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 Rome, and Angel sends Spike along for company, wanting to get him out of his hair. It's amazing how small the world is sometimes. Set sometime after Why We Fight.

A/N: spikes_lady asked for Spike and Wesley bonding with possible Spuffy. I hope this suits.

Chapter 8: Drained

"Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or by the handle." ~James Russell Lowell

Wesley followed Dawn into the apartment, carrying the groceries she'd bought. "Not that I'm a great cook," she had told him. "But it's better than going out to eat all the time."

He knew that they should be going back to their hotel room, or trying to get another room elsewhere. Buffy would be safe enough with Willow there, and it was beginning to get very crowded.

"Where's Spike?" he asked as he entered.

Buffy and Willow looked at him. "What?" Buffy asked.

"Spike isn't back yet?" Wesley pressed.

Willow shook her head. "It's Spike. He'll come back when he feels like it."

Wesley knew that much was probably true, and Spike had gone out rather early, just as soon as the sun had set, and it wasn't yet ten in the evening, but—

"I suppose so."

"Are you guys staying here tonight?" Buffy asked.

Wesley shook his head. "I'll be going back to the hotel. I don't know about Spike."

"Should you stay there by yourself?" Dawn asked, sounding worried. "What if the cyborgs come back?"

Wesley smiled, touched by her concern. "I'll be fine, Dawn."

"Why don't you take one of the Slayers with you if Spike doesn't show up before you leave?" Buffy suggested. "None of them have had to deal with many middle of the night emergencies before, and it's probably time they do."

Wesley didn't know what to think about that. Dawn hadn't been hurt during his last confrontation with the cyborgs, but he didn't want to risk it. Spike, as a vampire, would likely survive any such encounter. The same couldn't be said for one of the young Slayers. "I don't—"

"I think it should be Alessandra," Dawn said. "She's probably the best fighter, and she knows her way around Rome, in case Wesley can't get to his driver."

Buffy nodded. "Good idea, Dawn. Maybe you could go get the other girls? I think that they should be here for this discussion." She looked at Wesley. "Alessandra can handle herself, Wes, and she's a Slayer. You know how we are."

Wesley nodded. It was odd, the sense of solidarity he felt with Buffy and Willow. Of course, the witch had come to L.A. to restore Angel's soul the previous year, but a rift had opened up since then. "I do know."

"What do you need for the spell you want to try, Willow?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing I didn't bring with me," Willow assured her. "I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to get what I needed, so I wanted to be sure I had the necessary supplies."

Buffy nodded. "Good call. When did you want to do it?"

"Probably better wait until tomorrow," Willow replied. "I don't think it's going to take much out of me, but it's hard to say, and I'm not as young as I used to be."

Wesley raised an eyebrow, not wanting to disagree, even though he had quite a few years on her. Of course, there were mornings when he woke up with assorted aches and was reminded that he wasn't the young Watcher who had first come to Sunnydale. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Willow shook her head, although she gave him a grateful look. "I don't think so."

Dawn came through the door with the three Slayers, and the girls sprawled out on the floor together. "What's up?" Julie asked.

Buffy quickly gave them a run down of their conversation, and then summarized the plan for the next day. "If Spike isn't back in an hour, Alessandra, I want you to go with Wesley. There's no point in giving the cyborgs a clear shot at him."

Alessandra smiled, looking rather pleased. "It would be my pleasure."

Wesley shared a look with Willow; her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"What about us?" Julie asked.

"The usual," Buffy said. "Sorry I don't have anything more exciting for you."

Rosalia sighed. "You could always send two of us to watch his back. We do not mind guarding a Watcher."

Willow snickered, and Wesley shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't used to being the center of attention. Or even the center of concern. "I think it might be better if you stay here. Without knowing what the Immortal is capable of, it would be wiser to be sure that someone is here to look out for Buffy. Especially given the fact that she is the target of his attention."

Buffy nodded ruefully. "I'd really rather avoid seeing him again to be honest."

Julie smiled. "We'll stay close."

"I'll be here, too," Willow said, "and so will Dawn. We have you covered."

Buffy smiled gratefully, then glanced at the clock. "Where is Spike?"

Wesley followed her eyes and saw that it was gone midnight, and while that was relatively early for a vampire, he didn't think that Spike had meant to stay out all night. "If he comes back, you can send him on to the hotel," Wesley said. "I'm sure you'd like to rest, Buffy."

"I'm okay," Buffy protested. When every head in the room turned towards her, she sighed. "But I should probably go to bed. See you tomorrow, Wes?"

"Of course." Wesley no longer felt quite so bad about being roped into helping Buffy. The prospect of a mystery intrigued him, and it was like being part of a team again. It had been a long time.

~~~~~

Dawn rolled off the couch when she heard the frantic knocking on the door. She'd let Willow have her bedroom out of courtesy, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The couch was just as comfortable as her bed.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Dawn put her eye to the peephole, and then opened the door hurriedly for a very battered-looking Spike.

"Thanks, Bit," Spike said, stepping into the apartment. "Didn't want your neighbors seeing my cargo."

Dawn could understand why, since it looked as though Spike had a dead body slung over his shoulder. "Who is that?"

"One of those cyborgs," Spike replied, letting the body drop to the floor.

Dawn wrinkled her nose. "Is it dead?"

"No, and if you've got rope or chains, that would be good."

She stared at him. "Why would we have anything like that?"

"You used to," Spike said.

Dawn stared at him wide-eyed. "In Sunnydale. This is Rome. We haven't had a situation that required tying anybody up." Spike opened his mouth to reply, and Dawn knew he was going to make some smartass remark. "Forget it. Don't even."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"What's going on?" Buffy called sleepily, sticking her head out of her bedroom.

"Spike took a hostage," Dawn said. "And now he wants something to tie him up with."

Buffy blinked, then said, "I think I've got some chains somewhere."

Dawn frowned. "You have chains? What are the chains for?"

"Just in case," Buffy replied. "I'm still the Slayer, Dawn. You never know when you'll need to restrain a demon."

Spike snickered, and Dawn made a face. "Okay, that was not an image I needed in my head."

Buffy gave Spike a sharp look. "I'll grab the chains and a first aid kit."

When she ducked back into her bedroom, Spike looked over at Dawn. "That bad, huh?"

"Let's just say that you've looked better," Dawn said. "What happened? Did you get attacked by a big group of them?"

"More or less," Spike replied. "Better call Wesley. He'll want to be here for the interrogation."

Dawn nodded and went to make the call. It rang only a few times before the ex-Watcher picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Wes," Dawn said. "Spike brought a surprise home with him. He thought you might want to be here for it."

"Oh, really?" Wesley asked.

"It's one of our friends that burst in the other day." Dawn grinned, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "It looks like Spike tangled with them pretty good."

"Do you have the means to keep it restrained?"

"Buffy had chains," Dawn said. "Who knew?"

"Every good Slayer does," Wesley replied, humor in his voice.

"See you soon?"

"As soon as I can get there."

Wesley broke the connection, and Dawn turned to see her sister helping to chain the cyborg up. "Need any help?"

"We've got it," Buffy said calmly. "Come on, Spike."

"What?" He looked up to meet her eyes.

"Bathroom," Buffy said, putting her hand on his forearm. "That's where the first aid kid is. He's secure."

Dawn watched with interest as they simply looked at one another, speaking a language without words.

"Yeah, okay," Spike managed.

Dawn wasn't surprised when Buffy shut the door behind them.

~~~~~

Spike sat still as Buffy dabbed dried blood from his face. "How bad are you hurt?" she asked.

"Not bad."

"Under the coat?"

"They got a couple of shots in."

Buffy's hand stilled. "Can I see?"

"You just want to see me naked again."

Spike was pleased to see her blush. "It wouldn't hurt my feelings," she said in a low voice.

"All you have to do is ask," he teased, shrugging out of his coat.

Buffy's hand came up to caress his cheek. "I've missed you so much. Have I told you that yet?"

"Don't think you have." He covered her hand with his own, seeing the tears swimming in her eyes. "Hey, now. Don't cry, luv."

"I'm not crying," she said, blinking the tears back impatiently. "I'm patching you up."

Spike smiled. "Right. S'pose that means I'm taking my shirt off then."

"If you would."

Spike didn't have a problem taking off his clothes for Buffy, especially when she was looking at him the way she was right then. Like she'd never thought to see him again, like she never wanted him out of her sight.

Buffy winced at she saw the laceration across his right shoulder and the puncture wound in his side. "That looks nasty."

"It's not that bad." He was lying, of course. Just because he was a vampire didn't mean he didn't feel pain, something Buffy seemed to have finally figured out.

"Bad enough," Buffy replied. "Your jeans are bloody. Did you bring any other clothes?"

"Don't have any other clothes," Spike admitted. "Just what showed up on my back when I materialized out of the amulet."

Buffy nodded. "I can wash what you've got and send the girls out for supplies."

Spike's eyebrows went straight up. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Buffy asked.

"You really think they'd stick with black?"

"It wouldn't hurt you to branch out to other colors."

Spike snorted. "I like black."

"You look good in blue, too," Buffy said softly, dabbing at the blood drying on his skin. "I think I might be able to find some shorts for you to wear while I wash your stuff."

Spike shrugged. "Yeah, alright."

"I'll be right back," Buffy said. "If you want to hop in the shower, you could probably stand to get cleaned up."

"Sure." Spike watched as she left, and then finished undressing, dropping his boots and bloody jeans to the floor. The warm water felt good on his skin, cleaning away the grime that had accumulated over the last couple of days. He lathered up, ignoring the stinging of the soap in his wounds.

"Spike? I'm just going to put the clothes I found on the counter, and get yours in the wash." Buffy's voice cut through the sound of the water.

"That's fine." Spike finished his shower and stepped out, glad to see that he'd stopped bleeding.

He dried off and bandaged his own wounds, then pulled on the pair of gray sweats that Buffy had found for him.

"You need any help?" Buffy called through the door.

"I've got it." He opened the door to see that she'd dressed. "Thanks."

She shrugged. "Lucky for you, you're not that much taller than Dawn these days. They were a little big for her."

"Lucky me," Spike agreed.

They stood, staring at one another for a long moment. He was reminded of the night after he'd held her. The night they'd danced around each other in her kitchen, when he'd told her to kill him if she'd been playing with him.

Buffy hugged herself tightly, her hands disappearing inside the oversized sweater. Spike realized that she looked thinner—thinner than the first day he'd seen her in Rome. "Can when be now?"

Spike blinked, realizing that she was replaying the very same scene in her own head. That night Buffy had given him a small crumb, and now it seemed as though she might be offering more. "When what?" he asked cautiously.

"I told you I was with you that night, and you asked what it meant," Buffy said, her voice firm and low. "And I said maybe when."

"Yeah, you did." Spike was still careful, not wanting to give away too much.

Buffy sighed. "So, can now be when?"

Spike swallowed, almost afraid of what she seemed to be offering. It seemed too good to be true. "I don't know, luv. I don't—"

She seemed to fold in on herself further. "Oh. Okay. I'm—"

"Wait." Spike made a split-second decision. It didn't matter that Buffy had slept with the Immortal—twice, or that it was nearly impossible for him to believe that there was a future for their relationship. Spike didn't think there had ever been a period of time where they hadn't faced an emergency of sorts, and it was entirely possible that they wouldn't work as a couple when things weren't quite as crazy.

But he wanted to try. Spike wasn't going to let fear prevent him from taking the chance, not when fear had already hurt them both.

Buffy stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"Yeah."

Buffy shook her head mutely, clearly unable to interpret his meaning.

"I want to try this," Spike said. "Dunno if we've got a snowball's chance in hell at making a go of it, but I think we should try." He tilted his head and offered her a smile. "We'll never know otherwise, will we?"

He could hear her swallow. "No. I guess we won't."

When she looked away, Spike closed the distance between them, pulling her into his arms, in spite of the bone-deep aches that were beginning to make themselves felt, alongside the scrapes and cuts. Buffy's arms went around his waist, and Spike pressed his cheek to her hair, breathing deeply of her scent.

The silence held for several minutes, and neither of them moved. Finally, Buffy muttered into his chest, "Wesley's here. And I've got blood for you."

"Right." Spike pulled back, looking into her eyes. "You doin' okay, pet?"

Buffy managed a smile, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

Spike wished they were both more certain of that.

~~~~~

Wesley supposed that he owed Spike a debt of gratitude. The vampire had managed to capture one of the cyborgs, and he intended to squeeze every bit of information out of it that he could. He needed to know what they had wanted with Angel, why they had chosen him as the means to get to the vampire, and what their end purpose was.

He would prefer to interrogate the creature without an audience, however. Having three Slayers, a witch, and a teenage girl watching him was beginning to make him nervous.

Wesley regarded the still figure; it appeared to be mostly in one piece. "Has it been unconscious all this time?"

"Yeah," Dawn said from her perch on the back of the couch. She was watching him with interest. "You'd have to ask Spike how long he's been out."

"About two hours," Spike said, entering the living room wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing else, with Buffy following him closely.

"How many attacked you?" Wesley inquired.

Spike frowned, trying to recall. "Half a dozen? No more than that. Killed two of them, an' managed to save this one for you."

"What about the other three?" Alessandra asked, clearly interested in the prospect of a good fight.

Spike shrugged. "I managed to split them up. Didn't want to fight all of them at once. Three of them found me."

Wesley considered their options. "This might not be the best place to hold the interrogation."

Spike caught on immediately. "Don't know where we'd be sure to be uninterrupted."

"You could use our place," Julie offered. "If you don't want us around, we can hang out here, or go out, or something."

Wesley met Spike's eyes, and the vampire shrugged. "Dunno. Is anybody gonna hear him scream from there?"

"You're going to torture him?" Buffy asked, her voice holding a protest. "Isn't there a better way to get the information you need?"

Wesley met her eyes. "I'm open to suggestions, Buffy. Did you have a better idea?"

She sighed. "No."

"Do you need any help?" Alessandra asked, staring at the cyborg with hard eyes.

Wesley knew the depth of her anger; he'd seen the same fire in Faith's eyes, and he'd felt a similar rage himself. He couldn't remember when he'd felt that rage, but he recalled the bitter taste it had left in his mouth.

"I don't believe so," he said gently. "However, if Buffy agrees, I may need your help later on to track down the rest of them."

All of the Slayers' eyes went to Buffy, who sighed once again. "If Wesley needs your help, you can go."

"It might be better to try a truth spell first," Willow suggested. "I have no idea if it would work on something that's at least partly machine, but it would be worth a try. That way, you don't have to worry about the neighbors hearing anybody screaming."

Wesley didn't want to admit to how much he was looking forward to interrogating the cyborg in his own way, if only because he'd yet to pay them back for the mind fuck they'd done on him.

"That might be better," he said slowly. "But I thought you were going to do the spell to find out what was causing Buffy's healing process to slow down."

"I can do both in one day," Willow assured him. "I'd rather wait to do the truth spell until he's awake, anyway. I'll get started on the one for Buffy right away." She looked over at Buffy. "It would probably be easier if there weren't quite as many people around."

Buffy nodded. "Dawn, take Julie and Rosalia and the Council's expense card. Spike needs some new clothing. Alessandra, you're here for backup."

"What?" Spike yelped. "Buffy—"

"Hush," she told him. "We both go through clothes fast enough to need more than one set."

"Wait a minute!" Julie protested. "Alessandra got guard duty last night, and you're sending us out shopping today?"

Wesley pointed at Julie. "You were in Sunnydale, correct?" When she nodded, Wesley said, "Then you and Alessandra can go with Dawn, since Rosalia hasn't had a similar opportunity as of yet."

Alessandra pouted a bit, but she gave in without complaint. "I will get my things." Julie followed her, not looking very happy about the way things had turned out.

Dawn sighed. "I haven't even had breakfast yet."

"Get something to eat while you're out," Buffy told her. "I'm sorry, Dawn, but—"

Her sister waved off Buffy's apologies. "Forget it. I'm going shopping on the Council's dime, even if it is for Spike."

"Nibblet," Spike began, looking more alarmed as he realized that the shopping expedition was going to happen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Dawn grinned at him. "Don't worry, Spike. I won't get anything you'll hate."

"Get something with color," Buffy ordered Dawn.

Dawn snickered. "Sure thing. I'll see you guys later."

She headed out the door before Spike could form another protest.

"Buffy!" Spike said. "I told you—"

"And I told you," she shot back. "The blood might come out of the jeans, but your t-shirt is ruined."

He sighed noisily. "Fine."

Buffy turned to Wesley. "Nice job, by the way."

Somehow he knew that she was referring to his decision about which Slayer to allow to remain behind, and which girls to send with Dawn. In truth, it had as much to do with fairness as it had to do with the fact that Alessandra was entirely too interested in interrogation tactics.

"Where shall we put it while we finish the first spell?" Wesley asked, looking at the still-unconscious cyborg. He wondered exactly what Spike had done to it to keep it out for so long.

"How about the bathtub?" Spike suggested.

Wesley didn't quite understand why Willow and Buffy started snickering.