Full of Grace
folder
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
8
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Reviews:
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Category:
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
8
Views:
4,947
Reviews:
8
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
trust issues
Full of Grace
+part two+
He was losing it. He was sure of
it. Why else would he have actually -- willingly -- joined the
Slayer for contemplative brooding? Had a slightly civil
conversation with her? Taken her drinking? Or... for lack of a
better analogy, acted like an insatiable, sex-crazed mutt,
pressing up against her the way he had? Maybe he was feeling just a
leeeetle too sex-deprived. Stupid Dru.Spike raked his fingers through
his hair, then flopped down in the evil wheelchair. He’d
returned from Buffy’s fairly quickly, making it to his
bedroom in record time. Just in case of the off-chance that Dru
came in to spend time with him, or Angelus entered to torment
him, he’d changed his clothes to rid himself of the
Slayer’s scent, combined with the outdoors-y smell that was
tell-tale to the fact that he’d been gallumphing around
outside. But the first thing they would question would be when
and how and why had the Slayer gotten on him before they worried
about how he’d gotten outside. The Slayer’s fragrant,
earthy aroma completely covered him, so much so that he felt like
he was swamped in it.He wasn’t particularly
tired tonight. He could hear Dru down the hall and -- Jesus, they
were still going at it? Hmph. Yeah, that was what
was keeping him awake. Although, he wouldn’t be surprised if
he woke up tomorrow seated upright in the wheelchair -- it had
happened before. To be perfectly honest, he could sleep anywhere,
and still wake up completely refreshed. He figured it was just a
weird vampire thing, since he’d originally Awoken six feet
underground in a wooden coffin. Or maybe it was because he was
one of the last European vampires still in existence, being born
in 1855 and hailing from North London. He was probably just used
to sleeping on uncomfortably hard and lumpy things.Hard and lumpy... oh, for
God’s sake, he was sex-deprived! Grrr. Maybe he
should’ve gotten the Slayer completely drunk, then fucked
her senseless. Or he could’ve used that little chit from the
University that he’d fed on tonight. She wasn’t exactly
the prettiest little thing -- for some reason that was completely
beyond his comprehension, he had a thing for blondes, and that
bint’s hair had been a completely unnatural flame-red -- but
still, she would have done nicely.He remembered that she had green
eyes (the oddest things planted themselves in his memory). Green
eyes and a distinct New York accent; she’d been from
Brooklyn more than likely. Damn, he should’ve turned the
little bitch. She would’ve made a nice minion, and he
could’ve used her to keep an eye on the Slayer and her
mates. Well, it was too late for that now. Bah.He couldn’t believe
he’d agreed to meet her at the high school library.
He’d seen enough of her friends when they were in action to
know that the whole lot was completely loyal to their cause. Or
if not to the cause, then completely loyal to Buffy. With his
luck, the cunt would probably forget all about letting the
Super-friends know about their alliance, and he’d be
attacked on entry. And since he was supposedly on the ‘other
team,’ though he was certain he’d been booted off
somewhere in the first five minutes that Angelus had been back,
the Watcher was more than likely going to take his aggressions
about Angelus out on him.The more he thought about it,
the more he frowned. This was so not the good idea. He paused, his
eyesbrows furrowing. < 'So not
of the good?' Bloody hell, I've been in California too long. >
Anyway, all he wanted was to
permanently get rid of Angelus, and make Dru feel sorry for
rejecting him, maybe get her to beg for him to take her back
before he rejected her. Anyway, he felt like he was being set
up, and he did not like that feeling one bit!Maybe he should bring a back-up
army with him, just in case.Or he could go with Buffy’s
suggestion, and wear a bullet-proof vest. Wait, no, a stake-proof
vest. Did they even make those? They should. A lot of his stupid
minions might actually survive a night out in Sunnydale if
someone had the bloody sense to create such a genius contraption.Oooh. He should think about
doing that. There would be some definite money there.Dammit. Those stupid books had
been right when they’d defined his short-attention span as
ADHD. All he had to do now was learn to squirm while in the chair
in front of everyone else.He had to stop that.He jumped to attention when his
bedroom door burst open. Oh. Yay. His ‘faithful’
girlfriend and ‘respected’ grandsire had come to pay
him a visit (and he used both phrases loosely, a term that Drusilla seemed to be
especially friendly with as of late). Hey, they’d actually
remembered him! Well, woo-bloody-hoo. Who cared? He peered up at
Angelus as the dark-haired bastard entered, a smug, proud grin on
his face."Well, well, look
who’s up and rolling. Can’t sleep? Such a shame."
Angelus turned his head to openly leer at Drusilla. "Wonder
why."Dru offered a coy, sly smile in
return, sauntering up next to the elder vampire. Rubbing her
cheek against his right bicep, she snaked an arm across his waist
and purred lightly as her fingers roamed up and down his abdomen.
"Are we going hunting now, my Angel? My tummy’s all
growly. It wants a nummy treat." Her sweet, lilting voice
contradicted her evil, prowling demeanor. It was the same
demeanor that said she was fully aware of what her open betrayal
meant to Spike, and it also said that she truly didn’t give
a damn about it. Spike had to fight not to flinch.Angelus let out a soft growl,
pressing his lips to her ear before he turned to look at Spike.
‘Yeah, baby, we’re going."Drusilla smiled and let out a
soft humming sound before she too turned to glance at her former
lover. "Do you want anything, pet?"Angelus grinned. "Yeah.
Want some take-out, Roller Boy?"Spike’s jaw clenched, but
he refused to give his Sire the satisfaction of seeing him get
pissed. Angelus was not going to succeed in intimidating him.
Instead, Spike met Angel’s gaze with a proud, defiant jutt
of his chin, openly showing his utter disdain for the prick.
"Go on ahead. Have fun. Oh, but you can do one thing for me.
Why don’t you purposely trip on a tree branch an’ stake
yourself, Peaches?"Angelus smirked and
none-too-lightly smacked the back of Spike’s head.
"Funny! He thinks he’s a comedian!" He leaned in,
his upper lip curling to reveal the disgust he harbored for his
Childe. "You know, I might take you up on that." His
eyes rolled over to Dru, who preened at her Sire’s
acknowledgement, proud to be recognized as Angelus’s
mistress. "Although... I’ll probably be doing the staking. Just so you know."He stood up and patted
Spike’s cheek twice roughly, giving the younger vampire a
quick smirk, before hauling Dru out the door. The vampiress
followed, clinging to her Master and tagging after him like a
puppy begging after a piece of bacon.Spike managed to contain himself
until he could no longer feel their presence in the mansion. And
then he jumped up and screamed psycho-serial-killer-bloody
murder, kicking the wheelchair over and sending it flying into
the wall.Trap or not, he would fully
align himself with the Slayer. Angelus and Dru were gonna pay for
ruining his life.
She was off her rocker. She was
fully positive that she was certifiable.
headcase, that much was a definite. She seriously
needed help if she actually believed that Spike was on her side.
And furthermore, Giles was gonna kill her! She had just made an alliance with
the freakin’ dark side, with the guy whose whackjob Sires
had both had a hand in murdering Giles’s girlfriend! But the
real thing Giles would focus on (oddly...) was going to be the
fact that she’d done it without his consent. There was no
telling how pissed off he was gonna be.But... Sigh. She had told Spike
that she would let everyone know about it before tomorrow so he
wouldn’t be dust in the doorway the instant he arrived. She
just couldn’t help it, though! This whole situation was
wicked insane, and it was wigging her out! And rightly so, but if
Spike’s departure was any indication, he was about as wigged
as she was. In fact, he probably thought that she was planning to
double-cross him, which... okay, well, the thought had briefly crossed her mind. But the bleached jerk
was valuable, and he was the only one strong enough to help her
defeat Angel and Dru.Damn the system!She grunted. < Stupid
vampires. >It figured that she would have
to fall in love with a vampire that was cursed with a soul. It
was sort of poetic. No, not poetic. Tragic, it was tragic. Hello,
Romeo, so long Cinderella.Okay, so her relationship with
Angel hadn’t exactly been a Cinderella story. There
weren’t any ball gowns, or castles, and her mother
didn’t hate her. But she had found a Prince Charming, and she’d
started to be all Happily-Ever-After with him, despite the whole
vampire slaying hoo-ha that she had to put up with in This Thing
Called Life that stalked her wherever she went.But dammit, nobody had ever told
Cinderella to kill her Prince Charming when he lost his soul
and became an evil psychopathic fiend, who happened to drink lots
of O pos and had around 230 years on her. < Of course, it
would have helped if Cinderella’s honey actually HAD lost
his soul. And was a vampire. Stupid fairy-tales. > Anyway,
that was when Wherefore Art Thou Romeo came in. A tragedy in
every way because the consummation of their love now meant
certain doom for her loved ones in the wake of Jenny’s
death.That fairy tale wasn’t
lookin’ too bad right now. Buffy huffed. < Stupid
reality. >M’kay, that was getting a
little creepy, even for her. She needed to stop blaming
everything else (for now) and call the Scoobies to tell them
about Spike.With luck, nobody would collapse
into epileptic fits.
Okay. The long and short of it
was that the Circle hadn’t gone well last night. Giles, as
predicted, had blown up at her for making a decision without
consulting him. Xander was freaked to the max times ten to the
forty-second power, and was pissed off at her on top of that for
bringing another vampire WithOut A Soul into the fold.
(hundred) crucifixes with her (under her clothes, of course;
being Jewish really did put a cramp on using crosses to guard
against evil). She would also be hiding behind Oz during the
meeting.Oz meanwhile, had been as calm
and stoic as ever. He had replied with a simple, "Huh.
Okay," to her message, then agreed with her decision before
hanging up with her.Cordelia hadn’t been given
a message. Simply for the fact that, even though she was dating Xander, she still thought of herself as
the Queen C, all bow down before her Highness Cordelia.Okay, okay, so she wanted to see
Cordy jump a little. Was that so wrong? Probably, but it was
still gonna be wicked funny. Hehe.It was the night after, and she
had come home from school to meet Mom for a rare dinner downtime,
before heading off to study at Willow’s (read: patrol). Then
she’d come straight back and changed into another outfit for
the Scooby meeting, because God knew she stunk and she really didn’t need Cordy pointing it out to her.She had told him that they would
meet at the high school library. So she was understandably
freaked when he popped up at her door, raising his eyebrows with
questionable innocence. "’Ello, pet."She let out a very unSlayer-like
yip, spinning around and punching him. "Asshole! What the
hell are you doing here? I said we’d meet at the
library!"Spike growled and punched her
back, connecting with more accuracy since he didn’t have
adrenaline or the slightest jump of fear running through him. He
pulled back, scoffing as she hit the ground, then sighed.
Reaching out his hand, he grabbed her arm and hoisted her up,
lifting her right off her feet before they touched the porch.
"Excuse me for being the slightest bit of cautious, luv, but
I don’t really fancy walking with my eyes in the back of my
head, right into a trap. So you have the esteem pleasure of
having me accompany you there."She groaned. "It is not a trap, you leather-bound dimwit! I
told you I’d let them all know beforehand, and I
did!"He grunted at her. "Right.
An’ I’m sure little visions of setting me up had never
crossed your mind? I’d just as well start praying under a
cross!"Buffy’s lips zipped and she
stared at him. That was not fair! He had seen right through her,
sensed that she’d contemplated betraying him! God, if only
she had that Spidey-sense in her Slayer arsenal.
"Okay, so maybe I did. But it was only for a second. Can you be anymore paranoid?""Paranoid, yes. Stupid
an’ gullible, no. Get moving, Slayer. I wanna get this over
with an’ be back ‘fore the wankers notice." He
started stalking off in the direction of the school, and Buffy
half-skipped, trying to catch up to him."How did you get past them
anyway? Wouldn’t they know if you’ve been somewhere,
and don’t they have minions guarding wherever it is
you’re staying now?"Spike huffed, walking faster,
his strides so long that Buffy’s efforts to catch up were
almost doubled. "See, that’s the problem with Peaches.
He underestimates me. Doesn’t realize that the Big Bad is
back, doesn’t have a single soddin’ clue of what I
could’ve done to him while he slept. That right there?"
He looked at Buffy and continued when she nodded.
"That’s his weakness. The sonofabitch is too damn
arrogant."Buffy snorted. "So are
you!"He scowled at her.
"Arrogant is being so caught up in yourself that you think
you’re bloody immortal. I’m cocky. Cocky is knowing that you can handle
yourself, and knowing when to back off when you’ve been
beat. I’m cocky, whereas he’s arrogant. That’s the difference
between us, luv. I got out easy because Angelus went hunting with
Dru again, an’ from past experience, I know they’ll be
gone till just before the bloody sun comes up. Second, the
minions Angelus enlisted are idiots. Taking after their Sire is
all."He seemed more annoyed tonight
than he usually was. Something must’ve pushed him to that
edge since the night before. Angel had probably made fun of him
again, or something. Which brought up a question in her head.
"Why does Angel seem to hate you so much?"Spike’s eyes flickered
toward her briefly, then back ahead as they rounded a street
corner about a block away from the high school. "We playing
Twenty Questions, then, are we? He doesn’t seem to hate me, luv. He
does hate me, an’ I hate him every bit
as much. Guess I was too much of a rebel for him to handle.
Angelus never really enjoyed the whole parenting feature that
came along with being a Sire. I never listened to him, I called
him a ‘poofter,’ an’ I ran out an’ did things
he told me not to do. That’s how I killed my first Slayer.
He told me the bitch would find me an’ kill me if I
didn’t lay low, an’ that just made me wanna find her
all the more."Buffy frowned. "So Angel
hates you because you don’t listen to him?"Spike glanced at her again,
slowing down slightly. The school was just around this corner,
and he didn’t particularly want to be quick going in without
Buffy. "Angelus, pet," he corrected gently.
"Call him by his rightful name. He isn’t the bloke you
knew anymore." Buffy looked down, nodding slowly.Spike sighed and continued.
"And he hates me because he thinks I’m a lesser vampire
than he is. Just because I don’t roam around, snatch a body
off the street, then play a round of Torture Club with them.
Torturing... it’s just not me, y’know?" A wicked
grin overtook his features. "I like the fighting." He
cleared his throat after a bit, a thoughtful look appearing on
his face. "What was it he said once? Ah, yes." He
looked at Buffy, gave her a tight smile and wiggled his eyebrows.
"He believed I was ‘in it for the food.’ If I was
in it for the food, Dru would have just placed me as a
minion. I was in it for the bloody freedom it gave me."Despite herself, a quirk formed
her lips and she smiled. Through all his way too obvious faults,
it was funny imagining that Angel thought that this guy was only
in it for the food. And another thing -- he was being friendly.
Annoyed, but friendly still. It was a rare side that she
hadn’t seen before, and in spite of her, she found herself
enjoying his company.Wiggy.They entered the high school and
started down the hall the library was in, before Buffy stopped
and pushed him to a wall. He glanced down at her, raising his
eyebrows. "Yes, pet?"She glanced at the doors, then back at him, her countenance becoming almost
violently serious. "Those are my best friends in there. You
make one move at any one of them, and you're gonna wish I had
finished you off at the church that night. Got me?"He looked in her eyes, holding her gaze for
about a minute. The girl was deathly serious. She was willing to
kill in order to protect these people, just as he knew without a
doubt that those people in there would willingly risk their lives
for her. He wondered what type of person she really was to have
such loyalty. What type of person he
would have to be to gain that loyalty from the one he loved.After a bit, he nodded slowly, and Buffy
released him. His stance relaxed and he regarded her with a
slight smile. This girl was every bit the anomaly in her world as
he was in his. She was his complete opposite, and yet, at the
same time, his exact equal. She was the female version of him.
That was a rarity to find.And absurdly, he found himself liking the girl
more and more.Clearly, she wasn't like the Slayers he had
faced before. He had known that the instant he had locked his gaze on her at the Bronze that first
night. It intrigued him, and at the same time, he worried.Because it aroused him as well.
It was unheard of to find such an equal in your very own enemy.Whoops. She was talking.
"... who Giles is. The dark-haired guy in there, I’m
pretty sure you know, if you don’t, his name is Xander.
Ignore his attitude and his bad jokes, cuz I’m sure that the
second he opens his mouth, you’re gonna want to kill him,
but you can’t. The red-head is Willow, and the guy
she’ll be hiding behind for most of the meeting is her
boyfriend Oz. The long-haired brunette chick with the caustic
tongue and really bad attitude is Cordelia, she’s
Xander’s girlfriend." He peeked through the window of
the library, then looked down at her with one raised eyebrow. She
sighed. "I know. Believe me, I know. I don’t get it
either."She turned and paced for a
moment, thinking, before she came back to him. "Remember,
you touch or look at any one of them in a way that means,
‘ooh, blood packets, nummy,’ and I’ll rip your
head off with my bare hands. I mean it, Spike." She glanced
up at him for a moment, her bright green eyes searching the
sapphires that his had become, then turned to the door when he
nodded."My, but you’re a
protective little bint, aren’t you, luv?" he murmured
softly, his annoyed tone floating into her ears, hiding a hint of
a smile. Buffy glanced up at him again.
"They’re my family. When it comes to the people you
love, you have to be."His smile disappeared instantly
at her words, and Buffy frowned to herself. She wondered idly if
he must have been thinking about Drusilla. Shrugging it off, she
pushed open the doors and entered to a round of chorused
hello’s for her, and distrusting and fearful looks for
Spike. A scream split the air, and Buffy whipped her head around
to glance at Cordelia, who was staring at Spike with wide eyes
while her trembling arms looped around Xander’s neck in
fear. Buffy tried her best to hide her amusement before she
glanced at Spike. The vampire had his head tilted
to the side, and was staring at Cordelia like he was mentally
dissecting her. She understood that he was trying to push through
the fear in order to view her character. And apparently, whatever
he found was amusing as all hell, because he was looking back at
Buffy now and grinning like an idiot. "I take it she didn’t
know yours truly would be making an appearance?" he asked
knowingly.Buffy grinned and looked down
sheepishly. "Whoops. I guess I forgot to mention that to
her."Xander looked at her from the
study table in the center of the library. "You forgot to
tell her that Dead Boy, Jr. would be here?"Spike scoffed at the nickname as
Buffy shrugged. She grinned again. "Sorry, Cordy!"Cordelia glared furiously at
Buffy, her eyes blazing. "I’ll just bet you are,
Summers!" She turned to her -- snort -- boyfriend and buried
her face in his shoulder. "Xander, she did it purposely to
hear me scream!"Xander rested his head on top of
Cordy’s, gently stroking her hair and her back. "I
know, I know. Bad Buffy. Bad, mean Buffy, scaring my poor Cordy
like that," he scolded, all the while giving Buffy a
thumb’s up and a wink behind Cordelia’s back.Buffy covered up her grin by
clapping her hand over her mouth, then sat down next to Oz,
squishing him in between herself and a word-lacking Willow. Spike roamed around on the outer
edges, eyeing the remaining seat next to Xander like it was
covered in flesh-eating Egyptian scarab beetles. He leaned down,
crouching next to Buffy. "You’re not gonna make me sit
next to him, are you?" he asked out loud. "I can feel
my self-respect diminishing just by looking at him."Whoosh. Cordy’s fear went out the window.
She whirled around, gazing at Spike. "You can feel it too? Oh, thank
God, I thought it was just me!"Buffy snorted and then looked
down in embarrassment when both Giles gave her the Disapproving
Librarian Look and Spike smirked, then began stewing as he
plopped down on the steps leading up to the stacks.Xander, meanwhile, glared back
and forth between his girlfriend and Spike, before he settled
back. "Hello! Cordy, I’m sitting right here, this is me, your boyfriend, remember?"Cordy scoffed. "Don’t
remind me."All at once, Giles cleared his
throat and Spike stood up at the sound, meeting the
Watcher’s steely, untrusting gaze with one of his own. Buffy
stood up as well, preparing to be mediator for the two, should
they come to blows."Giles?" she asked
tentatively.The Watcher ignored her and
instead, spoke to Spike. "I don’t trust you."Spike shrugged, his gaze never
wavering. "No surprise there. I don’t trust your lot
here either, mate. Only reason I’m here is that we’ve
got common enemies."Xander, still glaring at
Cordelia for her earlier comments, huffed and crossed his arms.
"Well, there’s one thing we never thought we’d have in
common with you."Spike snarled softly at the boy,
then glanced back as Giles continued. "I have no idea as to
what you believe you can gain by joining us in our fight against
Angelus, but rest assured that if this is only a mere plot
deviation formed by yourself, Angelus and Drusilla, we will not hesitate in the least in killing you."Spike raised his hand to the
bridge of his nose, pinching as he looked down and closed his
eyes. After a moment, he looked back up again. "Mate. If
this was something Angelus had come up with, all on his lonesome,
with that one remaining braincell in his head," he ignored
the dirty look he received from the Slayer, and the muffled laugh
Xander made, "I wouldn’t even be here. Believe me. I
want my shithead of a sire out of the picture as much as you
do."Giles held the vampire’s
gaze for a moment longer, then nodded shortly. "Very well,
then. We appreciate whatever information you can give us."Spike nodded slowly, then came
down off the steps, circling the table with his hands behind his
back. "The last couple of days, Dru’s been prattling on
an’ on ‘bout some sort of star alignment. At least,
that’s what I got out of her when she wasn’t busy
shagging..." he glanced up and his eyes caught Buffy’s.
He quickly glanced back down again and covered up his words.
"When she wasn’t ignoring me in Angelus’s
favor."He looked up again, and noticed
that Buffy was staring at him in confusion. Now that he realized
it, almost all the kids were. Giles, however, was gazing at him
with some form of consideration. He realized then that the
Watcher was the only one who’d caught his slip.He shrugged it off and sighed.
"Anyway, according to her, something big’s s’posed
to be happening, but there’s always something big happening
when she has a vision. Something’s coming to town, an’
from what I gathered, it’s some big evil. Problem with it,
is that it’s stone. Which is what I don’t get. What the
hell’s so evil about stone?"He gazed at Giles expectantly,
placing his thumbs through his beltloops as the teenagers of the
group glanced between the vampire and the Watcher.Giles frowned and took off his
glasses, then placed the plastic end between his lips, chewing on
it as he pondered the information. "Something set in stone?
Perhaps an ancient scripture? Or perhaps..."The Watcher stopped in his
tracks, pulling the end of his glasses out of his mouth and
looking up. "Stone.... stone..."Spike rolled his eyes as Giles
took off toward his office. "Were you possessed by a drone?
We know it’s stone, what do you make of it?"Giles came back out, holding an
envelope with a few sheets of paper in his hands, studying them
furiously. Appearing not to have heard a single word that Spike
had said, he furrowed his brow and began chewing on the ends of
his glasses again. The vampire frowned and glanced back at the
group he stood next to. Buffy, Oz, and Xander, in unison, snorted
loudly. Buffy, still glaring at him, shook her head, waving her
hand -- a look was on her face that stated ‘don’t even
bother.’
Spike grunted and sighed. He was
insane. All those years with Dru had finally rubbed off on him.
He was insane as hell to have even considered coming here.
been insane, and people called him a ruddy genius.