Family Ties
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything Buffy or Angel related, Joss Whedon does ( but he probably did a deal with a demon to get them - allegedly) I also have no connection to any descendents of the Tennyson family and Spike’s branch is totally fabricated.
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Spike gazed in secret wonder at his dinner companions sitting around the restaurant table. It had been so long since he was welcome anywhere, since he was treated with respect; at least it had been a long time as a vampire. Poor William had never known the acceptance of his peers and was threatening to burst into tears, or even worse…poetry, at the joy of it. His demon, meanwhile, was terrified of making a social gaff, it’s own kinds notion of a group gathering usually resulting in a last demon standing scenario and a mop and bucket on standby to clear away the blood. It had spent the first few minutes of the outing trying to bring William down to earth enough to show him what to do and what not to do. Of course neither aspect tended to remember that Spike held the balance between them and had no qualms about mixing with either demons or humans. He just let them get on with it in a corner of his mind while he enjoyed the evening. William was right about that…it had been too long since he was treated as anything even approaching an equal.
As he perused the artwork on the walls of the pleasant Chinese restaurant that they had chosen for their meal; the Bronze, the usual venue, having been voted too teenage for a proper sit down celebration, Spike noticed that Tara was giving him puzzled looks. He raised an eyebrow in query but she gave a shy smile and a little shake of the head which he took to mean that it wasn’t urgent and they would discuss it later. After their banquet order and various drinks had arrived Spike tapped his chopstick against his glass and ignored Williams mental eep as all eyes turned to him.
“Just thought that since this is a celebration we should have a toast” He received nods and smiles as the others raised their glasses in agreement. He continued, tilting his glass toward Tara. “To Tara. I don’t know of anyone, human or demon that knows her that wouldn’t have mourned her passing. And that isn’t thankful that it’s a potential tragedy we don’t have to face. To Tara, the best of us.”
“To Tara!” came the unified exclamation as glasses were raised. Tara blushed but her smile beamed as she finally felt a true sense of belonging. Not the special one that had connected her to Willow and Spike but the one that the others sometimes seemed to take for granted and was so hard for outsiders to become a part of. She saw the genuine pleasure the others found in her continued existence and knew that it had one very special cause so as soon as glasses were lowered she raised hers again.
“I…I’d like to make a toast t..to if I c..can?”
“This is your night Tara, you can do anything you want to my dear.” Giles had no doubt that he spoke for them all. He also had no doubt who the toast was going to acknowledge.
“T…To Spike. Without h..his courage, his b..bravery I w..wouldn’t be here.”
“To Spike!” came the cry
Spike couldn’t blush but William did and then promptly burst into tears while his demon purred like a kitten. For himself he ducked his head shyly and mumbled a thank you. Not wanting to embarrass either guest of honour any more everyone tucked into the mountain of food.
The chatter was general and wonderfully ordinary. Dawn sometimes got so fed up of every other word being prophecy or demon, or if patrol went particularly badly, goo. Anya, she noticed, seemed a little brighter than she had earlier but she was discussing profits with Giles and money always cheered her up. Dawn often wondered if that was a vengeance demon thing or an Anya thing. She smiled at Willow’s adoring looks toward Tara; as though she had been given the greatest gift ever but feared it was going to disappear again, which was true, well the first bit anyway. She took another bite of her crispy duck with plum sauce and then set her gaze on the two most important people in the world. And she was encouraged by what she was seeing. Of course if she had her way she would just lock them in a cupboard together until they saw sense but she knew her sister and that so wouldn’t work. Pity though.
Spike expertly coaxed another spicy prawn between his chopsticks and dunked it in the small bowl of chilli sauce. He popped it in his mouth and nearly spat it out again as he watched the Slayer’s water chestnut shoot past his plate from the force given it by the girl’s own, rather less successful, stick wielding. Spike couldn’t help but think that she would starve to death before admitting defeat and picking up a fork.
Buffy turned toward the choking sound from the next chair ready to glare the stupid vampire into submission but the sight of the genuine non sarcastic amusement on the far too pretty face for a monster took the sting out of the sound, that and his chuckle as he indicated the final location of said oriental vegetable….Giles hair. She couldn’t help but smile as she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a response to the infectious vampire laughter….And hey! She thought with shock. Since when did vampires chuckle? Angel never even smiled let alone chuckle. There was something very wrong in that mental image, she decided as she watched her watcher pick the offending foodstuff off his head and carry on as though nothing had occurred - it was a British thing, she had come to learn over the years. She switched back to her previous thought, the wrongness of a smiley chuckly Spike. Something had happened that they weren’t being told about she was sure but she trusted Giles and Tara, her jury was still a little out on Willow after the whole yanking out of heaven thing but she was getting there. And the shocks just keep on coming she mused as she realised that she also trusted Spike; at least where her family were concerned. She knew that Dawn had concluded that she wasn’t paying attention to the stories of life after Buffy but she had been, she just couldn’t bare the feelings of guilt…that while she had been happy and at peace her sister was devastated and in pain. And that of all the people she had trusted to look out for her baby sister the only two that gave their all were the newest recruit, who they hadn’t even deigned to accept on her own merits but rather as an attachment to Willow, and an undead creature who did as much if not more, and certainly more than Angel, without a soul than those for whom it should have been second nature. Realising that she was entering territory that threatened to spoil her happy mood, and those were rare enough these days, she concentrated on the rebellious noodles that while content to cling to each other were determined to escape her chopsticks. Her breath hitched as a hand covered hers…a cool, elegant and long fingered hand.
Spike could stand it no longer. It was worse than watching Dru try to persuade Miss Edith to eat her cake. He reached out and gently clasped Buffy’s hand. He paused as she turned to him in surprise but was bolstered by her lack of hostility…she would normally have bopped him on the nose for that…or worse if they had been alone. He gently rearranged her fingers around the sticks and moved her digits in the correct manner. He was rewarded with a bright smile and a thank you as food finally made a successful journey to her , in his opinion, perfect mouth. He gave her a little nod which she suspected was the vampire equivalent of a blush and returned to his own meal. His demon was whimpering with joy and he couldn’t hear William at all; he suspected that the little wuss had swooned.
Buffy felt the darkness inside her lighten even more at the burning brightness of the pretty vampire’s smile.
She gulped with a nervousness that wasn’t altogether unpleasant. That was twice tonight that she had thought of the peroxide vampire as pretty. That was so wrong…bad, bad Buffy! She waited for the feeling of self loathing to arrive, like it always did when she thought of the vampire. Well not so much Spike himself as her feelings for Spike, after all Angel had kept reminding her that he was still evil. When the self loathing didn’t come she wondered if it was a symptom that something else was wrong with her, because she was getting pretty damned sick and tired of herself just lately. Then she wondered, with a dawning hope if perhaps it was an indication that something was finally right with her. She wondered if she could be having…what was it Giles called it? An epilogue…no, no, an epiphany!
She looked at the people around her. They were laughing and joking, relaxed and happy. Dawn was actually smiling! She didn’t do much of that anymore. Nobody at home did. It was all business, with slaying and research and vast amounts of brooding about slaying and research. Was this the key to life? Or rather to actually feeling alive, because while her heart was beating she would bet her fake Gucci that Spike felt more alive with his silent heart than she did with her thumpety thump. Was it this simple? Being with friends and family who knew that you weren’t one hundred percent but gently encouraged your happy moments instead of taking advantage of your bad ones….and whoa! Where did that come from. She wasn’t being taken advantage of was she? Angel had only ever had her best interests at heart hadn’t he? Not wanting to delve too deeply into that abyss at a celebration party she tucked the thought away for later - but she wasn’t going to dip her toes back in de-nile by ignoring it. It hadn’t done any good so far. It was about time she kept her feet dry and on solid ground. As she shifted her thoughts back to the happy she caught a glimpse of something sparkly. Buffy had an instinct for bright and sparkly but….she didn’t know that it was a thing she shared with their vampire (put that ‘their’ in the box marked to be dealt with later, she noted).
“Spike, why are you wearing an earring?”
“Oh bugger!”
B*T*V*S
The rest of the evening had gone well. For once there were no demon gatecrashers. No earthquakes or sudden portents of doom, just a nice time had by all, once Spike had gotten over the glowing critique of his formal dress and had promised to wear it again sometime. But Giles had the strongest feeling that tonight had been very important. The bond that had once existed between the scoobies had been, at least partially, renewed and the outsiders had been brought into the family. And most encouragingly of all Buffy had laughed. She wasn’t the old Buffy and Giles suspected that she never would be but she was at least Buffy again. Older, wiser and sadder but no longer halfway between heaven and earth. Buffy was home.
Just in time to up sticks and fly into a new danger.
While Giles drove Anya home the others accepted Spike’s offer of an escorted walk back. Well it was William’s idea actually and both Spike and his demon had been surprised at how well received the suggestion was. It seemed that Victorian manners were still worth something in this day and age. Spike pretended not to notice the smirk from Tara, he hadn’t thought she knew how to smirk, the minx! She had finally admitted to him as they were collecting their coats that their link had enabled her to sort of hear William and the demon talk. Spike had been surprised because while he thought of them as separate inside his head he didn’t really think it possible that they genuinely were. Luckily she could only hear echoes of William because she couldn’t understand the vampire demonic language of his demon. It’s thoughts would make a docker blush. Spike practically had to gag William at that point because having become ecstatic at being heard by a pretty girl once again he started to spout poetry and he was giving Spike, and the demon, a headache. For some reason Tara had been impressed both with the poetry and with his own ability to deal with such a crowded mind. He suspected that it was going to get even more crowded soon since he had ‘heard’ some rather romantic thoughts to do with Willow…and they certainly weren’t his thoughts. He didn’t have the parts for it! They had both decided that they would let nature take it’s course until it became a nuisance, and then they would do what any Scooby would do….pass the buck to Giles.
Dawn wished she hadn’t wasted so much time listening to Angel with his Buffy needs time alone and Buffy mustn’t be exposed to those who won’t understand. Huh! Just because he went off and signed up at the furthest monastery when things got tough like he had after Buffy had died or sulked for a hundred years like he had when he’d gotten his soul didn’t mean that he knew what was best for a depressed Buffy. Her own suggestion of inviting Spike round to talk things over with since his own ideas didn’t seem to be working hadn’t gone down well. She wouldn’t dare tell Buffy but Angel had frightened her. At one point she had actually thought that he might hit her and Buffy didn’t need that on top of everything else. But thank God for Giles. This evening had done more to Buffy-fy Buffy than months of brooding. She only hoped that they could continue the process in London. She squealed in excitement at the thought of her first trip abroad.
Buffy broke off her quiet conversation with Willow to raise an inquisitive eyebrow at Dawn’s sudden squeal. She had found over the course of the evening that the last of her animosity toward her oldest friend had vanished. Willow had nearly lost the woman she loved. She had been through enough and Buffy had told her so. She had been moved at the gratitude in her eyes and knew that she had done the right thing. Angel had been wrong…again…when he said that he had seen arrogance in the Wiccan’s eyes; it had been guilt, and while Buffy couldn’t forgive arrogance she could, and did, easily forgive guilt.
They had almost reached the turning for Revello Drive when Spike brought them all to a halt. It was a testament to their trust in him that they obeyed without question. He cocked his head slightly to one side, his classic listening position, and then frowned.
Buffy scrunched her nose up at Spike’s frown. Frowning vampires was not of the good. She and the others followed silently as Spike led them up the nearby fire escape which served the local mini-mart and across the roof to the other side. They could all hear the group of three young men now, and they didn’t like what they were hearing.
“They won’t know what hit them. They may be all with the demon killing but demons are dumb and we’re smarter than anything they’ve ever faced. By the end of the month we’ll be the rulers of Sunnydale.” Warren laid his vision out for them once again. With idiots for sidekicks it was necessary to hammer the mission statement home a few times. Well at least Jonathan is on board he thought as the boy he had suddenly elevated from sidekick to right hand man supported his vision without question.
“Yeah, and when we rule all the demon clans will have to bow down and pledge their allegiance to us and pay tithes to their rulers. And we’ll have the pick of the hottest chicks as concubines. The Slayer will be begging for mercy” Jonathan had to admit that he cared more about the money and the girls than the power but… whatever kept him on Warren’s good side was okay by him.
Andrew Wells looked around nervously. He could have sworn he heard a growl just then, when Warren had said that demons were dumb. He was starting to think that they were the dumb ones for standing around talking about this stuff. And it wasn’t turning out anything like he’d imagined. He came to the conclusion that he had made a big mistake. He just couldn’t see how to fix it.
“Guys? Are you sure that this is the right thing to do? I mean why do we have to be Darth Vader? Shouldn’t we be Han Solo and Obi Wan Kenobi? Sunnydale is a big place…and…and dangerous. The Slayer might appreciate a little help. It can‘t be easy being Wonder Woman you know” Andrew had the feeling that he was talking to a brick wall…and that he had made another, more fatal, mistake. When Jonathan had told him that they could make a difference in Sunnydale, that they would become somebodies, he had been excited. He wasn’t excited anymore. He was afraid. Warren was talking like a Lex Luthor not a Superman.
The small group crouched on the rooftop and listened as the wannabe rulers of Sunnydale conspired. Willow gave Spike a sharp nudge as his demon reacted to the dumb demon comment and Buffy shushed Dawn as she started to giggle at the Wonder Woman analogy. Buffy was pretty sure that she wasn’t the only one who felt sorry for the blond boy who thought he was going to be a hero and ended up auditioning for villain.
Suddenly Spike tensed.
“What?” Buffy spoke too low for the bad guys to hear but louder than vamp level so that the others would know that something was up. She needn’t have worried. Tara and Willow felt his unease through their still secret bond and Dawn had months of living with the vampire to tell her that he was on alert. An alertness that was great when faced with demons but not so great when your potential date suddenly found something he really had to do…far away.
Spike could smell the change in the atmosphere…literally. But how to explain it with Dawn present?!
“”Something’s different Slayer.” Spike flicked his gaze toward Dawn and, with the accompanying twitch of the head it looked like he had developed a bizarre facial tic.
“Huh!?” Buffy was confused, especially when he repeated the process.
Dawn shook her head in fond exasperation. “It’ll be about sex.” she whispered matter of factly.
“Dawn!” Spike should have known better than to be subtle.
Dawn smirked as she continued. “He always does that if I’m there when he wants to talk to someone about gruesome demon stuff or sex and those guys don’t look gruesome…of course if they start having sex…” She stopped at Spike’s low growl and Willow’s gasp of surprise. She grinned though when Spike admitted
“She’s right though” he waved an elegant hand toward two of the trio who now eyed the third with a predatory eye.
Despite knowing that it had been Spike who had cared for Dawn while she was ‘away‘ it still gave her a shock when her little sister revealed how well she understood the vampire. Spike must have been incredibly open with her Buffy thought before Spike‘s comment redirected her thoughts to the trio.
“They’re going to have sex? That’s eeew. I mean not because it’s guys, or a threesome or anything…well maybe a little with the threesome,,, but in public!”
Spike noted that despite Buffy’s exclamation of disgust both she and the other girls were leaning out for a better view. Women!
“No pet, they’re not gonna have an orgy in the middle of the street. It’s worse than that” The seriousness in his voice brought their attention back from a still babbling Andrew. “I can smell…um…”
“Oh for Pete’s sake Spike I’m fifteen not five!” Dawn hissed.
Spike’s William sighed at the youth of today but didn’t add his opinion to Spike’s as the vampire clarified his observation.
“I can smell arousal on the two bad bad guys. They’re gonna kill the little one. It’s turning them on.”
Buffy remembered how Slaying had made Faith horny and understood.
“We can’t let them have him Spike. He’s just a mixed up kid. He hasn’t actually done anything wrong yet.” Buffy’s tone was one of pleading for the vampire’s cooperation in rescuing the little twit below without realising that he didn’t need any persuasion. He had been won over the moment his William had identified with the downtrodden outsider. For a split second he had felt the pain of 19th century humiliation all over again. He didn’t, of course, say any of this. With a simple nod he jumped straight down between the two would be killers and their victim. Buffy quickly followed while Willow, Dawn and Tara decided on the mundane route of another ladder.
The two nerds may have been pathetic wankers but Spike had to acknowledge that they were quick to defend themselves. The moment he landed next to the potential victim squirt guns appeared and were pointed straight at him. Spike didn’t doubt that the water in the guns owed more to the Pope than the kitchen tap and he braced himself for pain as Buffy landed behind his antagonists, just a step or two too far away to stop the reflexive tightening of trigger fingers.
The pain didn’t come and the soggy reason was standing in front of him. The little nerd had stepped in front of him to take the worst of the drenching. Warren and Jonathan, by this time, had felt the presence of the Slayer…it was hard to miss as they were thrown into the side of the building, landing in an ungainly and slightly concussed heap.
Buffy couldn’t believe it. All this time on the hell mouth protecting humans from the creatures of the night and now all of a sudden her enemies were Sunnydale High overachievers. And they had tried to take out her vampire?! ….okay, she was really going to have to deal with this possessive attitude….sometime that was not now. For now she had two wannabe big bads to show the error of their ways…
Or not.
“Where’d they go?!” Buffy turned to the other girls who had stopped dead as both of the boys, with a glare at Andrew that promised death, vanished into thin air, quite literally in a puff of smoke. “Willow, did you or Tara…?” Buffy wiggled her fingers to indicate witchy happenings but both girls shook their heads.
“One of them must be a magician” Willow was impressed and a little jealous of the smooth spell casting.
“It was Jonathan.”
They all looked to the shivering blond boy who was, in turn gazing in awe, one might almost say adoration at Spike who was himself still trying to come to terms with a human that he didn’t know from Adam defending his immortal arse. Okay, he was defending him by stepping in front of a weapon which, at the worst, would give him the sniffles but it was the instinct that counted. In view of the circumstances Buffy and the girls ignored the distinct lack of grrr in Spike’s voice as he enquired,
“And just who is Jonathan pet?”
Andrew was in a thrall of his own making as he felt compelled to answer that soft and yet commanding British accented question.
“He was the smaller one, the other guy was our leader, Warren. Jonathan’s the one into magics and Warren is into robotics and engineering. He…he said that he had a plan to make a difference in Sunnydale. That people would stop laughing at us by the time we had proved how powerful we were. That they would beg us to belong.”
Andrew’s voice got softer and softer as he told his little story. He was convinced that they would abandon him to his fate and he was under no illusion that it would be a good one. He had seen his death reflected in Warren’s eyes. What he didn’t realise was that at some time in their lives, even if that life had been over a century ago, everyone present had been the same sort of outcast; from Tara’s family to Willow’s wounds from the sharp tongue of Cordelia Chase. From Buffy’s ‘odd’ reputation and Spike’s ridicule as a gentle Victorian poet to Dawn’s ‘keyness’ every person present understood at least a part of what made Andrew Wells tick. So, with a quick bout of looks and gestures between themselves a decision was made, much to Andrew’s amazement and a proportionate increase in his budding hero worship of the Vampyre who had defended his very life, to take him under the collective Scooby wing. They left the alley with a new responsibility and, if the other two were going to try and follow through with their threats, a potentially important ally.
Ten minutes later they wanted to throttle the, as Spike put it so succinctly when he yelled at him to shut up, ‘annoying little wanker’
Andrew practically swooned with delight. Spike was sooo masterful.
Spike didn’t need to be a vampire to detect that the kid was developing a crush on him. In truth he was quite flattered but he didn’t dare encourage it. He knew what it was to have that sort of love crushed,. Better not to let it start. Distance was the cure.
So with the agreement of the girls he dumped him on Xander.
B*T*V*S
Spike had arrangements to make and letters to send. He knew that he could send emails but the Victorian in him balked at the idea. One did not write to a family that one had never met via something as informal as the internet. Spike gave in to his inner William without much of a fuss. Both he and his demon recognised that the poet was the expert in these circumstances. He would have the letter couriered since time was of the essence but he used his best parchment and fountain pen to compose the missive.
‘Knock it off ya ponce! It’s a letter not a bloody love note…be having me sharpen a ruddy quill next!’ Spike reprimanded his over enthusiastic ‘better third’ He was glad that he had roughed out his letter on scraps of Dawn’s notepaper first otherwise the vast number of scrunched up efforts would have exhausted his supply of vellum…well as near as he could get at Sunnydale Mall.
My Dearest Cousin,
I entrust that you and the family are keeping well. Your last letter was a most welcome light in what have been quite dark times here in Sunnydale. I hope that my reply allayed your fears for my health. Circumstances have vastly improved of late and I have news to impart which I pray that you will approve of.
After far too many years I will be returning to England, albeit for only a short time and to deal with a potential prophecy, and I wondered if you would care to meet in person?
I understand fully that you may wish to keep our association a private matter and I can assure you that I have told no-one of our connection…after all while most families have a skeleton or two in their closet they seldom come complete with flesh on their bones, and a penchant for A negative. I must also warn you that I do not travel alone. This is a team effort and I will be accompanying The Slayer, my Sire (yes him) and some people that I have become quite close to of late - who actually seem to care for me in return. It is quite an intimidating mix and I would not wish to overwhelm you or your family.
Please let me know of your decision as soon as possible and convey my love and good wishes to your dear wife and children. Make sure they know, in no uncertain terms, that I will not be offended if you wish to remain in the shadows…it is often the safest place to be.
Your loving Cousin
William Tennyson
B*T*V*S
It had taken almost a week to arrange flights, a passport for everyone except Giles, Doyle, Willow and the two vampires…though Angel did need documentation of a different kind…he was travelling as cargo. Spike offered to save him a copy of the in-flight magazine to read later but for some reason he didn’t see the funny side…it might not have helped that Buffy had laughed and Spike wasn’t sure whether Angel’s glowering was on display because Buffy was laughing once again or because it was someone other than him who made her chuckle. He would have to keep an eye on that… Angel didn’t take being shown up well; even with his soul he could be a vindictive git. Luckily Buffy didn’t notice; she was too busy trying to organize her packing to accommodate every season, Giles having warned her about the British weather. The Watcher himself had his hands full dealing with the minutiae and the bulk delivery of kittens to the local cattery including the late arrival to the ‘honorary scoobies - feline branch’ A late addition which left Spike doubting his own sanity for the millionth time since he first crashed onto the hell mouth. He had said an unequivocal no. He had been adamant, forceful even. Yet to no avail. In the end all it took to break the Big Bad was a fearsome collection of pouting females and Doyle’s threat to pass the last of his winnings back to Clem who, despite being one of the sweetest demons on earth, had terrible eating habits.
Giles indicated the small Siamese kitten with eyes a very familiar shade of blue. Spike fancied that the other Brit sounded a tad smug as he enquired
“So what are you going to call your kitten Spike? Alfred?”
Spike should have known better than to think he had gotten away with the revelation of his rather famous family name and that the discussion that Giles was so obviously looking forward to was on the near horizon - probably about 10,000 feet up where he couldn’t get away.
“Byron, actually. Little fang here takes after his master.”
Giles laughed as Spike walked away with all the dignity a vampire could muster…with a proud, mewling kitten perched on his shoulder.
“Huh?” Xander humphed questioningly as he overheard the short conversation. He had managed to ditch Andrew for a few minutes. The kid was bright and had a great taste in movies but it was like being surgically attached to a one man Spike fan club. Questions came at him thick and fast about the life and times of the peroxide pest but despite Xanders attempts to convince the techno geek that fang boy was an evil soulless demon who deserved staking Andrew had stuck by his hero, parrying every Spike related insult with a reason to look differently on his enemy. It was driving him insane….and even worse, some of it made sense. And he so didn’t want it to make sense.
“I beg your pardon Xander?” Giles had enough experience of American youth to recognize the inarticulate sound as an actual question but he’d be buggered if he would reply to anything that did not even have the dignity of being an actual word.
“What’s the what with the name? I don’t get it.”
“And why am I not surprised.” Giles channelled his inner librarian rather than his inner demon summoner and took a breath before adding to Xander’s education.
“Byron was a famous English poet. He had quite a reputation and was often spoke of as being ‘Mad, bad and dangerous to know.”
“Well who’d a thunk the bleached menace would have something in common with a poet!” Xander snickered as Giles resisted the urge to smile at the oblivious boy’s proximity to the truth. Then Xander spotted Andrew bearing down on him with that gleam of obsession and he was off like a jackrabbit. Giles was beginning to see that Andrew had his uses. He certainly hoped that the boy wouldn’t be a liability on their trip. He wasn’t the most fearless of souls though his attempt to defend Spike showed promise. And his computer knowledge would help free up Willow to concentrate on her magic. In the quiet lull Giles made a few notes of questions to ask William about his family connections. He might have that chat while they were mid- Atlantic. Nothing like a captive audience.
Unfortunately Giles didn’t get to have his discussion with William as planned, for, after over one hundred and thirty years of ‘living’ Spike discovered something about himself that he hadn’t known before.
He was terrified of flying.
TBC
A/N Well almost there. I at least got them on the plane this time. Next chapter Spike gets a shock at the airport and Angel has a bad day.