After Everything

After Everything

A/N: Sorry it's been so long on updating this story. I had a slight case of writers block with it, but now it seems to be better. More regular updates, I promise!


Chapter 4: Secrets and Lies


The next day, the hotel lobby was full of slayers and soldiers all waiting to go back home. Willow stood in front of Buffy.

“You sure you don’t want to leave too?”

Buffy glanced at Spike for a moment before turning back to Willow. “I don’t know. I have this weird sense of foreboding that the fight isn’t over. I think I need to stay here to see what happens and help if I can.”

Willow nodded and then hugged her friend goodbye. “Call if the shit hits the fan; we’ll come back.”

“Will do. Take care, Wills.”

“If you’re staying, then I’m staying.” Sean said as he wrapped his arms around Buffy’s waist.

Buffy turned to look at him. “You don’t have too. I’m just probably being paranoid about the whole thing. You should go back to being soldier guy again.”

Sean had noticed the look that Buffy had given Spike. He knew that if he left her here alone, it would mean trouble for them. She would be back in Spike’s arms in a flash and forget about him. There was no way he was going to give her up that easily.

“Wherever you are is where I want to be, baby.” He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

Buffy smiled up at him. He hugged her to him, looking over her head at Spike. Spike narrowed his eyes at the display, but didn’t say anything. He did want to smack that smug look of the ponce’s face though.

“Hey, B!”

Buffy turned to see Faith walking up to her. “Mind if I stick around too? If there’s another fight on the horizon, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna miss out.”

Buffy smiled, but Angel answered, “That’d be great, Faith. We’ll probably need all the help we can get.”

Angel, too, had that sense that the fight wasn’t over yet. The Senior Partners were just biding their time, waiting for the right chance to strike.

***

Later that same day…

“There you are baby. I was beginning to worry about you.” The raven haired young woman stood and walked seductively to the man. She ran her hands down his chest, looking deep into his chocolate eyes. “You’re hardly here.”

The young man gently pushed her hands away. “I’m doing my job, Nicessa. I’m right where the Senior Partners want me to be.”

“Yeah, sleeping with that little whore of a slayer.” She muttered. “Aramis, I miss you, can’t we find a way of annihilating them without resorting to this…” She indicated Aramis’s appearance. “I never see the real you anymore.”

Aramis smiled lovingly at her as his Sean façade fell away to reveal a man with striking violet eyes and long black hair. “That better baby?”

She answered him by smashing her lips against his and kissing him passionately.

****

“So where’s Soldier Boy?” Spike asked as he walked up to Buffy.

Buffy looked briefly up from her magazine. “Out.”

“That’s real specific.”

Buffy sighed and put away her magazine. “He didn’t say where. Just said he was going to go out for a while. He does that sometimes, but when I ask him he tells me it’s just ‘boring military stuff.’ I’ve learned to just go with it and stop asking questions.”

Spike sat next to her. “Don’t you ever wonder…”

Buffy cut him off. “No, I don’t wonder. Sean’s a good man. I trust him.”

“Fair enough.” Spike wasn’t going to let Buffy in on the fact that he doesn’t trust him in the slightest. He then made a silent vow to find out just where Sean was going during these times. Awkward silence filled the air as each had many thoughts they wanted to tell the other. Spike broke it first. “So, reading Cosmo? Learn anything?” Spike waggled his eyebrows lasciviously.

Buffy almost rolled her eyes, but decided to play along. She turned to face Spike and smiled at him. “Yep.” She trailed her hand along the inside of his thigh, and looked into his eyes intently. “You wanna know?”

Spike was having a hard time not swallowing his tongue so all she got for an answer was a small nod.
Buffy smiled and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “If I eat salmon…” She purred seductively. “I won’t have to worry about cellulite.” She stood up and smirked down at him. She watched as he realized she hadn’t said anything sexy and looked up at her smug face.

Spike couldn’t help but smile at her. “’s not nice to play games, Slayer.”

“Maybe not, but it’s fun. You’re such an easy mark.” She giggled as she heard him growl at her.

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it.” Spike lunged off the couch to try and grab her. Buffy laughed as she jumped away from him and ran to the other side of the lobby.

“Ooh, I’m so scared. The Big Bad’s gonna scold me.” Buffy smiled and winked.

Spike smiled back at her, remembering times gone past. He quickly ran after her again. She tried to escape but this time he caught her just in time, causing both of them to fall on the floor. Buffy quickly wrestled her way to straddling Spike with his arms above his head. Buffy was panting from exertion but she smiled triumphantly. “Now what are you going to do?”

Spike was a little distracted by their position. She looked absolutely gorgeous and he could feel every inch of her that was touching him, making him want more.

Buffy gasped at the raw lust she saw shining clearly from Spike eyes. She was suddenly also aware of the position they were both in. She chided herself for the wave of lust she felt course through her. As she was struggling with her own unbidden emotions, her hands had relaxed on his and he took that opportunity to break free. He quickly pulled her down to him in a demanding kiss. She tensed for a second before giving way to what her heart really wanted. It just felt right to be kissing him. She kissed him back with equal intensity, their tongues engaging in a fiery duel. Spike let his hands wander down her body to her hips and then moved them up to rest under her shirt on her back. Buffy gasped at the feel of his hands on her bare skin and rocked her hips backward onto his, making him moan.

The sound of someone clearing their throat sent Buffy to the other side of the room from Spike, looking embarrassed and guilty.

***

“Leaving so soon, baby?” Nicessa watched as Aramis began gathering up his clothes.

“Been gone too long already. The Slayer may not wonder where I go but her friends will.”

Nicessa nodded, stood up, and walked over to him. “I just wish I could join you there.”

“You could have if you had followed orders in the fight.”

“I told you before, I couldn’t get close to either Willow or Faith, and I was too busy trying to stay alive. I had at least three slayers trying to kill me at any one point in time.”

Aramis tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Which you defeated beautifully, but…” he turned away from her and headed for the door. “you never took any of their essences before they died, so you don’t have a disguise.”

“Wouldn’t have mattered. The ‘guise wouldn’t have held, all the slayers, as you said, were sent back.”

He turned back to her again. “But you would have been in for a while at least, then we could have made new plan, gotten you a different disguise. I have to go. I’ll see you soon.” As he opened the door, he morphed back into Sean and walked out only to stop suddenly at a figure before him.

The cerulean woman cocked her head to the side, processing what she just saw, before grabbing Sean around the throat and shoving him against the wall.

“Illyria, it’s not what you think!” Sean croaked out past her crushing grip.

“Who are you?”

“Maybe I can explain.” Nicessa walked up behind Illyria and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Before Illyria could react she felt a strange pulling sensation as Nicessa’s hand tightened on her shoulder. She felt herself weaken and let Sean fall to the floor, gasping and coughing.

Nicessa, finished with taking what she needed, threw Illyria against the wall. Illyria sputtered as she tried to stand back up.

Nicessa walked up to her. “Understand now?” She kicked Illyria hard in the head, sending her into unconsciousness. The last thing Illyria remembered was looking up to find herself staring down at her before all went black.

***

Faith was grinning at the flustered couple. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Wait… I did. You guys do realize your mackin’ in the middle of the lobby right?”

Buffy blushed but was relieved it was just Faith who had walked in on them. Spike watched as Buffy visibly relaxed, he caught her eye, and she smiled at him. She seemed to be embarrassed over being caught, not about kissing him, and that pleased him to no end.

Faith smiled at the couple. It was obvious to her, where Buffy belonged, she just hoped Buffy would come to her senses soon and dump Sean. Faith didn’t mind him when they were in Europe, but ever since the battle, something about him bothered her, and she just can’t place what it is.

“Have you guys seen Illyria recently? I wanted to spar with her a little, but I can’t find her.”

Spike shook his head. “She’s been hoverin’ about a bit, but I haven’t seen her since this morning.”

“Oh well. B, you up for it?”

“Sure, violence sounds pretty good right about now.” She hoped that it would calm her nerves that were clamoring for more Spike.

Spike watched as the two girls headed down to the training room before heading off to start his own investigation about Sean’s whereabouts.

***

“Aramis, you alright?” Nicessa knelt beside him.

He nodded as he stood. “She’s got some grip.” He coughed.

“And now so do I, how about that!” Nicessa grinned, feeling proud of herself for capturing such a powerful essence.

She looked over at Illyria, lying unconscious on the floor. “She’s a strange one. I’ve never taken one like her before.”

Aramis looked at her new features curiously. “How do you mean?”

Nicessa tried to think of the best way to explain it. “It’s like there are two separate sides to her. One was completely human and the other was this demon.” She indicated her outer appearance. “I couldn’t even reach the human side of her; it was so locked down and repressed.”

Aramis understood, he heard the story of how Illyria came to being in this world. “That must be Winifred Burkle you found in there.”

“Who is that?”

“The woman Illyria took over when she came back. Angel’s team believes that she’s long gone and can’t be brought back, but that just what they were led to believe.”

“What does that mean?”

“That since you took some of Illyria’s essence, you have weakened the demons hold on the woman. Soon the lock will break completely and the two sides of her will have to blend to be at peace with each other. The result will be a very interesting transition.” He looked down at the unconscious woman and he could already see some of the blue receding from her skin.


TBC...