Chapter 1, Seeing Red,
Buffy’s Bathroom
Buffy ignored Spike, and his little 'because you love me' statement.
She bent over the tub to check her water when a vision flashed before
her eyes. She saw Spike scrambling away from her with remorse in his
eyes, followed by him leaving Sunnydale. Buffy saw the trials he
survived, and his asking for 'what she deserved'. She saw his soul
returned to him as well as the guilt that came with it.
Buffy gasped when she saw the First Evil emerge again, only this time
it tormented Spike in her image. Guilt flooded the Slayer's heart when
she realized what she had done to the vampire. The images moved faster
until she saw herself standing with her fingers laced in his, hands
aflame, and the words 'I love you' on her lips. His answer of 'No, you
don't, but thanks for saying it' broke her heart. Then, she watched as
she ran away, and he turned into dust.
"Buffy, luv, you about took a header into the tub," Spike said softly
when the Slayer opened her eyes again. He had been terrified when she
had almost fallen forward into the water. If he hadn't caught her she
might have bumped her head hard and drowned.
"Spike, you're okay. You're not dead," Buffy cried. She grappled with
his shoulders to pull him closer. All of the vision had felt so real.
The sights, the smells, the sounds, and most of all the feelings seemed
tangible. She had felt everything, including his love and pain combined
with her own. Buffy pressed her face into the crook of the vampire's
neck when she suddenly realized her heart felt exactly like her future
counterpart's. Spike was right, just like he always was with her. She
loved him. She, Buffy Summers the Slayer, loved Spike, William the
Bloody. What a friggin' revelation.
"Still here, pet. Not goin' anywhere." Spike sighed when he felt Buffy
press her face into his neck. He felt her wince with pain even as she
refused to let go of him. Spike gently tightened his arms around her.
This was the first time she had allowed him to be as loving as he
wanted to be with her, and there was no way he was going to give it up
right away.
"You can't dust," Buffy ordered in a whisper. "I forbid it." She sighed
in contentment as she inhaled Spike's scent. She thought about how he
always managed to smell so good even after a fight, not that they had
fought that day. She snuggled closer to his body.
"Not planning on dustin' any time soon, Slayer. Not unless it's on the
end of your stake." Spike grinned against her hair as she let out a
huff. "You wanna tell me what the bloody hell happened here?"
"I think I had a Slayer vision," Buffy said, "It was really jumbled."
She pulled back to look Spike in the eyes. "There's something really
bad coming, but mostly it made me realize one thing." Buffy smiled
happily at the vampire.
"What's that, luv?" Spike asked.
"I realized that you were right about me loving you," Buffy declared.
"I don't want you to go get a soul so I can have 'what I deserve'. I
like you just the way you are. Although if my vision is right that
stupid chip has to come out or it's going to kill you."
"What about me being a serial killer in prison?" Spike questioned. The
remembered insult was one of his more painful memories.
"What would happen if you went back to killing people?" Buffy
deliberately ignored one little part of her vision. Part of the vision
showed where he had been influenced by the First, and he had been
killing in despite of the presence of the chip and the soul.
"You'd probably stake me," Spike replied. He shifted Buffy around in
his lap so that she straddled his legs, and he was pleasantly surprised
to find her naked under her bathrobe. Spike looked up into the Slayer's
face above him, and for the first time saw love reflected back at him.
"Damned right," Buffy announced. "Unless of course there were
extenuating circumstances." She smiled almost shyly while she bit her
lip. "I love you, Spike."
Spike slid his hands up Buffy's back into her hair, and he pulled her
mouth down to his. There hadn't been a lot of kissing in the
relationship since the first few encounters, and the couple needed to
make up for lost time. They continued to kiss, so lost in each other
that they failed to hear Xander enter the house and make his way
upstairs.
"This is what you call not seeing Spike..." Xander yelled when he
entered the bathroom waving Spike's duster in front of him. The coat
dropped from nerveless fingers when he caught sight of the two blonds
kissing. "Buffy, what are you doing here with him? You told me you
weren't going to see him again."
Buffy broke away from Spike with an apologetic look. "Xander, what are
you doing in my bathroom?"
"What is he doing in your bathroom?" Xander screamed. He
advanced on Spike and Buffy. When he went to grab Buffy's arm, Spike's
rumbling growl stopped him up short.
"He's my boyfriend. That's what he's doing in my bathroom," Buffy
replied as calmly as she could. She grimaced as she rose to her feet
with Spike's help. Buffy turned her back on Xander while she retied her
bathrobe. "Again, I ask what are you doing in my bathroom, Xander?"
"Your boyfriend?" Xander growled. "I don't think so. I won't allow it."
"What do you mean you won't allow it?" Buffy advanced on Xander.
"You're not my brother or my father. I'm over eighteen, and I can date
who ever the hell I feel like." She poked the dark haired male in the
chest to emphasize her point.
"He had sex with Anya!"
"I already explained about that to the Slayer," Spike interjected. He
stood behind Buffy with his hands on her shoulders in a sign of
solidarity and support. Spike bit his tongue hard so he wouldn't say
anything else. He had no plans on having his nose rearranged on this
particular night.
"I don't care anymore, Xander," Buffy announced. "I'm going to be with
who I want, and that's Spike." She put her hands atop Spike's which
were still on her shoulders. "I've ... we've been together since Sweet."
"Until that pillock Finn came to town," Spike grumbled. He was still a
bit peeved over the blowing up of his crypt. Spike felt Buffy's hands
tighten on his in apology.
Willow burst in through the open bathroom door with a very excited look
on her face. "Hey, I think we finally have something..." She trailed
off when she caught sight of Xander's angry, bloody face. "Um, what's
going on?"
Xander whirled on the redheaded witch. He advanced on her while he spat
out words at her. "You did a spell, didn't you, Will? Another 'Thy Will
Be Done' spell, maybe?" Xander leaned over Willow menacingly.
Willow squeaked while she shook her head wildly. "No, no spells. Spell
free even. You can ask Tara." Her eyes darted to the open doorway where
Tara was standing taking in the scene.
"Then how do you explain that?" Xander spat out contemptuously. He
pointed to where Spike and Buffy were standing in an intimate pose.
"There is no way Buffy would allow that creature to touch her again if
you hadn't of done something."
"Step away from Willow, Xander." Buffy narrowed her eyes at one of her
oldest friends. "She had nothing to do with how I feel about Spike.
It's been building for a very long time, even before my death. I've
been denial girl for just this reason. I didn't want to deal with you
and your attitude. Well, no more. I had a Slayer vision that showed me
what it would feel like to lose him, and I'm gonna do everything in my
power to prevent that."
Xander turned back to Buffy. "He's evil. As soon as that chip is out,
he's gonna turn on us just like Deadboy did. You know he will."
"'m not bloody Angelus," Spike muttered under his breath.
"Well, to quote the Buffybot, 'Yeah, he's evil, but you should see him
naked. I mean really'." Buffy paused as a memory hit her from that
fateful Thanksgiving two and a half years prior. "I once told Giles
that I like my evil how I like my men ...evil. Well, guess what,
Xander? I really do like my men evil."
Tara smiled shyly at the Slayer. "I'm glad you finally worked this out,
Buffy. I'm sure Spike will give you many happys." She stopped speaking
in shock. "I think I've been hanging out with Anya too long." Tara
giggled along with Buffy and Willow.
Spike arched his eyebrow at the gentle Wiccan. "These Scooby girls are
a bad influence on you, pet." A flash of memory hit him, and he began
to chuckle. Spike leaned down to whisper in Buffy's ear. "Cramp in your
pants, my arse. How long has the good little witch known about us?"
Buffy looked at her friends before answering. Tara already knew, and it
appeared that Willow wasn't all that upset by the newest development.
That only left Xander who was looking at her as if she was pond scum.
Buffy shivered under his gaze, but she held her ground. This was the
last time she was going to let him criticize her choices in life. It
was her life, not his. There was no way she was going to fuck up her
life any more than it already was.
Willow studied Buffy and Spike. Their postures spoke of long term
intimacy. Well, plus that little statement about seeing him naked.
Willow could tell Buffy was comfortable with being alone with Spike
wearing next to nothing. When Spike's hands slipped down Buffy's arms
to encircle her waist, the Slayer leaned back against him with trust,
and she folded her hands over his.
"I-I had Tara check the resurrection spell for me. I-I needed to know
if I had came back wrong."
"What?" Willow gasped. "Why would you think that?" She noticed the
guilty look on Spike's face, and she instantly realized it had been
something the vampire had said, probably in anger.
"Xander, if you take one step towards us, I'll knock you out," Buffy
threatened. She looked sideways at Spike's face which she saw harden
into resolve when he realized what she was about to say. "I asked Tara
about the spell because Spike's chip doesn't work on me anymore." Buffy
closed her eyes while she waited for the yelling.
Buffy waited and waited, and she only opened her eyes after she heard a
door slam downstairs. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Willow and
Tara were looking at her worriedly and that Xander was gone. She opened
her arms to Willow, and the two girls hugged for the first time since
Buffy had been hit by the nerd's invisibility ray.
"Why don't you get dressed, Buffy?" Tara announced. She pulled Willow
away from the Slayer. "We found out some useful information about
Warren and the others." When Buffy nodded, Tara guided her girlfriend
out of the bathroom and down the stairs.
"Guess you won't be gettin' your bath after all, pet," Spike said. He
stepped away from Buffy to close the bathroom door. Spike growled when
he saw the bruise on Buffy's back. "What the bloody hell happened here,
Slayer?"
"It's okay, Spike." Buffy tried to reassure her upset boyfriend. "I
fell on a broken gravestone while dusting a vamp. I'll be okay, baby.
Slayer healing and all." She moaned when he placed his cool hands over
the bruise as if he was trying to heal it by will alone. Buffy gingerly
put on her clothes with a little help from Spike. She knew her change
in attitude would be confusing, but it felt good to finally admit her
feelings for him.
"Let's go downstairs and see what Red has for us." Spike held out his
hand to Buffy. He grinned shyly when she laced her fingers through his,
and the blond couple went downstairs to talk to Willow.
"So what do you have for us?" Buffy asked when she strolled into the
dining room. She saw that the table was covered in computer printouts,
books and Willow's computer. Buffy pushed Spike into one of the chairs,
and then she perched on his knees.
"We were able to decipher pretty much everything except these." Willow
handed Buffy a pile of papers with strange symbols on them.
While Buffy and Spike looked at the papers, Tara piped up and said, "It
isn't written in any ancient language we could identify."
"Looks like something from off the telly," Spike said. "Maybe Star Trek
or one of those other sci-fi shows." He dropped his chin onto Buffy's
shoulder. Spike was so pleased that she was letting him be
affectionate. It was the one thing that he missed since his Sire had
left him. Oh, Harmony liked to cuddle, but Spike couldn't stand her
incessant prattle about unicorns long enough to enjoy it.
"What do you got for me that you do understand?" Buffy threw the papers
onto the table.
"Um, this." Tara held up a CD disc for the computer. She smiled at
Buffy. It seemed that they were getting their relationships right on
track even as Xander's continued to spiral further and further out of
control.
"It was filled with encoded blueprints and schematics." Willow handed
Buffy another pile of papers, which the Slayer and the vampire studied.
She noticed the glow of happiness that radiated off the usually morose
blonds. Willow hadn't realized how sad the two had started to look
until she saw how they interacted now.
"To what exactly?" Buffy asked. She glanced up from the papers to find
both Willow and Tara grinning at her. Then, she realized that Spike was
purring deep in his chest. It had been something he had done through
out their sexual encounters. So she hadn't even realized he was doing
it.
"Um, banks, armored car routes, corporate vaults," Tara paused. "This
is big."
"They're looking to score some serious dinero," Willow announced. "We
don't think they're planning just one job."
"So, we're talking a spree?" Spike asked.
"We-we can't cover all of these at once." Buffy's eyes bugged out at
just how many heists the Geek Trio had planned. It looked like
something out of a movie.
"You don't have to. We think there's one they may hit tonight." Willow
took the papers from Buffy, and she flipped through them until she
found the page she wanted which she handed back to Buffy.
"It's time sensitive." Tara said softly.
Buffy turned to Spike, and she smiled warmly. "They're human, so you
can't fight them. Can you go get Dawn for me? She went to Janice's to
celebrate the end of the school year." She waited till Spike agreed
before telling him to use her mother's car. Buffy didn't trust Xander
not to attack the vampire if he was out on foot. Then, she went to meet
the Geeks at the amusement park they planned on robbing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several hours later, Buffy limped into her house to find Dawn, Willow
and Tara trying to calm down a very agitated Spike. He was circling
through the house with his face etched with something between worry and
anger. As soon as Spike saw Buffy, he swept her into his arms, and he
buried his nose in her hair.
"I'm okay, Spike." Buffy reassured the vampire. "Warren got away with a
jet pack, but Jonathon and Tucker's brother are both in jail." Her
voice was muffled against his shoulder.
"Wasn't just that, luv," Spike muttered. "Somethin's going on with the
Poof. He's sending urgent tingles through the bloodline. He hasn't done
that since before the soul." He clasped the Slayer tighter in his arms.
"Did anyone call Los Angeles?" Buffy asked. She rubbed her hands up and
down Spike's back.
"I didn't get an answer," Willow replied. She had in fact tried several
times, finally leaving a message on the answering machine for Fred.
"You think he's lost the soul again?" Buffy whispered. She shivered in
remembrance of the last time Angelus had emerged. That wasn't something
she wanted to happen again, but she knew for certain if it happened
this time it wasn't her fault.
"Not sure, pet." Spike muttered. "Maybe we should take a little jaunt
down to L.A. to check on tall, dark, and forehead." He grinned when
Buffy smacked him lightly. Her love taps were getting much gentler.
Buffy pulled away from Spike's embrace to turn to Willow and Tara.
"Maybe you better come with us, just in case we need to reensoul
Angel." She waited for them to agree. "Alright, ladies, let's pack."
In a flurry of activity, Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Tara hurriedly packed
enough clothes for several days. Buffy called the Doublemeat Palace
manager, and pleaded 'death in the family' as the excuse she couldn't
make it in to work for the next few days. Dawn called Anya to let her
know that the others were going out of town and to let the vengeance
demon know that Xander was on the anti-Spike warpath even more than
usual. Finally, they piled into Joyce's seldom used car, and they were
off to the bright lights of Los Angeles ... and Angel.