Old Enemies... (S/X)

* * * * * * * * *
Part 45

He’d dressed in the clothes Spike had brought him, chuckling just a bit at the leather and silk. That particular outfit bore more than a passing resemblance to the one he’d been wearing the night they’d met in New York. He’d had a bad moment when he hadn’t been able to find his eye patch, but finally he’d seen just the edge of the black strap peeking out from under the thoroughly disturbed sheets near the foot of the bed.

Harris chuckled again, trying to figure out exactly when it had meandered from the pillows all the way to where it was, a pleased little smile tugging at his lips as he replayed at least part of the festivities in his mind. Oh, yeah… that explained it.

Spike stood in the bedroom doorway, scarred brow arched in amusement as his claimed muttered and laughed to himself. “ ‘s that a private conversation, luv, or can anyone join in?”

The human grinned and turned to face him, moving closer to kiss him slow and hard before pulling back and settling the patch in its usual position. “I was just thinking, babe… it’s a good thing I kept myself in shape after I gave up construction. Otherwise, you would have been the death of me by now.”

The blond snorted softly. “An’ it’s a good thing I’m bleedin’ immortal, mate… or same ta you.” He took his Xan’s hand and tugged him out into the living room. “An’ much as I’d luv ta stay here an’ have us another work out, pet… we need ta go, yah? Think your little friends are expectin’ us.”

Harris sighed and wrapped his arm around Spike’s waist. “You know… they were your friends too, babe… kind of,” he added at the small annoyed sound his vampire made.

“Kind of is bloody well right. Not a one of them had any use for me most of th’ time… with th’ possible exception of Buffy. An’ even she didn’t…” He stopped and shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter now, does it, luv? Besides, this isn’t about me an’ them. It’s about YOU an’ them, an’ how they decided ta just… roll over you. Denyin’ ME th’ presence of my beloved, by th’ by.”

Dark hair slid forward a little as Harris nodded slowly. “I… look, Spike,” he said quietly as they left their suite and headed for the elevator, “I don’t know what they were thinking, and to be honest, it pisses me off no end that they thought there was nothing wrong with just… adjusting me to suit their needs. I… there’s a part of me that will never forgive them for what they did, but…”

Harris sighed as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Fortunately, they were the only occupants.

“I just can’t believe,” he continued once they were moving, “That they didn’t have some sort of a reason, other than wanting to take away my happiness, you know? And… I’m not going to shut them out until I know what it was.” There. It was said. He didn’t know how Spike would take it, but it wasn’t Spike’s decision to make. It was Harris’s, and he’d decide how he felt after he’d heard their justification.

Spike did his best not to smile. He’d never wanted his beloved to turn away from his friends, but the man definitely had a right to get some of his own back. And he kind of agreed, anyway. IF there was a good enough reason, he figured he could manage to not kill the witch and Slayer… or even not hurt them too much. But his love deserved his anger… and whatever vengeance the human chose would doubtless be appropriate.

“ ‘s up ta you, Xan…” was what he finally said as the elevator slowed. “Not like you’ve spent a lot of time with them in th’ last few years, anyway. Didn’t you tell me th’ day you called Red from my place was th’ first time you’d talked ta her in half a year?” He shrugged, his arm around his human as the doors opened and they stepped into the lush lobby of their hotel. “I’m behind you, luv. No matter what you decide ta do, alright?”

Harris smiled, completely oblivious to the interested looks he and his claimed were receiving. His arm rose from Spike’s waist to settle comfortably and possessively around his shoulders as they strolled to the main lobby doors. “I know, babe. And I seriously doubt whether this whole thing is gonna make the Scooby gang closer, you know?” His eye widened slightly at the chauffeured car waiting and the driver who stood quickly from his spot leaning against the side panel to open the door. “Uh, Spike…? Something you want to tell me?”

The blond chuckled. “Came with th’ room, luv. Might as well use it, yeah?” His arm dropped from around the toned waist of his human. “Go on, pet. Get in. If you like it, I’ll get us one when we get back home.”

Harris sighed. “I’d rather be able to drive myself, but I guess it beats walking, right?”

He frowned slightly as he climbed into the car behind the younger man. “An’ why wouldn’t you be able ta drive yourself, luv? You seem ta be right capable of anythin’ you set your mind to.”

He snorted. “Yeah, well try telling that to the District of Columbia. They seem to think I might have problems with depth perception.” Harris snorted again. “As if.”

Spike was fully aware that his Xan was avoiding thinking about what was going to happen when they reached the Watcher House. Hell, he couldn’t really blame the man. There were some lines friends weren’t supposed to cross, and in HIS opinion, the chits had crossed it not once, but twice. Firstly when they’d kidnapped their alleged friend, and then again when they’d decided to muck about with the very thing that made Xander… Xander. His memory.

He hadn’t said anything about it, but his beloved hadn’t been the same bloke without knowing everything that had formed him into who he was… he’d been less… bold, Spike thought, when he hadn’t remembered HIM.

He hadn’t loved his human any less, of course, but… he’d definitely noticed. Now, though…? Well, his beloved was his old self again, this time with an added edge of dark anger buried under the Harris-facade he wore so well. That edge was… exciting, Spike admitted silently, but that was a vampire thing and he didn’t really think he’d miss it when the man worked through it. It wasn’t what he loved about his claimed, after all.

With that thought in mind, Spike leaned over the seat of the classic luxury car and gave their driver the address before sitting back in the seat, his nearer hand clasped with his beloved’s. “Won’t be long now, Xan,” he murmured softly, “An’ then we can go home… unless you’d rather tour Europe a bit? Not like either one of us has anywhere else we need ta be. Other than together.”

It was an idea Harris found himself turning over in his mind carefully. He’d been able to afford a trip like that for a while but somehow it hadn’t seemed appealing… or it hadn’t until Spike. But now… he looked at the blond from the corner of his eye, imagining all the places they could see, the things they could do. The Eiffel Tower, the remains of the Berlin Wall, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel… and then he laughed and accepted the reality. He’d be seeing a lot of ceilings, all right. The ceilings of some of the finest hotels on the continent. “That could be a plan, babe,” he said with a grin, pulling their joined hands into his lap, “Always wanted to… study abroad.”

Spike laughed at the reminder of their bag of toys. “Don’t worry, pet. I’ll be givin’ you lots an’ lots of homework.”

“Oh, good,” Harris murmured. “Because I have a feeling I’m gonna like the research for a change…”

“Might let you graduate… magnum cum loudly,” the vampire teased.

The brunette groaned at the truly horrible pun. “Okay… that was bad. You may need to be punished if you keep that up.”

Spike smirked, continuing the suggestive banter as their car drew closer and closer to their destination. He figured he should enjoy this moment. His human wasn’t likely to be anywhere near as playful later. Or not for a while, anyway.

* * * * *

“Oh God, oh God, oh God…”

“Buffy… calm down.” Willow patted her friend’s back, trying to soothe her.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God…”

Elliot arched one slender brow at Trevor from a few feet away. “Uh… is she broken?” he asked, confused at seeing the young woman so out of sorts.

Trevor sighed and returned to the couch, one arm resting on the back of it behind Elliot’s shoulders. “I think she’s worried about what Harris wants to say to them, baby.”

He snorted. “No… really? I thought she was freaking out because of that thing her hair is doing.” Elliot rolled his eyes affectionately at his lover. “It’s just that… she’s been ‘oh god’-ing for like five minutes now. It’s getting kind of annoying. Besides… Willow’s not all wierded out and if Harris is gonna be pissed at anyone, it’ll be her, right? She’s the witch.”

Trevor shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so, El. Harris and the Maiden-Crone have been friends for pretty much their entire lives. He forgave her for almost ending the world, and trust me, that was much bigger than this, seeing as she kind of tried to kill him.”

And for a moment, Elliot had almost forgotten that his best friend’s books weren’t fiction. Willow… really was Rowan. All the things Harris had written about had really happened, and the young looking redhead who seemed somewhat meek at times was really the same bad-ass wiccan who’d done exactly what Trevor had said, among other things.

The brunette nodded slowly, his hand moving from the back of the couch to rest on Elliot’s shoulder and squeeze gently. “The Slayer, on the other hand… she came into the mix much later, and… she never really understood just how capable Harris was. Even though she defended him to the old Watcher’s Council, she was always too worried about him being ‘only human’ to put him to effective use. Not until close to the end, anyway, and then he lost his eye, so…” He shrugged, glad the witch and the Slayer were too absorbed to hear him.

“And you know this… how?” Elliot asked softly, unconsciously leaning back into that hold on his shoulder. “Oh… because…”

He nodded. “Because I used to see… everything, baby. Not just the little bit I do now.” Trevor shrugged again. “It was a good trade. And I’m not sorry, if that’s what you’re thinking. To be… human. Mortal? To be able to touch and be touched? To truly FEEL, to know the immediacy of this mortal coil?” His smile was gentle as his eyes met the other man’s. “I would wish I’d been able to do it earlier, but for one thing. If I had, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to know you El… and I wouldn’t give that up. Not for anything.”

Elliot blinked, not entirely sure of how to take that. On the one hand, it was possibly the best compliment he’d ever gotten, but on the other… it had almost sounded like Trevor was making some sort of declaration…? Of what, Elliot wasn’t sure. The only thing he knew for certain was that it made him feel kind of uncomfortable… and safe in a way he’d never really known before.

In the end, he could only think of one thing to say, noncommittal as it was. “So no regrets, then?” Elliot asked, biting his lip.

“Not a one,” Trevor replied, sighing silently. He should have known better, should have known it was too soon, too much. His only defense—and it wasn’t much of one—was that it was all still new to him; especially the way he was feeling. Still, Elliot hadn’t pulled away from him any more than he had the night before, so… maybe it would be all right. He just… needed not to push. His hand rubbed slowly over the other man’s shoulder, a soft, subtle touch that tried to convey simple affection and actually said much more.

Fortunately, that was the moment when they all heard the bell announcing someone at the front door.

All of them tensed for different reasons, even the Slayer going silent as they waited for Collins to conduct Harris— Xander—to the library.

* * * * *

(A/N: Only two more parts to go. Sadly, I'm working doubles the next few days, so... we'll see whether I have time to post soon. If not, then figure on Tuesday, guys. Thanks to TheShadowCat for the review, and yes... I'm definitely going to Hell. *snerk*)