Chapter 3: Lesson the First
“You think you know what makes this world tick? Why life has thrived upon it for millions of years?” The First asked challengingly.
“No, but I’m sure you’re gonna to tell me.” Buffy said impatiently.
“The balance, child. Good and Evil, one cannot exist with out the other. You humans are so ignorant. Always believing in either purity or corruption. What you don’t understand is that the world only works with a little bit of both. The world couldn’t exist without one or the other. The vampire has disrupted the balance by going against his nature. Vampires are borne to be evil, just as Slayers are borne to be good.” The First said.
“Please. Get a grip. No one is supposed to be one or the other. There have been bad Slayers and there have been good vampires. But I’m sure you already know this. Spike does what he wants to do, and believe me, I know from personal experience, when he chooses to do something, he does it, and no one can change his mind.” Buffy says. The first seems to consider this for a moment, and then nods her head in agreement.
“You are an interesting paradox, Slayer. A Slayer that protects a vampire…” The First studies the Slayer with critical eyes for a moment, and then smiles knowingly at Buffy.
“I can tell you are not a regular Slayer…you haven’t even begun. Until we meet again, Slayer.” The First says, and then shrinks into a cloud of dust and goes ‘poof’.
Buffy just stared after the First in confusion, and then sighs in annoyance.
“Did everyone get the ‘Buffy hasn’t even begun memo’?” She mumbles to herself as she made her way out of the cave.
* * *
“Ow.” Tara mumbled as she dropped to the floor.
“Tara! Are you okay?” Willow asked, moving to help Tara off the floor.
“Y-yeah, I think so. Just a little woozy.” Tara said as she rubbed her temple with her hand.
“Oh! You’re nose is bleeding!” Willow pointed out.
“I-I’ll be fine, it’s just that the spell took a lot out of me.” Tara said as she let Willow help her to a chair.
“How is he doing?” Tara asked. Xander turned to her with a worried look on his face.
“Well, he still looks really depressed, but at least he’s not crying any more.” Xander commented.
“You better not tease him about this after this is over.” Willow warned him.
“What..? Like I’d do a thing like…” Xander paused and looked at the three women scowling at him. “Well, yeah okay, maybe I would…but I won’t! The guy’s had a tough enough time as it is.” Xander said.
“Good. ‘Cause, you know, after this…I think he’ll really need to know that we accept him. We haven’t really been big on the whole ‘Spike’s our friend’ thing, even though he is a member of the Scooby gang.” Willow said.
“He is??” Xander asked, a little taken aback.
“YES. He is. I mean, come on…look at this summer… Buffy was dead. He didn’t have to stick around, but he did. He stuck around for Dawn. How many evil vampires do you know that do that?” Willow asked.
Everyone in the room was silent.
* * *
Buffy ran all the way back to Spike’s crypt. She hurried in, past her sister and ran down the ladder.
“I got rid of her.” Buffy announced as soon as she hit the bottom step.
“T-that must mean the barrier is down.” Tara said.
“My god, Tara, why is your nose bloody?” Buffy asked. Tara wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweater shyly. Xander decided to speak up for her.
“She did a spell to get inside Spike’s mind. He looked like he was going to crack, Buffy. We had to do something. She told him to hold on.” Xander said. Buffy nodded in approval.
“No, that’s good. Good work guys. Look…I don’t mean to be rude…but you might want to clear out now. He hasn’t had any blood for almost two days, and The First screwed up his head pretty good…this might not be a good scene.” Buffy said.
“Sure Buffy. We’ll be upstairs. Give us a shout if you need anything.” Willow said as all four of them made their way up the ladder.
Buffy searched the shadows of the lower level of the crypt, searching for Spike’s form. She found him in one of the darkest corners, curled up upon him self in a fetal position. She walked over to him, about two feet away.
“Spike?” Buffy said quietly, so as not to startle him. He didn’t move.
“Spike?” She called a little louder. She got a flinch.
“Spike, it’s me. I got rid of her. She’s gone now.” Buffy told him as she crouched down and touched his shoulder. He shot up and stumbled away from her.
“Leave me alone!” He shouted as he held his head in his hands, whimpering.
“No Spike, I won’t. You’re my friend.” Buffy told him as she kneeled next to him again. This time he didn’t move.
“I can’t be you’re friend. I’m beneath you. I’m nothing….” Spike whispered.
“You’re something to me. And you’re not beneath me. You’re my equal. You were right, Spike, there is something between us. I don’t know what it is…but it’s something.” Buffy says.
“You’re not her…this is just another trick…” He muttered.
“It’s me Spike. I can prove it to you.” Buffy said.
“How?” He asked, looking up into her eyes. His eyes were full of despair.
*It’s now or never, Buffy…* She thought to herself. She closed her eyes and captured his lips with her own. For a second he did nothing, didn’t respond, as if trying to calculate if she was really kissing him, if it was really her. Then suddenly he deepened it, pulling her closer to him. The heated kiss quickly sparked into a fiery one, the most passionate kiss they had shared so far. The guy was literally kissing like there was no tomorrow.
*I guess my proof worked.* Buffy thought idly.
“Ahem…” A voice came from behind them.
They both suddenly broke off from the kiss and realized that they were practically having sex with clothes on, the way that they had been groping at each other. Buffy quickly crawled off his lap and turned to face the owner of the voice that had interrupted them.
It was Dawn.
“Before you guys get into your sex-capades, I thought Spike might be a little hungry.” Dawn said, holding up a bag full of packets of blood.
“You went to the Butcher’s shop at this hour?” Buffy asked, a little angry.
“Well yeah. You guys were all busy, and I noticed Spike was out when I got a soda from his fridge, so I went while you were off hunting Evil. You know, at first the guy wouldn’t even sell it to me, but then when I told him it was for Spike, the guy handed it right over…” Dawn said as she walked over to Spike and handed him the bag. He looked up at her apprehensively.
“Thanks Nibblet…” Spike said quietly as he pulled out a bag of blood and quickly drained it. Both girls didn’t bother to look away or grimace. They accepted him now, demon and all.
“Well, I’ll just let you guys get back to….whatever.” Dawn said as she turned and started up the ladder.
“Nibblet?” Spike called out to her. She stopped midway up the ladder and looked at him.
“Yeah?”
“You’re…You’re still my friend, right?” Spike asked with such vulnerability in his voice, it made Dawn run back over to him and throw her arms around him. Spike was startled at first, but then a little awkwardly hugged her back.
“Yes, Spike. I’m still your friend. I’ll always be your friend.” Dawn said. She let go of him and went back up the stairs.
“Thanks, nibblet.” Spike whispered after she had gone. He took another bag of blood and drained it.
“Hey there… how are you holding up?” Buffy asked, running a hand through his tousled hair. It was much softer than she thought it would be, with all the bleaching.
“I’ve had better days. That bitch really did a number on me.” Spike said, leaning into her touch. It amazed him how just minutes ago, all of his hopes had been crushed into nothing, and all it took for them to spring back to life was this one amazing woman. And damn did he love how she was running her hand through his hair right now.
“Well, maybe you’ll feel better after some sleep.” Buffy said as she helped him stand and walked him over to his four-poster bed. She sat him down on the bed and began to take off his boots as he drained another pack of blood. He could barely keep his eyes open. He was drained emotionally and physically.
“The gang is upstairs, waiting for me. I’ll be back to check on you, okay?” Buffy said. He nodded solemnly. He had hoped that she would stay with him, if just for a little while, but now he knew better than to indulge in hopes.
“Okay. G’night, Buffy. And thanks.” Spike said as he got under his covers and lay down.
“Good night Spike.” Buffy said as she walked up the ladder.
* * *
Buffy got to the top level of the crypt and saw all of her friends looking very sleepy and worse for the wear. After all, they had all been up for nearly 48hrs. At that note, Buffy glanced out one of the windows and saw the sun’s rays lighting up the morning sky.
“Hey guys. Spike’s okay now. It took a little convincing, but he’s back.” Buffy said as she shot a warning glare to her sister who was dangerously close to snickering.
*Yep, that was some definite convincing…* Buffy thought as she felt her face getting flushed.
“Great! So dead-boy Jr, crisis over?” Xander asked, and Anya automatically smacked him on the arm.
“Ow! Geez, will you stop doing that?” Xander complained.
“Stop making fun of Spike, and maybe I will.” Anya told him.
“I wasn’t making fun of him. He calls me whelp, I call him Dead-boy Jr. It’s a mutual name calling thing…!” Xander replied lamely.
“Everything is okay guys, you can all go home now.” Buffy said.
“You…All? Aren’t you coming with?” Willow asked. Buffy was silent for a moment and slightly turned her head in the direction of the passage to the lower level.
“No, Wills, I don’t think I am. He needs me tonight. I’m going to stay here.” Buffy said.
“Geez Buff, let a vamp rest before you jump his bones.” Dawn said jokingly.
“I’m *not* going to ‘jump his bones’ Dawn…! I’m just going to stay here for…comforting.” Buffy replied a little guiltily. Okay, so maybe the idea of ‘jumping his bones’ crossed her mind, but she wasn’t going to act on it…tonight.
Her friends smiled wearily and started heading out the door.
“I’m only staying for a few hours. You can manage by yourself, right?” Buffy asked Dawn. Dawn rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I can take care of myself. Just take care of him, okay?” Dawn said as she gave her sister a hug.
“I will.” Buffy said as she let go of her sister. Dawn smiled and turned away, catching up with Willow to head home. Buffy watched from the door as each group went their separate ways- Willow and Dawn to the Summers’ home, Xander and Anya to their apartment, and Tara off to her own apartment. Buffy let out a deep and tiring sigh as she closed the door and then walked back to and down the ladder.
Spike was sprawled out face down on his bed with his shirt removed, with just the sheet covering his lower half. She took in a mental inventory of his clothing lying on the floor next to the bed: Shoes, socks, shirt…and pants. *I really hope he wears boxers…* Buffy thought, not exactly trusting herself to be alone in a room with naked Spike.
She kicked off her shoes and went around the other side of the bed, lifting up the covers and sliding in before she could change her mind. She was lying about two feet away from him, facing him. He appeared to already be asleep. With vampires, you can’t tell because they don’t need to breathe. Thus no rising and falling of the chest, or snoring. They just lay there, unmoving.
But either Spike was still awake, or he could some how sense her presence, because soon she found him pulling her next to him, draping his arm around her waist and burring his face into her neck.
Buffy almost chuckled. Spike was cuddling with her. She didn’t have him pegged for the cuddling type. But sleep was beginning to take over her body, and her eyelids began to drift closed. They only opened briefly when she felt a vibrating against her neck… Then she heard it.
Spike was purring.
*A vampire’s version of snoring?* was Buffy’s last thought as she drifted off into sleep.
* * *
The first thing Spike noticed when he awoke was that he was holding Buffy in his arms. He could smell her all around him. He was holding her so tight, he was surprised that the poor girl could breathe at all.
His head shot up at that last thought, now fully awake.
*Oh God…* Spike thought as he checked to see if she was still breathing.
He sighed in relief as he watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest. He rested his head on his pillow again and watched her sleep.
The second thing that came to mind was the fact that he was naked…with Buffy in his bed. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Buffy still obviously had her clothes on, he could feel them against his skin, but did the Slayer know that he was naked?
*Well, let’s not lick a gift horse in the mouth, eh?* Spike thought as he snuggled up to her again, deeply inhaling the scent that was Buffy.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up.” Buffy said.
“Bugger.” Spike mumbled sleepily against her neck. “No, I’m not awake. Really, luv.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Horny.”
Buffy lightly smacked him on the arm.
“What? Oh, right. Uh, right as rain, luv, which is a bloody stupid expression if you ask me…how is rain a cheery thought?”
“You’ve put way too much thought into that…” Buffy commented.
“Well pet, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you’re bound to have plenty of time to waste.”
“True.” Buffy stated simply.
“Speaking of time luv, me, you, alone in my bed…I can think of a few things to pass the time.” Spike quirked his eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh really? Like what?” Buffy feigned innocents.
*So the chit wants to play it like that does she…?* Spike thought, amused.
“Oh I don’t know, charades, scrabble… you name it luv.” Spike said as he swiftly rolled himself on top of her, hovering just above her. “Chess, Monopoly, Clue….Poker.” He leered. Buffy raised her eyebrows.
“Does that last one involve stripping?”
He smirked and answered her with a kiss.
* * *
“Buffy? You still here?” Dawn’s voice called out from the upper level. Buffy disentangled herself from Spike’s arms without waking him, slipped on her clothes and climbed up the ladder.
“Hey, what’s up Dawnie?” Buffy asked upon seeing her sister wandering about, looking at all of Spike’s stuff. Dawn turned to her sister and held out a bag of food.
“Here, I thought you’d be hungry.” Dawn said as her sister took the bag of Chinese take-out.
“Thanks, I’m starved. How’d you know?”
“Well, you’ve kind of been running on empty since this whole thing happened to Spike. How is he doing?” Dawn asked as the sisters sat down on the floor of the crypt. Buffy opened up the Styrofoam container, took out the chopsticks and began to eat her Yaki Udon.
“He’s okay now. He’s still resting.” She said after eating a mouthful.
“Uh huh.” Dawn said suspiciously.
“Don’t give me that look.” Buffy said, lightheartedly.
“Do you love him?” Dawn asked bluntly. Buffy was taken aback.
“I…I…uh…I-I don’t know Dawn.” Buffy said as she fidgeted uncomfortably under her sister’s gaze.
“Could you? Love him I mean.” Dawn asked. Buffy swallowed audibly.
“Boy, what’s with the twenty questions?” Buffy asked, obviously flustered.
“Buffy, just answer the question. Don’t you think he at least deserves to know?” Dawn reasoned.
“Yeah, you’re right. Honestly Dawn, I think I could, and that scares me. It scares me a lot. We both know my…track record…” Buffy paused, and Dawn groaned in acknowledgement. “But when I’m with him…I don’t know what happens. Even when we’re fighting each other I can feel something passing between us. You know… I think that’s why we fight each other so much. We both know that it’s wrong for us to feel this way about each other, so we fight it. A part of us hates it, whereas the rest couldn’t live without it.”
“My thoughts exactly, luv.” Spike said from behind her. Buffy turned to see Spike sitting at the top of the ladder, watching the two sisters talk. Buffy turns back to her sister and gave her a ‘you knew he was there??’ look. Dawn just smiles like a Cheshire cat, obviously proud of her undercover work.
“You brat!” Buffy smacked at her playfully for being double-crossed.
“Hey! Watch the slayer strength!” Dawn whined, which only resulted in Buffy jumping up to attack her sister by tickling her.
“Aaaahh! No Buffy! Buffy stop!! Spike, help!!” Dawn pleaded through her laughter as Buffy mercilessly tickled Dawn.
Both Summers’ girls heard a playful growl before they were both tackled by the vampire, getting tickled.
“Spike!!” Buffy squealed in between her laughter as he tickled her.
“That’s for pickin on my nibblet!” Spike said as he tickled Buffy with one hand.
“And that’s for thinkin’ I’d come to you’re rescue!” Spike said playfully as he tickled Dawn with his other.
“Uncle! Uncle!!” Dawn shouted, pleading with the vampire to stop. Spike relented, leaving two Summers’ women exhausted from laughing too hard.
“Bully.” Dawn pouted playfully.
“You know it.” Spike said proudly, a touch of his ‘big bad’ ego getting stroked.
“Oh God. That was fun.” Buffy smiled, perhaps her first true smile since her resurrection.
“Then we should do it more often, luv, if I get to see you smile like that.” Spike said as he reached out and pushed a strand of hair from her face.
Dawn coughed noisily to get their attention.
“Hate to break up the…whatever indecent thing you two were about to do before my eyes, but it’s getting late Buffy.” Dawn said.
“Oh God, what time is it?” Buffy said, looking out the window. It was nearly sunset.
“About 6pm.” Dawn said, after checking her wristwatch.
“I’ve been here all day?” Buffy said, blushing.
“Uh… yeah?” Dawn said.
“Wow… I must have lost track of time. Okay. I’ll just go and grab my things.” Buffy said as she glanced over at Spike, giving him a look, then went downstairs.
Spike stood in confusion for a moment, trying to figure out what the look meant. As if reading his mind, Dawn answered.
“Duh, she wants you to follow her.” Dawn said, rolling her eyes.
Spike scowled at her playfully and mussed up her hair as he walked past her to follow Buffy.
“Hey! Punk!” Dawn called out to him.
“Brat.” He called over his shoulder.
“Do-gooder.” She called back as he descended down the steps out of sight.
“Take that back!” She heard him yell from below. Dawn giggled. Yep, the old Spike was back.
* * *
“What was that all about?” Buffy asked after Spike shouted up to Dawn.
“Nothin luv, just a little teasing between friends.”
“Oh.”
“So luv, what’s with the not-so-secret rendezvous?” He asked, his voice sounding dangerously sexy.
“I just wanted to say goodbye…in private.” Buffy said as she slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.
“Keep this up luv, and you’ll never leave… Not that I’m complaining. In fact, keep it up.”
“Alright already, enough with the kinky sex talk!” Dawn’s voice filtered down into the lower level of the crypt. Both blonds groaned in annoyance.
“Bye Spike.” Buffy said, giving him another quick kiss and then climbed up the ladder. From the lower levels he could hear the two Summers’ girls that had captured his heart.
“So is he a good kisser?”
“DAWN!”
* * *
Spike was back to his usual restless self. Well sort of. His emotions were still a little haywire. He couldn't believe he had acted like such a poof, but if what happened with Buffy was the result, than he could get used to it. After Buffy and Dawn had left nearly two hours ago, Spike decided to pass the time until the sun went down, cleaning his crypt. Anything to keep his mind busy, lest he started brooding. His crypt had gotten a little grimy looking, but then again, the grimy look was the whole appeal of a crypt, wasn’t it? So he ended up straightening up things and dusting. He changed his bed sheets and swept the floor. It was just starting to get dark outside so he began to light his candles. That was when he heard the strangest thing...something he never though he’d hear.
There was a nock at the door.
Spike walked over timidly and cracked it open to peer through. What he saw on the other side of the door, shocked him even more.
“Hi Spike. Can we come in?” Buffy asked, standing as the spokes person for the entire group of Scoobies, who stood behind her. The whelp had a grocery bag held in his hands and a case of beer tucked under his arm. Anya had a couple of pizzas, Red and Tara were also holding a bag from some store, and the nibblet had a deck of cards and a case for holding poker chips. He looked back at Buffy, who was smiling that smile at him.
“Uh, yeah, come in.” He said, still bewildered. He opened the door further and they all traipsed in, setting their stuff down in various places. They all turned and looked at each other, a moment of uncomfortable silence passing over them. No one seemed to know what to say.
“So then…uh, what’s the occasion?” Spike asked, generally motioning to the items that the Scoobies had brought over. Buffy stepped forward.
“This is your official ‘Welcome to the gang’ party. See, we realized that even though you’ve been a member of our group for a couple of years now, we’ve basically treated you like crap, and never once thanked you for anything. So this is kind of like a peace offering. We realize how much we need you in our group now, and how much you’ve helped us in the past, even if reluctantly at the time. We’d like to all be friends.” Buffy said, looking at the bewildered vampire.
They needed him? They wanted to be his friend? They were letting him into their tight niche known as ‘the Scooby gang’?
After what seemed like minutes, Spike finally spoke up.
“So do I get a member’s card or somethin’?” He asked, nonchalantly. Everybody grinned.
“See! I *so* told you we should have member’s cards, or rings or…” Willow started rambling on about special Scooby identifier props.
“Alright, the party is on!” Xander said, grabbing a beer out of the six-pack. Anya and Tara began to take the items out of the bag Xander had carried, more food stuffs- potato chips, dip, sodas, Oreo cookies, and cheese & crackers. But Spike was most impressed when the demon girl pulled out of the bag a familiar brown butcher’s bag. They had bought him blood.
“Hey Dead-boy Jr., catch.” Xander said as he tossed Spike a beer. Instead of smacking Xander, Anya only sent him a withering glare for the name-calling. Spike caught the beer, vamped out, bit the top off the bottle and took a drink.
“Thanks mate. Cheers.” Spike said, taking another drink. Red walked up to him and held out the bag that she had brought. Tara was standing behind Willow, watching shyly.
“What’s this?” Spike asked, taking the bag from her.
“Well, it’s a gift. A couple of things that Tara and I cooked up. Some protection spells, some new candles, the amulet of Bytanor…” Willow said, and Spike looked up at her shocked.
“Oh, so you know what that one is.” Willow smiled as Spike fished the amulet out of the bag.
“And what it does. Where did you get this?”
“Actually, I’ve had it for awhile. Tara came across it a few months ago at the Summer solstice celebration, and we held on to it incase we ever needed it. Cause, you know, you save us an awful lot, but that’s usually during the night, and hey- evil doesn’t always wait until nighttime, I mean, just look at Glory! I wish that we had this amulet when she was around. Not that I want her still around! And I’m babbling, so I’m stopping now.”
Spike held up the amulet so that he could see it better. It was on a short silver chain with a circular moonstone the size of a nickel at the center. Embedded on top of the stone was an intricate crescent moon made of silver. He could actually feel the magic vibrations coming from the amulet. After all, most charms for vampires require some of the highest magics.
“Thanks Red, Tara. I wish I could use it right now. I haven’t seen the sun in…well, no, actually, I saw the sun about three years ago when I had the Gem of Amara…”
“Yep, just think, no more running around underneath blankets.” Buffy added, to get the subject off of that day with the Gem of Amara.
“Good riddance!” Spike said as he undid the clasp and put it on around his neck.
“Hm, and not only does it protect vampires from getting all dusty in the sun, it’s also a cool fashion accessory.” Buffy said cheerily.
“Buffy, that’s not all it does. He’ll be able to see himself in a mirror too.” Willow said proudly, obviously pleased with her self.
“No way! That is so cool!” Dawn said as she rummaged through her purse to pull out her compact mirror to give to Spike.
“Nope, I got something better Dawnie.” Willow said as she fished around in the bag and pulled out a handheld mirror the size of a dinner plate. She handed it to Spike face down. He stared at the back of the mirror for a moment, trying to prepare himself. He could barely remember what he looked like when he was turned. He knew he had blue eyes and high cheekbones, but that was about all he could remember. He quickly glanced at all of the Scoobs watching him intently, then turned the mirror over and held it up so he could see in it.
“Cor…” He gaped. “Bloody hell, that’s what I look like? No wonder the ladies swoon.”
His comment earned several unanimous groans and sighs.