Once More With Slash

Copyright Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or the Buffy universe. All material relating to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Wedon and WB. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made.



Author's Note: I plan to play around with the time-line and canon events a little (to suit my own nefarious purposes! Mwhahah!) At this stage assume that everything is the same as canon up to Season 6, episode "Once More With Feeling". Obviously I am planning to take some of the characters in very different directions to the canon so if something doesn't quite fit the canon time-line there is probably a reason for it (can we say "convienient plot device" people!?*Grin*)



Description: Xander is being left behind by the rest of the Scoobies and and found his thoughts turning to a certain bleached-blond vampire.



Warnings: Slash! (Xander/Spike) NC-17 (21+) rating for graphic bedroom & battle scenes. Possibly some Buffy & Willow bashing (as pertaining to the intended story line). Enjoy!





Part 3:





“Effin’ hell!” Spike swore as he searched through his duster again for his elusive lighter, cigarette dangling from his lips. “Never bloody find it when you bloody need it!” He dropped his jacket on the floor of his crypt & started violently throwing things off the shelves, all the while muttering under his breath. He was so intent on his search that he didn’t hear the door of his crypt open & was startled when a slurred voice asked,



“Wanna light?”



“Shit!” Spike yelped & spun around. “Geeze Whelp, give a vamp a warning before you creep up on ‘im!” He said while glaring at the tall brunette in his doorway.



“Well?” Xander asked, as though Spike had never spoken. He was holding the cheap plastic lighter that had come free with his case of beer, in his out-stretched hand.



“Give it ‘ere then.” Spike said to Xander belligerently as he took the lighter from him. “What you doin’ here at this time o’ night anyway? Thought you’d be out savin’ the world with the rest o’ the white hats.”



“Nah, they’re all busy doing other stuff…Girly bondage…no, bonding stuff. So I thought I’d come & visit my bestest-buddy-ole’-pal Spike!” Xander said all of this sarcastically while swaying alarmingly. He had been drinking steadily all afternoon, blowing a good proportion of his meagre savings in the process. He didn’t know why he had come to Spike’s crypt. He had been out wandering the streets as the sun set, the numbing effect of too many beers blocking some of the pain of Anya’s departure & his friend’s dismissal, and all of a sudden he had found himself outside the vampire’s home. He also didn’t know why he had opened the door and offered Spike a light, but in his inebriated state he didn’t care enough to ponder it too deeply.



“You’re drunk mate.” Spike said as he bent his face over the lighter & lit his cigarette. A yellowish glow from the flame cast deep shadows along his cheekbones & for a moment he almost looked otherworldly in the gathering darkness of the crypt. “Got any grog left?” he continued as he inhaled a deep lungful of smoke.



“Yeah, but s’all back at my place.” Xander slurred as he leaned more heavily against the doorframe.



“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Spike said confidently. He wasn’t real sure that Xander would let him in to his apartment but he’d be damned if he was going to let the whelp walk home on his own, the boy was a demon magnet when sober, Gods only knew what he would attract in his current state. The Slayer would dust him for sure if anything happened to her donut boy. Plus there was free grog to be had & Spike was never one to pass up an opportunity like that. Throwing his duster over his shoulders, Spike made his way to the open door. Xander was blinking blearily at him & looking pretty out of it so the vampire turned him around & gently pushed him out the door in the direction of home.



As Xander weaved unsteadily through the graveyard, he stumbled over a crumbling head stone, half hidden in the long grass. Spike reached out with vampiric reflexes & caught his arm before he could over-balance further. The shock of tripping over & not hitting the ground seemed to have cleared his head somewhat.



“Uh…. Thanks.” He said to Spike awkwardly as his mind started gibbering at him. Ok, that was… weird. Why would Spike stop my humiliating rendezvous with the ground? It would have been a perfect opportunity to piss himself laughing at my expense. Xander started to go into full-on panic mode. He is probably playing with my mind. Yeah…that’s what it is. Waiting until I start to relax & then he’ll do something to embarrass me & then tell Buffy & they’ll all have a good ole’ laugh at poor, stupid Xander. Can’t even have a few beers without making a complete fool of himself. The cool evening air and his depressing thoughts served to sober him up quickly. He continued to walk next to Spike in silence until they reached his apartment.



Spike could tell the moment the boy next to him sobered-up. His posture stiffened & the scent of misery & panic rolled off him in waves. He wondered what had happened to send such a change though the brunette. Spike pretended he didn’t notice Xander’s hands shaking as he pulled his apartment keys out of his pocket & when he started to have trouble fitting the key in the lock the blond just took the keys out of his hands & unlocked the door for him.



Xander turned towards him, shock & uncertainty plain on his face. Spike just smirked & pulled his cigarette packet out of his duster. Pulling a smoke out, he replaced the packet in his pocket & started twirling the cigarette in the fingers of his left hand, still clutching the keys in his right hand. The cold bite of the metal key ring digging into his palm gave him something to focus on as he stared into the dark, misery-filled eyes of the young man standing next to him. He was always surprised when he noticed that Xander was taller than him. The boy had a knack for making himself seem as insignificant as possible. Spike guessed it was a form of self-defence, low self-esteem adapted for life on the Hellmouth. Spike dropped his eyes to the cigarette he was still twirling in his hand as the uncomfortable silence stretched on. Spike was sure that the ever lengthening silence was the Whelp deciding that he was going to walk inside & slam the door in his face. No thanks for getting him home in one piece, in fact he was probably going to laugh about how Spike had played the good samaritan with all his goody-goody Slayer hanger-on friends. With rising anger and an inexplicable sense of dissapointment he waited to hear the sound of a door slamming in his face.



Oh crap! What do I do now? I have a chipped vampire standing on my doorstep, expecting me to…what? Invite him in? Let him drink my beer? Cry on his shoulder? Xander stifled a slightly hysterical giggle at the mental image that thought produced. He couldn’t see Spike just sitting there while he blubbered all over his jacket-clad shoulder. And what if Buffy & Willow find out I was drinking with Spike? He paused... Fuck it! I am so sick of constantly worrying about what they might think. It’s not like they are even going to ask what I did the night after Anya left me. For once I am just going to do what I want & damn the consequences. Decision made, Xander visibly relaxed. With a small hesitant smile at Spike he turned & opened the door. Looking back at Spike over his shoulder, as he entered the apartment, he said firmly,



“Come in Spike.”