Something to Sing About

By Lilachigh


Chp : No tears shed


Spike slowly, reluctantly, came back to consciousness, biting back the groan that burnt his throat as the pains in his body and hands vied with each other to be king of the bloody torture memory. “Buffy - ?”

“What the – Spike?”

He knew the voice and fought to open his eyelids. He felt someone kneeling by his side, but it wasn’t Buffy, although his senses screamed Slayer. A strong cool hand slid under his shoulder and helped him to sit upright.

“I thought you were dead and dust. Way to go, Spikey. You survived Ben after all.”

“Faith?”

“Five by five, bleach boy. Hey, I’ll have to go back, tell B you’re alive. Be the bearer of good news for once.”

“She already knows. She was here – bloody hell, I thought she was here…but perhaps…” His voice faltered and stopped. Perhaps that had all been a dream, his wife’s tears on his face, the sight of the joy and anguish battling for supremacy in her eyes when she realised he was alive. Perhaps all that had been the result of pain and longing and an imagination that refused to give up and let go. He tried to sense her, but all he could smell was his own blood.

Faith shook her head and he realised the long black hair had gone, cropped to a short, shaggy style that made her dark eyes look even larger.
“B’s back in the other Sunnydale. She thinks you’re dead. She won’t come here again. Too busy. She’s leaving me to be Slayer in Charge. We need to get you back through the portal. Hey, you’ll be a really big surprise for everyone.”

“Must have been a dream, then, Buffy being here. Makes sense. She’d never have gone off and left me if it was real.” He sighed. “I need to get to her, Faith. Need to go home.”

Suddenly his eyes focussed on her face. He frowned and reached up a hesitant finger, wincing as the broken bones grated together under the skin. He touched the blunt ends of her short hair, then, frowning, ran his finger down her throat, across her breast and onto her flat stomach.

“Hey!” She pulled away, taken by surprise. “No touching.”

“What happened to the baby? And your hair!” He vamped out swiftly, then back again. “Hey, are you the other Faith?”

“What? No way, I’m the Faith who owes you her life because you let Ben torture you while I escaped. So, fair’s fair. I’ll help you back to your nearest and dearest.” She tried to pull him to his feet, but he pushed her hands away.

“You’re not pregnant with the Key any more. What happened?”

Faith frowned and flung herself down on the floor next to him. She stared at the battered face, the torture marks on his pale body and hid a shudder. That could have been her. No, it would have been worse. If Ben had ever known for sure that her baby was the Key, he would have cut it from her body while she was still alive.

She tried to look at the vampire dispassionately. OK, he was B’s husband in this world, but not in the other. Which was mega weird. People liked him here but not there. She wondered what he would do when he got back. He couldn’t live with Buffy in Sunnydale. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with Xander and Willow since she’d had Gracie, but enough to know that if they’d thought Buffy was sleeping with Spike, they would have mega wiggins all over town.

Her gaze roamed over his body and she smiled slowly. Regardless of who’s husband he was, he was a hot guy. Even battered and bloody, she could see that he was strong and god, it had been so long since she’d had sex!

“Faith – the baby – the Key – did you lose it?” Spike broke into her thoughts, his voice impatient, anxious.

“What – no, of course not. Pushed her out, didn’t I. A girl. Dawn’s taken charge of her. Calls her Gracie. Two Keys together. All bonding and exclusive. The rest of us never get a look in, and that goes for me, her mother, as well.”

“You’ve had the baby?” Spike stared at her. “But bloody hell, Faith, it was only a couple of days ago when Buffy got you away from Ben. I don’t understand – “ He stopped, his blue eyes growing darker until they were almost black with pain.

She moved uneasily as he seemed to be getting even paler than ever, if that was possible. “Hey, don’t go all weak and wobbly on me,” she snapped. “Gracie’s two months old now. And don’t judge me for leaving her. I wasn’t cut out to be a mommy. I know that and believe me, so does she!”

“Two months? Sodding hell!” He tried to get to his feet, choking back a scream as broken bones throughout his whole body grated on each other. He swayed, staring down at the dark-haired Slayer, the girl he’d been willing to give his life for. And for the first time he wished Ben had dusted him. Because what Faith was saying told him a story he didn’t want to know.

His dream had been just that – a dream. Buffy hadn’t come back for him. Regardless of how little time had passed here, she hadn’t even bothered to check up to see if he was dead or alive. She’d just – what? – got on with her sodding life back in Sunnyhell for two months, basking in her friends’ praise that she’d rescued the Key baby? Had she even told them the price he’d been prepared to pay for its safety? A sick realisation swept over him. He knew the answer to that question; in that world he meant nothing to any one. No tears would have been shed. No fond farewells spoken over a drink at the Bronze.

He felt a wave a weakness flood through him. He was desperate to feed, he needed blood to stay alive but – he tried to force the thought away, but it wouldn’t be denied. Buffy was alive and well; that was important. She didn’t want or need him in her life in that world. So what was the point of keeping his miserable existence going?



Faith rolled over onto her knees and edged closer to the vampire. He’d lain down again and closed his eyes. She reached out and touched his face, which was useless because he was cold because hey, dead here!

“Spike! Spike! Come on, vampire. Talk to me.” When there was no response, she grabbed his hand and squeezed, feeling the bones grate. With a roaring groan, he opened his eyes, vamped out and stared up at her. “That’s better. Don’t you dare die on me. What’s wrong?”

The golden eyes glared at her, then he shimmered back into human face. “Hungry,” he managed.

Faith stared at him. OK, she knew she would never be a proper mother to Gracie, knew that the baby would never love her, but somewhere deep inside her was a well of gratitude to this vampire. Because at the end of the day there wouldn’t have been a Gracie if he hadn’t helped her and B escape.

Buffy raced back through the streets of Sunnydale clutching a bottle of Scotch. She was feeling frantic. There’d been no blood anywhere. The butcher’s wasn’t open for business yet and the hospital had more guards round it than the State Prison. She’d wasted valuable time searching, then the realisation of what she had to do struck her and she cursed her own stupidity for not thinking of it earlier.

The steps down into the hotel basement were dark and she ran down them lightly, her rubber-soled shoes making no sound. At the entrance to the cellar, she stopped and felt her world end.

Faith was there, sitting on the floor. Her head was thrown back, her long beautiful neck exposed. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Spike, holding him upright. And even as Buffy watched, he vamped out, golden eyes gleaming, and with a growl, his fangs sunk into the pale flesh offered to him. And he fed!

tbc