all Dawn had ever wanted was to be special.
Of course, Buffy was going to find “normal” a little harder with a vampire for a boyfriend, but maybe she’d finally realized that the life of a Slayer was never going to be ordinary. Dawn thought that Buffy might finally be getting used to the idea.
She rolled off the couch, and went to the kitchen to start
the coffee.
Dawn might have been worried if she hadn’t heard them in the middle of the night, apparently starting on the next round. She grinned to herself. Although she didn’t relish the thought of being woken up every night, Dawn was glad that Spike and Buffy were together. Her sister was likely to be a heck of a lot happier with him around.
There was a soft knock on the apartment door, and Dawn padded over in bare feet. She looked through the peephole, then let Wesley inside. “Hey,” she said, suddenly conscious of her appearance. Although Wesley had already seen her just after she’d rolled out of bed, Dawn would have preferred to be a little more put together.
“How are you?” he asked.
Dawn noticed that he’d shaved, and that Wesley looked a lot
more rested than he had. It wasn’t terribly surprising, given that he probably
hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since arriving in
“Yes, thank you,” he replied politely. “How is Buffy?”
Dawn shrugged. “I haven’t seen her yet, but judging from the sounds coming from her bedroom last night, she’s back to normal.”
Wesley raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t bother you?”
Dawn shook her head. “I haven’t seen Buffy this happy in—” She paused, trying to remember the last time Buffy had been really happy, and couldn’t. “Plus, I think Spike will stick around.”
“I think he will, too,” Wesley agreed. “I know that Angel sent Spike along to get him out from underfoot, but I don’t think that this was quite what he had in mind.”
Dawn snorted. “Serves him right for not telling Buffy right away when he knew that Spike was alive. Have you talked to him?”
“I thought that it might be better to deliver the news in person.” Wesley smiled. “I wouldn’t miss the expression on Angel’s face for all the world.”
Dawn swallowed and opened the door to the fridge to hide her disappointment. She knew that Wesley was probably out of her league; he was a lot older, for one thing, and if he thought of her at all, it was as Buffy’s little sister.
That didn’t change the fact that she liked him—a lot.
“So, you’re going back to
“I feel I owe it to Angel,” he replied. “And if nothing else, I need to pack up my things. Giles and I haven’t spoken of any long term plans yet, but if the offer is right, I might take it.”
“Oh.” Dawn wasn’t sure what else to say. “That’s good. I
mean, there are Slayers all over the place, so you could pretty much have your
pick of locations. If you wanted, you could probably stay in
“I don’t think so.”
Dawn gave up on her search and shut the door, reaching for her coffee. “Where were you thinking?”
“
Dawn raised her eyebrows. “You’ve been thinking about this.”
Wesley shrugged, as though it didn’t matter. “A bit. The entire situation presents interesting problems.”
Dawn tried to appear casual as she said, “Well, if you’re in
“I think you’d make a wonderful Watcher, Dawn,” Wesley said with a warm smile. “And it would be nice to have a friend there.”
Dawn could feel herself blushing, and she turned away, tongue-tied. Why did she always have to fall for the guys who were unattainable? First Spike, who would always be Buffy’s, and now Wesley.
Well, there was Xander, but Dawn blamed the monks for that one.
“I should get dressed,” she said finally. “I’ll be right back.”
Fleeing, Dawn cursed herself for acting like a child. She’d
left her clean clothes in the bathroom, since she didn’t know when
“Don’t be stupid,” she told her reflection.
She was still the only one awake when she emerged from the bathroom. Wesley was sitting on the couch, glancing through one of her school books. “A Tale of Two Cities?” he asked.
“For literature,” Dawn explained. “I like it.”
“It was always one of my favorites,” he agreed.
Dawn sat down next to him and glanced over, reluctantly
meeting his eyes. “What are you going to tell Angel? About
“The truth,” Wesley replied. “I owe him that much.”
“Are you going to tell anybody else?”
Wesley shook his head. “I’ll let Angel do that.”
Silence fell, and Dawn looked down at the floor. “When are you leaving?”
“Tonight.”
“That’s—soon.”
“I thought it would be best to get it over with.”
“Makes sense.” Dawn took a deep breath, and smiled at him brightly. “I’ll wake Buffy and Spike up. I’m sure they want to thank you for yesterday.”
She didn’t give him a chance to respond, rising from the couch and knocking on Buffy’s door, and then on her own. Dawn thought that the younger Slayers would probably want to see Wesley off, too, and with more people around, there was less chance that she would embarrass herself in front of him.
~~~~~
Giles stared at the text the messenger was holding out. “What is this?” One of the resident Slayers, Molly, had informed him that he had a visitor, and had told him who it was. She hovered just inside the doorway, clearly unwilling to allow the cyborg to be alone with him.
“The answers which you seek.” The cyborg’s face was a blank. “The one called Wesley Wyndam-Pryce will know how to read it.”
Giles’ eyes widened. “Is this meant for Wesley?”
“He is one of you?”
“You mean a Watcher?”
“Yes. One of the Council. We will deal with you, but not with the law firm.” The cyborg turned to leave. “He will know how to read it, but it must not leave the Council’s keeping.”
Giles felt as though he was out of his depth. “Wait! Will I hear from you again?”
“Perhaps, if we have need of you.”
It was gone in the next minute, and Giles was left to stare at the ancient text. “What are you going to do, Mr. Giles?”
He glanced up, having forgotten about Molly’s presence until she spoke. “I think I’m going to call Wesley and the others.”
“Is Buffy okay?” Molly asked. Word had spread about the Immortal, and his attack on the most famous of Slayers. “Did they kill the Immortal?”
“Yesterday evening,” Giles replied absently, staring at the
ancient text. “
That was another thing that he’d have to attend to. Giles had no doubt that Buffy was going to want to have a very serious conversation about his decision to keep Spike’s whereabouts a secret from her.
He wasn’t particularly looking forward to it.
“What are you going to do with that?” Molly asked.
“I’m going to call Wesley,” Giles responded. “I was going to
offer him a job anyway.” He’d thought that it was about time that they began to
centralize their efforts. There were too many Slayers to bring them all to
And by training both Watchers and Slayers together, Giles knew that there was much less risk of Watchers treating Slayers as commodities to be replaced.
Although much had been lost when the First blew up Council headquarters, along with many of the resident Watchers, it did give him the opportunity to start from scratch, without having to butt heads with those entrenched in the old ways.
Wesley would make a good addition, if he could be persuaded.
~~~~~
Spike put his hands on Buffy’s shoulders, stilling her movements as she put on her makeup. “How are you feelin’, luv?”
“Better than I have in a long time.” She twisted so that she could see him, since he wasn’t visible in the mirror. His eyes were very blue, the color enhanced by the blue shirt he wore. Buffy reminded herself to thank Dawn for going shopping later. She hadn’t had the chance to do so yet, with everything that had been going on. “What about you?”
He looked a little puzzled. “Me? I’m fine. Why?”
Buffy was unable to quite meet his eyes. Even after the amazing night they’d spent together—not only had the sex been wonderful, but Buffy had felt more connected to Spike than ever before—she still wasn’t sure where they stood. Would he stay? Could they make a relationship work? Did he want to be a part of the work she was going with the Slayers?
As reluctant as Buffy had been to take on that task, over the last few days, all that had changed. They were her Slayers now, and she was loath to give them up. Buffy knew that Spike would be good with them; they had made a great team in Sunnydale training the potentials.
But was it what he wanted?
“I just—I wasn’t sure where we’re going from here.”
He frowned, looking unsure. “Thought you wanted me to stay.”
“I do!” Buffy was quick to assure him. “It’s just—I think I’m going to have to take a more active role with the Slayers, and I don’t know what you want to do. Maybe you don’t want anything to do with the Council. After what Giles did, and Wood, I wouldn’t blame you, but—”
Spike silenced her by putting a finger to her lips. “What you’re doin’ here is good work, Buffy, an’ bein’ with you is my main priority right now.”
“Then you want to stay?” she pressed. “You’re not doing it just for me? I want this to be what you want, too, but I’m the Slayer, and—”
“And it’s what you’ll always be.” He caressed her cheek, his
eyes soft. “I didn’t mind takin’ up the cause in Sunnyhell, an’
Buffy laughed ruefully. “I suppose that’s true.”
“Believe it.” Spike looked into her eyes, and then said firmly, “What happened with the Immortal wasn’t your doin’, Buffy, an’ I don’t hold it against you. It had nothin’ to do with us, an’ you need to remember that.”
“I know.” She took a deep breath. It would take a while before she could believe it, but Buffy knew that she hadn’t had a chance against the Immortal’s wiles. As the Slayer, it hurt to admit that there was something that she hadn’t been able to fight, but it was the truth. “I suppose we should go feed Wes before he has to leave.”
Spike hesitated. “Would you mind meetin’ us at the restaurant? There’s a stop we’ve got to make first. We’ve got some business to take care of.”
Buffy frowned. “What kind of business?”
“Just a loose end to tie up,” Spike assured her. “We’ve got someone we need to thank.”
“Yeah, okay. We’ll meet you there.” They shared a tender kiss that rapidly became something more. “Or we could stay in.”
Spike reluctantly pulled away. “Can’t, luv. But after tonight, we can stay in as much as you like.”
Buffy pouted, thinking that now she’d finally embraced her duties with the Council, that was going to mean a whole lot less time to stay in bed with Spike. On the other hand, fighting tended to get her revved up, and that was even better. “Hurry.”
“Of course.”
One more stolen kiss, and he was gone. Buffy finished her makeup and left the bathroom to find Dawn and Willow looking at her expectantly. “What?”
“How are you?”
Buffy nodded. “I’m back to normal.”
“Any weird side effects?” Dawn asked.
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“And Spike?”
Buffy was unable to keep the dreamy smile from her face. “Perfect.”
“I’m going to make sure the others are ready to go,” Dawn announced.
Buffy was a little puzzled by her sister’s abrupt departure. “What’s up with her?” she asked once the door had closed behind her.
“Huh.” Buffy wondered if Dawn had a problem with Spike staying with them, but she didn’t think that was the case. If anything, Dawn had been very supportive. “I’ll try to talk to her later. We should probably head out. The guys are going to meet us there.”
~~~~~
“Ah, you come to say goodbye,” Ilona said, rising to greet them. “You had success?”
“Yeah, Buffy let one of the Slayers kick him around for a bit, an’ then she finished him off.” He smiled, his expression grimly satisfied. “It was quite the sight to see.”
Ilona’s expression mirrored Spike’s. “I am glad to hear of this.”
“What was your interest in this?” Wesley asked, his curiosity piqued, as it had been since she first began to help them.
“We have known each other for long time,” Ilona said. “The Immortal—he was good at what he did, yes? But he overstepped his bounds.”
“With who?” Spike asked.
Ilona’s eyes were very far away, and Wesley caught a glimpse of a woman he would have liked to have known. She was, it seemed, much more than she first appeared. “A relative.” Ilona smiled. “Ah, you do not think that I have family, but there is much you do not know about me.”
Wesley wondered if Ilona’s loss was at all related to Alessandra’s, but that seemed too coincidental. Perhaps he would ask the Slayer about it later, because it was clear that Ilona had said as much as she was going to on the subject.
“We appreciate all your help,” Wesley said.
Ilona just smiled. “You must visit me again.” The look she gave Wesley was predatory. “We can get to know one another better.”
Wesley felt like he was facing a black widow spider, although something about Ilona reminded him of Lilah Morgan. “Perhaps,” he said vaguely, not wanting to offend.
They said their goodbyes, and Spike elbowed him as they left the lobby. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer.”
Wesley smiled tightly. “I’m not sure that’s the sort of admirer I need.”
“How long you gonna stay in
Wesley hesitated, then said, “A week, on the outside. Giles contacted me today, and informed me that the cyborgs left something for me, a text of some kind.”
“For you?”
“With the understanding that I wouldn’t be going back to Wolfram and Hart,” Wesley admitted. “I’m not sure how they knew I might be staying.”
“You don’t have the look about you,” Spike observed.
“What look?”
“The evil look.” Spike smirked at him. “Angel can pull it off, but you can’t.”
Wesley frowned. “What about Gunn and Fred?”
Spike shrugged. “They can’t either, but they’re still enjoyin’ the benefits of workin’ for the enemy. New shiny lab, new shiny suits—did Wolfram and Hart give you anythin’ you didn’t have before?”
Wesley thought about that. It was an interesting question, and an interesting way of looking at things. Other than the vast resources at his disposal, the research materials and templates, he hadn’t gained anything by working at the law firm. Those were all things he could do without.
Although, he wasn’t above taking one of the templates with him. It might come in handy, and Angel wouldn’t miss it.
“No. I can honestly say that the law firm no longer holds anything that I want.”
“Not even the girl?”
Wesley gave Spike a sharp look. “What are you talking about?”
“Know you fancied Fred. Was hard not to see,” Spike said. “An’ now Dawn fancies you.”
“She’s much too young,” Wesley said shortly. “She’s not even out of high school yet.”
Spike snorted. “Don’t talk to me about age differences,
mate. I’ve got at least a century on Buffy. I’m just sayin’
that you’ll likely be around when Dawn’s in
Wesley had no problem looking out for Dawn, and he said so. “What you’re suggesting—”
The vampire cut him off. “I’m not suggesting anythin’. Just keep a sharp eye out for her, an’ don’t worry about the rest of it.” He grinned wryly. “Those Summers women, once they set their sights on something, it takes a lot to change their minds.”
“That’s not terribly reassuring,” Wesley said.
“It wasn’t meant to be.” Spike clapped him on the shoulder as the car pulled up in front of the restaurant. “Come on. The girls will be waitin’ for us.”
Wesley found himself in the rather odd position of having a
number of people very interested in his well-being. A number
of women, to be exact. Alessandra appeared to be fully recovered from
her breakdown the day before, and she flirted with him outrageously. Julie and
Rosalia were less obvious, but they followed Alessandra’s lead.
Dawn, on the other hand, was distantly polite. Wesley had a feeling that she was terribly embarrassed by their interaction earlier in the day, although she’d done nothing to be ashamed of. He felt as though he ought to do something about it, but he had no idea what that might be.
Once dinner was over, the three younger Slayers announced that they were going to go on patrol. They bid Wesley goodbye and trooped off into the night.
“I should probably get back to the apartment,”
In the end, it was Buffy, Spike, and Dawn who accompanied him to the airport. Wesley had a word with Marco once he got out, slipping the man a large tip for his excellent services. “The car will take you back to the apartment,” Wesley said, once he’d pulled his bag from the trunk.
Buffy shook her head. “It’s a nice night for a walk. There’s a place near here where the vampires like to go hunting.”
“Better take care of that then,” Spike said blandly. “Take care of yourself, Wes, an’ if you need any help with Peaches, give me a call.”
“Of course,” Wesley replied, gripping Spike’s outstretched hand. Odd, that he would call Spike a friend these days.
“Thanks, Wesley,” Buffy said, pulling him into a tight hug, much to his surprise. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
He smiled. “Somehow I doubt that.”
Buffy looked at her younger sister. “You going to see Wesley off, Dawn?”
Dawn hesitated. “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you guys later.”
Wesley watched as they walked away, their arms wrapped around one another. They fit together, he thought.
Dawn watched them go, too, and she smiled. “You know, I’m glad that Spike’s going to be around, but I think I’ll probably end up being the third wheel again.”
“You’ll have the Slayers,” Wesley pointed out as they made their way into the airport.
Dawn shook her head. “I don’t really fit with them, either. They’re my friends, and we have fun together, but I’m not a Slayer. I’m just ordinary.”
Almost in spite of himself, Wesley felt her words tug at his heart. He understood being the odd man out quite well. “You are anything but ordinary,” he found himself saying.
Dawn flushed deeply. “Thanks, but—”
Wesley tipped her head up with a gentle finger. “I mean it.” He could see the innocence in her eyes still, although he had a feeling that she wasn’t quite as naïve as she appeared. Dawn had seen more than most Watchers, and he had no doubt that with a few years training, she would make an amazing Watcher.
“Thanks,” she repeated.
They stood in the busy airport, just outside the security gates. “I should go,” he said.
“Yeah, you don’t want to miss your flight,” Dawn agreed.
On an impulse, Wesley kissed her—a brief, almost chaste meeting of lips. She stared at him, stunned into silence, and he smiled. “If I were ten years younger…” he murmured.
Dawn stared at him, then her lips curved up into a sly smile that made her look years older. “Technically, I’m millions of years old, you know.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek, then dashed off into the crowd, waving a cheery goodbye over her shoulder.
Wesley watched her go, finally laughing to himself. Spike had warned him. The next few years could be very interesting indeed.
Squaring his shoulders, Wesley met a future that seemed bright with promise.