Something Gray chapter 6/26

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Chapter 6

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Thanksgiving was turning out to be as traumatic as a Buffy birthday party! Maybe it was just Buffy and ALL special occasions that didn’t go well together. Willow had single-handedly ruined the entire holiday by reminding them all about the horrible treatment endured by the Native Americans at the hands of their conquerors. Buffy hated having to think of the gray areas that opened up when having to fight the angry Chumash spirit.

Speaking of gray areas, Spike had shown up on Giles’ doorstep asking for asylum…and not the mental hospital kind either. It seemed that the lab he had ranted on about was a real one and they had put something in Spike’s brain that wouldn’t let him kill. He was looking more like the walking dead than ever by the time he swallowed his pride and came to them for help. Since pride was all he had to swallow in a very long time, he was willing to let them tie him up until they felt safe in his presence. With Spike now the non-kill variety of vampire, Buffy was faced with confusion in how to treat him. Gray areas sucked!

It was hard enough remembering vampires were evil undead and in need of a staking when they were hotties like Angel and Spike, but when they weren’t a threat anymore, it got really confusing. Buffy shook her head to clear it of the thought that she had put hottie and Spike in the same sentence. Still, seeing him there all tied up like a pretty, sexy present DID give a girl a stray thought or two.

Buffy had the feeling that this truce might just lead to a whole new world of bad! The sooner Spike was grade A certified safe and sent on his merry way, the better for Buffy’s comfortable black and white world where the only good vamp was a dusted vamp and the only exception to that rule lived in L.A.

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Spike hated playing nice with the children. The sickly boy was annoying as hell even as he lay there with every disease known to modern man! And as for the waffling about how to fight off the ghostie, Spike was still rolling his eyes over that. You couldn’t win a war when you sympathized with the enemy! How did these people stay alive?

They had fed him pigs’ blood and he had been hungry enough to get past gagging at the taste of it. He was so empty it was going to take a while to get back to full strength.

He finally realized that the Slayer and her little crew of wannabes had not been involved with the underground Nazi camp. ‘Actually,’ Spike thought, ‘seem to remember some plans in German when those goose-steppers captured me during the Second Great War. Something about experimentin’ on the undead. Wonder if this lot’s just a continuation of that bit of nastiness. Lots of Sig Heil boys made it over here when all the shootin’ was done. Play nice with the enemy and see what happens? Underground secret labs and vampnapping!’ Spike kept his thoughts to himself, knowing he’d find precious little sympathy.

The only thing worse than watchin’ the little group play at being the Walton family was listenin’ to the redhead go on and on about the soddin’ Indians. Then again, that was better than her going on about her missing boyfriend. Humans were a pain in the arse. If he could just figure out how to score enough blood to feed properly, he’d snap the stupid wooden chair they had tied him to thinking it would stop him from attacking them. ‘Bloody idiots, like a chair and rope’d do the job! Good thing for them I need to fill my empty or I’d show them what a royally pissed off Big Bad looks like,’ he thought with a smirk.

Of course, seeing them all hiding Peaches being there from the Slayer was worth the price of admission alone! Spike would have told her himself if he’d known how hard she would have taken it. ‘Stupid pillock to turn his back on a sweet package like the Slayer,’ Spike thought, then tried to erase that thought in horror. He was going to have to find a way to get far from these humans or he would become completely corrupted!

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Just one week later, Spike was willing to be anywhere but where his blonde tormentor was, food or no food. He couldn’t get the look on her face out of his head as she had leapt up yelling, “Spike lips! Lips of Spike!” as if he had some contagious disease. To overhear her in the kitchen later had put the icing on the cake. “The bad boy thing? Over it! I totally get it. I’d be really happy to be in a nice relationship with a decent, reliable….”

‘Well,’ Spike thought, ‘I’m bloody reliable, been known to be decent a time or two as well.’ He was surprised how much Buffy’s reaction to the spell’s ending had hurt. He really hated the witch right now.

Spike couldn’t remember ever being as happy and fulfilled as he had been under that bloody spell. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why it had felt so much like love, real love. The Slayer had felt it too. According to the witch, the part of the spell that affected them called for them to get married, not fall in love. There was not a question in Spike’s mind that he had loved Buffy at that time, more than he’d ever loved Dru even. He would have willingly died for her then.

The feeling had left him on a high, so high that the fall back to earth when Willow ended the spell had nearly crushed the life from him. He hadn’t stopped thinking about how bloody good the Slayer…Buffy…had felt in his arms. She had the most kissable mouth he had ever tasted and had shown signs that she would be a passionate lover given the time and right circumstances.

Her buddy, the boy with the insulting attitude, kept making comments, making it sound revolting how he and Buffy had been so in love and in tune with each other. Everybody got on board that particular train! Even Spike had pretended to be disgusted with his spell-induced love fest. Truth was, though, Spike missed the warm bundle of Slayer on his lap.

Had her hair always been that soft and golden? Had she always had such expressive eyes? He remembered growing hard watching her dance that first time he saw her. “Okay, part of me always knew she was a looker,” he admitted to himself. “Still, never knew she’d be so perfect a fit. Bet she’d be a perfect fit in every way too. Damn Willow for casting the spell and double damn her for ending it! Coulda at least let me try the Slayer out first. Get the bint out of my system and all.” One good shag and Spike was sure he’d get over his new interest in all things Buffy.

At least the Watcher left him untied now. Those chains in the tub were more than uncomfortable, they were degrading. Spike remembered Buffy coming into the bathroom, cup of blood in hand, and flaunting that neck of hers…that long, beautiful, neck. Suddenly Spike shook his head in horror to realize his desire had been to kiss and lick that neck instead of ripping it open and draining her even then. ‘God, Dru just CAN’T be right about this,’ his inner Spike wailed in panic. ‘It’s just physical and after the magic engagement, I’m just all revved and ready with no place to race.’ Spike headed to the Watcher’s bathroom, planning on a much needed wank.

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Buffy was having similar problems but would never have revealed them to a soul. She had always been aware of Spike on some level. She remembered being saddened to discover all those years ago that the hot guy she had seen at the Bronze was a vamp. After that, just remembering what he was had been enough to stop any thoughts along that line. Now, however, she kept remembering those ‘lips of Spike’ she pretended to hate. He had tasted wonderful and no one had ever kissed her the way he had, not even Angel. She could just imagine the other things he could do with that tongue of his! Buffy felt herself blush and pretended to have to fan herself from the room heat as Willow looked at her with concern.

“I know it’s fall and all, but the heat’s up way too high. This IS California, after all.” Buffy bluffed.

“Maybe it’s the flannel jammies you’re wearing. I’m fine in my tee and jeans. I’ll turn the thermostat down if you want though,” said Willow. She was still eager to please her friends and feeling guilty about the results of her ‘Will Be Done’ spell. No one acted like they blamed her. Well, Spike did look at her with angry eyes from time to time. ‘Everything worked out okay in the end,’ she reassured herself.

Buffy knew that Willow was already overstressed about Oz cheating on her and then leaving town. Her friend’s distress had been largely ignored by all of them and had led to the disaster that was never to be spoken of again. Buffy really did feel bad for Willow. She knew how it felt to be left behind, hurting. Maybe it would be a good idea to try to cheer Willow up a bit.

Buffy went to the phone to call Anya with a plan. Time for a girls’ night out. The Bronze was just the place for mending a broken heart, or at least hiding it for a few hours.

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The Watcher was expecting a houseguest, one that he was obviously not planning on having sleep on the sofa during her stay. He’d tried to pawn Spike off on Harris, of all people. Well, damned if Spike needed a babysitter! The Scoobies had finally realized Spike’s Big Bad days were over, so there was no reason to just meekly follow the boy to his basement hovel. It was clear Harris didn’t want him there any more than Spike wanted to be there. What Spike needed was a night out to blow off steam. Knock a few balls around a table, seein’ as how he couldn’t knock a few heads around like he’d like to. Make a few quid and get pleasantly buzzed. Wipe that taste of Buffy right off his lips with plenty of Milwaukee’s finest. He might have to room with the whelp for a few days, but for tonight he was going to be his own vamp.

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/196665.html