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Valentine's Fic!
So, I come bearing fic. I've been working on this like crazy (if it's bad, that's why) these last few days since Valentine's kinda snuck up on me... and what with being so busy, my muse decided that a schmoopy piece of fluff was not going to be the order of the day. Well there *is* fluff and schmoop, but somehow I also managed to turn this into a set-up to a sequel to 'Maybe Someday' (for which I still don't have a plot, but give it time...).
Anyway, it is a stand-alone of sorts, but more like a FitB from this as yet unwritten sequel. ::facepalm:: But I will write it, don't worry. I just have to get a few other things out of the way first.
Many red roses to my fabulous beta![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh.
And feedback is better than chocolate! :)
ETA: This is set in 2007, so two and a half years after the end of 'Maybe Someday'!
Valentine's
It was a rainy, dreary day, which was only fitting, Buffy thought, since everyone seemed to have a Valentine’s date except her. The day had passed slowly, its hours marked out by Dawn’s increasingly frantic behaviour as the time for her date approached. Buffy had finally seen them off not long ago, the boy in question having stood up quite well to her Steely Look of Doom while he waited for Dawn to get her coat.
And now there was only her, with nothing but a dull night in front of the TV to look forward to. Every channel would no doubt be playing soppy tales of romance - most of which would be in Italian which she still wasn’t all that good at. Why couldn’t she have a regular boyfriend who lived down the road instead of a century old vampire who was off fighting an ancient evil across dimensions? And that she hadn’t been able to get hold of for more than three weeks...
No, she wasn’t going to consider the possible reason for that. At all.
Just as she’d decided that life wasn’t fair and she should just order the most fattening pizza she could find (before finishing off all the ice cream in the freezer) she heard a knock. Heart in her mouth she ran to the door and flung it open. And there he was! Big grin plastered across his face and arms full of... picnic things? She wanted to throw herself at him, but she could see that it wasn’t really possible. Also behind him stood a disinterested Illyria.
“Spike! You’re here!” she said, stating the obvious and almost bouncing, and he beamed back at her:
“Hello love - and happy Valentine’s! Sorry I’m a bit late, but um... we’ve been busy!”
He stepped through the door and dumped the hamper and blanket on her sofa, before slowly and very carefully pulling her into a deep kiss. Breaking apart, leaving every bit of her tingling, he took her hands and looked her over. “Even more beautiful than I remembered, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to change. Go find the prettiest summer dress you can and strap on some sandals. We’re having a picnic!”
His eyes were full of twinkling secrets, so she bit back her comment about the rain outside and ran off to her bedroom, doing her best to be quick, although she did need a few minutes in front of the mirror. Her hands moving deftly, her mind was running through all the options: Picnic in her sitting room? Nah, too obvious! Maybe a moonlit beach somewhere? Or... hm, whichever way she’d better bring a jacket of some sort. Pulling one out of the closet she went back to Spike, who was looking through the hamper.
“Rather good this - went by Harrods on the way and picked it up. Nice to see something familiar after - I mean it’s been around since before I was born. Good place.”
She looked at him more closely and suddenly noticed the gashes in his coat, the tiny flecks of blood that had been left behind after a less-than-thorough wash, the exhaustion that was lurking underneath his carefree exterior.
“What happened?” she asked, as she realised that the whole ‘Valentine’s Day Surprise’ might just be some sort of ‘keep the girl happy and stop her from asking questions’ distraction.
Spike pretended to study the label of the wine bottle he was holding, but when he finally looked up and saw her face, he bowed his head in defeat. “Ran into a spot of bother and got stuck in a nasty helldimension for far too long. Made it out in the nick of time, but Angel got hurt rather badly.”
Involuntarily her stomach twisted. “Angel’s hurt?”
Spike back-pedalled quickly. “Nothing that time and vampire healing won’t fix. Left him in LA in Nina’s care... if she can cope with him when he’s ill and grouchy, they might just have a future!”
This made her chuckle, and he got up, plucking the jacket from her hand. “Nuh-uh. No jacket allowed.”
“But...”
He grinned at her, and tossed her the blanket. “Carry that, will you?”
Then he walked over to Illyria and whispered something in her ear. Her reaction was hard to gauge at first, but then a hard, dangerous look came over her face and she raised her arm, a portal unwinding and widening from her fingertips.
Buffy looked in wonder at the beautiful vista on the other side; green grass bathed in sunshine with trees in full bloom swaying in a gentle breeze. It looked like a set-piece from a Disney movie and she would not have been surprised to see little fairies or talking animals appear. Spike picked up the hamper and then in the blink of an eye jumped through, into the bright sunlight.
If it was possible to suffer a triple heart attack at her age, then she would have had one on the spot. As it was, Buffy was frozen to the spot, staring at him. He was very solid still, grinning and holding out his hand. “Come on luv, it’s nice and warm here!”
Slowly, her brain in free fall, she walked the few steps across the floor and then through the portal. Seconds later Illyria was beside her, studying the surroundings intently.
“The shell has... memories of this place. Most of them are lost to me, but... “ A look came over her face, worryingly similar to the one on Dawn’s face when she spoke of ice cream. “I will enjoy this retribution.”
Buffy finally shook herself out of her stasis. “What’s going on? Where are we? Why aren’t you flamey?... Did you find another ring? Seriously - my head is imploding here!”
Spike smiled widely. “The place is called Pylea, and it’s an alternate dimension with a sun of the non-flamey variety. Angel mentioned it once and I thought it’d be... fun. Do you think I’ll freckle?”
Slowly the corners of Buffy’s mouth turned up. “I can’t believe you remember that!”
“I remember everything,” he whispered, suddenly close by again, and she leaned into his embrace. But the anticipated kiss never came, as he lifted his head and looked around, finally homing in on the rapidly diminishing figure of Illyria. “Hey - don’t come back with a load of villagers brandishing pitchforks, OK?” he yelled, but she continued unperturbed, and he sighed. “Ah well, she likes to take her time. Let’s find somewhere to sit, yeah?”
Buffy spent most of the day just watching him. Spike in sunlight was not something she had ever thought she would witness. Or witness again, rather. It was so odd, and so wonderful, that she found herself mesmerised by little things, like the way his hair managed to look even shinier. Or how his skin was so very, very pale. He’d brought a disposable camera and she had a lot of fun making him pose with the sun shining over his shoulder or right above his head. Her friends would be so freaked!
Later, when she unpacked the hamper, she discovered a present right at the bottom. Wrapped in pink paper with little hearts and curly ribbons wrapped around, it was hard to miss, and she delightedly pulled it out. Spike frowned slightly, muttering something about crazy shop girls going overboard, but then excitement took over and he was urging her to open it. Unravelling the paper, she found a beautiful hand held mirror with fancy Art Nouveau type swirls around the edges and little pearls inlaid here and there.
“Wow! It’s gorgeous!” she said, admiring the mirror and checking out how her makeup was holding up. She smiled and then saw another face reflected, blue eyes widening as he stared at his own image.
“Well I’ll be damned. Old Broody Pants was right...”
She sat very still, watching him watching himself. If they’d been characters in a movie there would have been swelling background music, indicating the importance of the moment, but here there was no such gimmick. She wondered if she should say something, when he suddenly turned his attention to her.
Lowering the mirror she moved so she was facing him. Slowly he stroked her cheek, eyes scanning every part of her face as though until now he had never really bothered to look. “I can’t believe that... I thought I might never see you again...”
“Are you actually going to tell me what happened, or just drop cryptic clues now and again? It helps to talk you know!”
He shook his head. “Nah - no reason to spoil today. But if you’re wildly curious...” He slipped off his coat and showed her his left arm. Four deep gashes, running from elbow to shoulder and only partially healed, stood out harshly against his white skin. He smiled a little. “And I got off easy. Would have been dead for sure if it hadn’t been for The Blue Queen. She’s pretty indestructible.”
Buffy swallowed and bit her lip. “Promise me you’ll be more caref-” But he cut off the rest of her sentence with a soft kiss that deepened as he pulled her closer, stroking her back. When he slowly pulled away, the look on his face left her in no doubt as to what was going on in his head. She could feel her heart beating as she slipped off her dress, before carefully helping him take off his T-shirt.
His skin seemed to gleam in the sunshine, its beauty and softness belying the strength underneath. She loved the fact that she could admire him so freely, that there would never again be reason to hide her feelings. And then there was no room for any thoughts, just sensation and marvelling at the joy they could bring each other. Everything was so bright and fiery, like a long-forgotten dream brought to life.
She really didn’t know much about dimensions, and if he’d told her that the days here were twice as long as on Earth she would happily have believed him. Because the day seemed to stretch and stretch; lovemaking interspersed with pointless chatter and languorous eating. She felt as though happiness had been made a tangible thing and she could have picked it up and played with it if she wanted.
Later they watched the sunset together, and Buffy marvelled at the depth of the colours and at how Spike’s skin stayed the same alabaster white - or maybe it was ivory? In the end she went with marble, since in the dusk he might have been a statue, perfectly formed and made by a master craftsman. After they got dressed he draped his coat over her to keep her warm and finally she asked what would happen next. Was he going away again?
He sat still, surveying the beautiful landscape, then sighed and pulled her closer. “Have to go back, pet. Never got what we came for. Trust me when I say that it’d be easier to fight an army of Hellions with nothing but a stick of wet lettuce and a kitten for back-up than attempt to enter that place!”
She twirled a bit of hair round her finger before looking at him. “I could help if you let me - I could get a whole army of Slayers if it’s that important. And -” she smiled mischievously “- I’ve not had an interesting fight in months!”
But he shook his head. “No can do, I’m afraid. The atmosphere, or lack there of, is full of all sorts of nasty things that’d kill you dead within the minute.” He stopped, then took her hand and studied her seriously. “I’ve been to some bad places in my time, but this one wins hands down! Buffy... I can’t promise that I’ll be back. We’re getting close to something and it’s getting bad. And if we’re right, it’s just possible that your Slayer army might be needed soon.”
Her chest suddenly felt too tight and she crawled into his lap, burrowing into him as much as she could without actually melting. She knew that she couldn’t stop him, but at least she could let him know where he stood:
“You are not allowed to die, OK? Because I will seriously kick your ass if you do!” she said as sternly as she could, and he laughed. Then she buried her face in his chest and closed her eyes, hoping against hope that maybe Illyria would forget all about them and they could live happily ever after in a little cave in the forest all fairy-tale like and romantic...
In the end Buffy never showed the pictures to anyone. In fact she never let a single person know where she’d been. It became her special secret, her internal store of strength as days and weeks and months passed without a word. She trained her Slayers around the world, making sure that they would be ready if the call ever came.
And sometimes she watched Casablanca and whispered, “We’ll always have Pylea”.
To be continued in the soon to be written sequel 'Divided Destiny'.
Anyway, it is a stand-alone of sorts, but more like a FitB from this as yet unwritten sequel. ::facepalm:: But I will write it, don't worry. I just have to get a few other things out of the way first.
Many red roses to my fabulous beta
kathyh.And feedback is better than chocolate! :)
ETA: This is set in 2007, so two and a half years after the end of 'Maybe Someday'!
It was a rainy, dreary day, which was only fitting, Buffy thought, since everyone seemed to have a Valentine’s date except her. The day had passed slowly, its hours marked out by Dawn’s increasingly frantic behaviour as the time for her date approached. Buffy had finally seen them off not long ago, the boy in question having stood up quite well to her Steely Look of Doom while he waited for Dawn to get her coat.
And now there was only her, with nothing but a dull night in front of the TV to look forward to. Every channel would no doubt be playing soppy tales of romance - most of which would be in Italian which she still wasn’t all that good at. Why couldn’t she have a regular boyfriend who lived down the road instead of a century old vampire who was off fighting an ancient evil across dimensions? And that she hadn’t been able to get hold of for more than three weeks...
No, she wasn’t going to consider the possible reason for that. At all.
Just as she’d decided that life wasn’t fair and she should just order the most fattening pizza she could find (before finishing off all the ice cream in the freezer) she heard a knock. Heart in her mouth she ran to the door and flung it open. And there he was! Big grin plastered across his face and arms full of... picnic things? She wanted to throw herself at him, but she could see that it wasn’t really possible. Also behind him stood a disinterested Illyria.
“Spike! You’re here!” she said, stating the obvious and almost bouncing, and he beamed back at her:
“Hello love - and happy Valentine’s! Sorry I’m a bit late, but um... we’ve been busy!”
He stepped through the door and dumped the hamper and blanket on her sofa, before slowly and very carefully pulling her into a deep kiss. Breaking apart, leaving every bit of her tingling, he took her hands and looked her over. “Even more beautiful than I remembered, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to change. Go find the prettiest summer dress you can and strap on some sandals. We’re having a picnic!”
His eyes were full of twinkling secrets, so she bit back her comment about the rain outside and ran off to her bedroom, doing her best to be quick, although she did need a few minutes in front of the mirror. Her hands moving deftly, her mind was running through all the options: Picnic in her sitting room? Nah, too obvious! Maybe a moonlit beach somewhere? Or... hm, whichever way she’d better bring a jacket of some sort. Pulling one out of the closet she went back to Spike, who was looking through the hamper.
“Rather good this - went by Harrods on the way and picked it up. Nice to see something familiar after - I mean it’s been around since before I was born. Good place.”
She looked at him more closely and suddenly noticed the gashes in his coat, the tiny flecks of blood that had been left behind after a less-than-thorough wash, the exhaustion that was lurking underneath his carefree exterior.
“What happened?” she asked, as she realised that the whole ‘Valentine’s Day Surprise’ might just be some sort of ‘keep the girl happy and stop her from asking questions’ distraction.
Spike pretended to study the label of the wine bottle he was holding, but when he finally looked up and saw her face, he bowed his head in defeat. “Ran into a spot of bother and got stuck in a nasty helldimension for far too long. Made it out in the nick of time, but Angel got hurt rather badly.”
Involuntarily her stomach twisted. “Angel’s hurt?”
Spike back-pedalled quickly. “Nothing that time and vampire healing won’t fix. Left him in LA in Nina’s care... if she can cope with him when he’s ill and grouchy, they might just have a future!”
This made her chuckle, and he got up, plucking the jacket from her hand. “Nuh-uh. No jacket allowed.”
“But...”
He grinned at her, and tossed her the blanket. “Carry that, will you?”
Then he walked over to Illyria and whispered something in her ear. Her reaction was hard to gauge at first, but then a hard, dangerous look came over her face and she raised her arm, a portal unwinding and widening from her fingertips.
Buffy looked in wonder at the beautiful vista on the other side; green grass bathed in sunshine with trees in full bloom swaying in a gentle breeze. It looked like a set-piece from a Disney movie and she would not have been surprised to see little fairies or talking animals appear. Spike picked up the hamper and then in the blink of an eye jumped through, into the bright sunlight.
If it was possible to suffer a triple heart attack at her age, then she would have had one on the spot. As it was, Buffy was frozen to the spot, staring at him. He was very solid still, grinning and holding out his hand. “Come on luv, it’s nice and warm here!”
Slowly, her brain in free fall, she walked the few steps across the floor and then through the portal. Seconds later Illyria was beside her, studying the surroundings intently.
“The shell has... memories of this place. Most of them are lost to me, but... “ A look came over her face, worryingly similar to the one on Dawn’s face when she spoke of ice cream. “I will enjoy this retribution.”
Buffy finally shook herself out of her stasis. “What’s going on? Where are we? Why aren’t you flamey?... Did you find another ring? Seriously - my head is imploding here!”
Spike smiled widely. “The place is called Pylea, and it’s an alternate dimension with a sun of the non-flamey variety. Angel mentioned it once and I thought it’d be... fun. Do you think I’ll freckle?”
Slowly the corners of Buffy’s mouth turned up. “I can’t believe you remember that!”
“I remember everything,” he whispered, suddenly close by again, and she leaned into his embrace. But the anticipated kiss never came, as he lifted his head and looked around, finally homing in on the rapidly diminishing figure of Illyria. “Hey - don’t come back with a load of villagers brandishing pitchforks, OK?” he yelled, but she continued unperturbed, and he sighed. “Ah well, she likes to take her time. Let’s find somewhere to sit, yeah?”
Buffy spent most of the day just watching him. Spike in sunlight was not something she had ever thought she would witness. Or witness again, rather. It was so odd, and so wonderful, that she found herself mesmerised by little things, like the way his hair managed to look even shinier. Or how his skin was so very, very pale. He’d brought a disposable camera and she had a lot of fun making him pose with the sun shining over his shoulder or right above his head. Her friends would be so freaked!
Later, when she unpacked the hamper, she discovered a present right at the bottom. Wrapped in pink paper with little hearts and curly ribbons wrapped around, it was hard to miss, and she delightedly pulled it out. Spike frowned slightly, muttering something about crazy shop girls going overboard, but then excitement took over and he was urging her to open it. Unravelling the paper, she found a beautiful hand held mirror with fancy Art Nouveau type swirls around the edges and little pearls inlaid here and there.
“Wow! It’s gorgeous!” she said, admiring the mirror and checking out how her makeup was holding up. She smiled and then saw another face reflected, blue eyes widening as he stared at his own image.
“Well I’ll be damned. Old Broody Pants was right...”
She sat very still, watching him watching himself. If they’d been characters in a movie there would have been swelling background music, indicating the importance of the moment, but here there was no such gimmick. She wondered if she should say something, when he suddenly turned his attention to her.
Lowering the mirror she moved so she was facing him. Slowly he stroked her cheek, eyes scanning every part of her face as though until now he had never really bothered to look. “I can’t believe that... I thought I might never see you again...”
“Are you actually going to tell me what happened, or just drop cryptic clues now and again? It helps to talk you know!”
He shook his head. “Nah - no reason to spoil today. But if you’re wildly curious...” He slipped off his coat and showed her his left arm. Four deep gashes, running from elbow to shoulder and only partially healed, stood out harshly against his white skin. He smiled a little. “And I got off easy. Would have been dead for sure if it hadn’t been for The Blue Queen. She’s pretty indestructible.”
Buffy swallowed and bit her lip. “Promise me you’ll be more caref-” But he cut off the rest of her sentence with a soft kiss that deepened as he pulled her closer, stroking her back. When he slowly pulled away, the look on his face left her in no doubt as to what was going on in his head. She could feel her heart beating as she slipped off her dress, before carefully helping him take off his T-shirt.
His skin seemed to gleam in the sunshine, its beauty and softness belying the strength underneath. She loved the fact that she could admire him so freely, that there would never again be reason to hide her feelings. And then there was no room for any thoughts, just sensation and marvelling at the joy they could bring each other. Everything was so bright and fiery, like a long-forgotten dream brought to life.
She really didn’t know much about dimensions, and if he’d told her that the days here were twice as long as on Earth she would happily have believed him. Because the day seemed to stretch and stretch; lovemaking interspersed with pointless chatter and languorous eating. She felt as though happiness had been made a tangible thing and she could have picked it up and played with it if she wanted.
Later they watched the sunset together, and Buffy marvelled at the depth of the colours and at how Spike’s skin stayed the same alabaster white - or maybe it was ivory? In the end she went with marble, since in the dusk he might have been a statue, perfectly formed and made by a master craftsman. After they got dressed he draped his coat over her to keep her warm and finally she asked what would happen next. Was he going away again?
He sat still, surveying the beautiful landscape, then sighed and pulled her closer. “Have to go back, pet. Never got what we came for. Trust me when I say that it’d be easier to fight an army of Hellions with nothing but a stick of wet lettuce and a kitten for back-up than attempt to enter that place!”
She twirled a bit of hair round her finger before looking at him. “I could help if you let me - I could get a whole army of Slayers if it’s that important. And -” she smiled mischievously “- I’ve not had an interesting fight in months!”
But he shook his head. “No can do, I’m afraid. The atmosphere, or lack there of, is full of all sorts of nasty things that’d kill you dead within the minute.” He stopped, then took her hand and studied her seriously. “I’ve been to some bad places in my time, but this one wins hands down! Buffy... I can’t promise that I’ll be back. We’re getting close to something and it’s getting bad. And if we’re right, it’s just possible that your Slayer army might be needed soon.”
Her chest suddenly felt too tight and she crawled into his lap, burrowing into him as much as she could without actually melting. She knew that she couldn’t stop him, but at least she could let him know where he stood:
“You are not allowed to die, OK? Because I will seriously kick your ass if you do!” she said as sternly as she could, and he laughed. Then she buried her face in his chest and closed her eyes, hoping against hope that maybe Illyria would forget all about them and they could live happily ever after in a little cave in the forest all fairy-tale like and romantic...
In the end Buffy never showed the pictures to anyone. In fact she never let a single person know where she’d been. It became her special secret, her internal store of strength as days and weeks and months passed without a word. She trained her Slayers around the world, making sure that they would be ready if the call ever came.
And sometimes she watched Casablanca and whispered, “We’ll always have Pylea”.
To be continued in the soon to be written sequel 'Divided Destiny'.
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