By Ariel Dawn
Chapter 29: Prove It




Disclaimer:Joss has them all, they are slaves to his
will, prisoners to his whims.

Author’s
note: Some dialogue from ‘Entropy’. Love the wonderful and fabulous
Bloodytearsoflife for the great betaing.

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Buffy turned back to Spike, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. In one fluid motion he swept her up into his arms, placing a kiss on the top of her head of blond ringlets.

It was a good feeling, being in his arms, feeling loved, wanted. Buffy sniffled into his black shirt a moment before realising what she was doing. She pushed away from him, wiping away her tears.

“No, I can’t do this William,” she stammered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Spike stood in the middle of his crypt stunned. The sense of loss he felt was palpable. The truth was that he deserved this. He’d been terrible to her over the century, he knew it. Dru was always foremost in his mind. But she wasn’t now. He just had to find a way to make Buffy realise it. He fumbled with a cigarette for a moment, lighting up and letting the smoke work its way into his dead lungs, calming him down and allowing him to think.

Dru had always called him back, or came for him when he was in danger of replacing her in his affections. The incident with Liz, when he’d tied them both up and threatened to feed the slayer to his sire, that had changed something, hadn’t it? Drusilla had turned him away and when she wanted him back he’d refused. That had to be worth something.

On the edges of his perception he knew that Dru was still around keeping tabs on him. This time wouldn’t be different. He could almost imagine her smile at his discovery. She owned him whether he liked it or not. She’d made him.

But he had to protest that statement. Cecily had made him, forced him out onto the streets to meet his Dark Princess. He almost wished that she’d followed out after him that night, instead of Reagan. Maybe things would have been different.

Maybe he’d be worthy of her. It didn’t matter what she was, demon, Slayer, Watcher, girl, he wanted to possess her like Dru possessed him. Except that he would never be able to leave her side.
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Anya was there to meet her when Buffy appeared in her Arashamahar lair, still wearing her wedding dress, but now with a new pendant glittering from her neck.

“Oh, Anyanka!” whispered Buffy, reaching for her friend, her tears appearing once again.

“He left me!” cried her friend, rushing into Buffy’s open arms.

“He didn’t deserve you to begin with,” cooed Buffy, trying to reign in her own tears.

Anyanka sniffled and pulled away, scrutinizing Buffy’s face. “You’re crying too? What did that stupid vampire do now?” asked the newly elevated former vengeance demon.

Buffy smiled sadly as her friend’s eyes flashed in anger for her.

“He didn’t do anything. He’s been nothing but sweet since I got here, Anya. I haven’t slept with him either. I can’t go back to Sunnydale for a while.”

Anya nodded and wiped her tears from her cheeks. “The Immortal.”

“The Immortal. Always ruining my life.”

“Can we go do some vengeance? I need to dispense some evisceration of the male species, preferably Xander,” growled Anya.

“Well, first you have to get out of the wedding dress Anya, it’ll put off the wishers.”

“How do you know? You ever tried it?”

Buffy shook her head. “You’ve gotten closer to the altar than I have.”
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One day of rampaging vengeance on men, and Buffy could tell that Anya really wasn’t on the ball, vengeance wise. It would take a few weeks to get into the swing of things, sure. Buffy could accept that. She stared at her friend as they drank coffee, in Sunnydale of all places, discussing past wishes and wishers.

The fact that Anyanka had wanted to meet in Sunnydale was perplexing. But it gave her the option of visiting Dawn. Sadly it seemed to be Buffy talking while Anya spaced out.

“Okay, if I wanted to talk to hear myself well...talk I’d’ve stayed home,“ declared Buffy. “You aren’t listening!”

“I'm sorry. I know. I'm just distracted,” Anya admitted.

“What, this thing with Xander? Don't worry, you'll find a way...”

“No, that's just it! I tried everything, every curse I knew, nothing worked,” continued Anya, interrupting her friend.

“Wait, you tried to curse him yourself?” asked Buffy looking over her coffee mug.

“Well, yeah. I'm the wronged party here, of course I...”

Buffy internally laughed at how much Anya had forgotten in a couple years. “You can't exact justice against someone on behalf of yourself, silly! You know that doesn’t work. D’Hoffryn knows how many times I’ve tried it.”

“I haven't been scorned by a man in, like, a thousand years. I never had to make a wish for myself. Isn't there some way around that?”

“Well... You could try getting someone to make the wish for you I suppose,” offered Buffy. “And there’s always applying to D’Hoffryn for a wish.”

“I guess. He’ll just say no. He said no,” muttered Anyanka. “But, getting someone else to wish for me...I can do that!”

Buffy smiled at her friend. She wanted so much to grant Anyanka’s wish. But sadly, that was another rule that couldn’t be broken. Anyanka bounded away with new hope that soon Xander Harris would be excreted from the back of a plow horse. Buffy put down her empty cup of coffee and decided on another direction from one her friend had taken. She’d been gone 2 weeks and she had people to see.
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Pulling Dawn out of class wasn’t so hard. She was still on the books as a guidance counsellor. Well, if you included that whole mind whammy thing she had on the staff. Dawn sat down in front of her with glee on her face.

“You came back!” gushed the teen, Buffy having to shush her.

“Just for a short visit. Anya asked me for coffee and here I am. She should really think about leaving Sunnydale. The hellmouth certainly can’t be good for anyone’s complexion. Except yours. So pretty.”

Dawn blushed. “It’s the good genes. I mean come on, you and Spike? There’s no way that Liz or I could have gotten the ugly DNA.”

“And you’re ok?” asked Buffy sincerely. “Liz paying attention to you?”

Dawn nodded. “She’s getting better. We tried to go shopping the other day, just me and her time. And this morning she had the whole IHOP in our kitchen. But it’s weird, you know, it’s like it’s unnatural and forced still. Before it was forced that she wanted to be alive. Now it’s forced that she’s participating in, well, everything. The only thing she seems to really want to do is patrol.”

Buffy smiled as Dawn talked about all her troubles with the “Scoobies” as she termed them, her petty theft and dealing with the loss of Liz and her mom. She was sad to see Dawn go back to class when their time was up.
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That night Anya called to her and Buffy found herself standing in the shop Anya kept as a human. It was quite impressive really.

Standing behind the counter glowering at her friend, Anya rattled off her complaints about her attempts to get others to wish Xander ill.

“No, they're all, ‘oh, poor Xander, it took so much out of him’, all that running away he did. I just don't understand what's wrong with these people!”

“Did you really think they were the ones to help you?” asked Buffy.

“But...”

“Do you want vengeance, Anyanka?” Buffy asked, interrupting her friend.

“I want Xander good and cursed.”

“Then you know what you have to do.”

“Get a wish from someone who doesn't freaking love him.”

“Exactly.”

“Yeah, but my social circle is a little limited here. What am I supposed to do? Just stumble upon someone who doesn't give a fig's ass if Xander gets hurt?”

The bell on the shop door rung as a person stepped through. Anyanka and Erixel both looked up, a smile passing over both their faces.

Buffy had been afraid to disturb his sleep during the day and had yet to talk to him since she‘d been back. Ok, that wasn‘t entirely true. She‘d been nervous as hell, given the fact that she‘d left him standing in his crypt on the day of the wedding without a word about if he‘d ever see her again.

“Hey. I need a thing...” he started first looking at Anya standing behind the counter. His gaze quickly passed to Buffy who was smiling back at him.

“So... what's your pleasure?” asked Anya.

“Fresh of out of pleasure. That's why I'm here. Just had a very unpleasant experience with the Slayer, again. There is no way I’m claiming any responsibility for her being the bitch she is,” he declared, prowling towards the counter. “Came for some burba weed.”

“Ya, ok, hold on,” ordered Anya, pulling Buffy away from the counter.

“Oh my god, he hates Xander. Maybe I could get him to wish...Dammit, if only he were a woman. Okay, got it! If I can somehow get someone to wish that Spike were a woman, then I go to him, well, he'd be a her by then, go to her and get her to....”

“Ok, I so have to stop you there. First of all, you’ll never get a wish out of Spike. I’ve tried. And you’ve really got to get over this whole women only thing. Guys have as much need for vengeance as the girls do.”

“Oh,” observed Anyanka. “You probably want to be alone with him anyway.”

“Maybe?” whispered Buffy. She looked back at Spike picking through some trinkets on a nearby table before turning back to her friend. “Ok, ya, I do. Can you blame me?”

Anya smiled sadly and patted her shoulder. “I would have thought you’d have learned by now, Rixy. But I understand now, if that’s any consolation.”

With that Anya headed into the back room of the store leaving the pair alone.

“Didn’t know you were here, love,” he started, catching her eye.

“I’m here. All here with the being,” she babbled nervously.

“Didn’t think you were coming back...”

“Dawn...”

“Right, the nibblet,” he said, nodding, as if he understood.

“I was going to see you tonight too,” she hurried to add. “Next on my list of people to see. Not that there’s actually a list or anything.” Buffy paused. “I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly. Last time. I was all emotional and you were there. I... I didn’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow. “What was wrong about it? You were all weepy. I was the gentleman and comforted you. It’s how I was raised, Cecily,” he said smirking.

“It’s wrong because of how you suck me in. I don’t want another Venice, or another New York. I don’t want Sunnydale to be yet another place where you leave me to go back to Dru,” she admitted quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

“I’m not going back to Dru!” he protested, stepping towards her.

“No?” she asked sceptically. “Prove it.”

Spike nodded his head and stepped into her space. His eyes poured into hers. Suddenly she had hope, but she quickly dashed it away. She didn’t get hope. Hope was something she couldn’t ever have again.

He placed his hands on her upper arms, rubbing them tenderly, as if he was getting up the courage to do or say whatever he was going to. His hands ran up her arms and past her shoulders, he tipped her head to the side, placing his lips on hers in a tender kiss. Buffy closed her eyes. She could feel herself give way to his desires, and was about to break off the kiss when he did instead.

A kiss doesn’t prove anything, she thought to herself, fighting to open her eyes.

Suddenly she felt a prick, followed by stabbing pain in her neck that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Spike was suckling at her neck.

“Mine!” he growled, pulling away from her bleeding neck.

Buffy opened her eyes in shock, joy, awe, and a multitude of other emotions. She stepped away from him, her hand flying to her neck, trying to comprehend.

“William...” she whispered.

Spike stared back at her like she had pushed him off a ledge. She continued to back up, little steps at a time. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to come to terms with what he had done. It had meant something, a whole lot of something actually.

Buffy took a step towards him, and let her now bloody fingers drop from her neck. Making up her mind to react instead of standing there stunned, Buffy stepped closer and pressed her hand to his cheek, not caring that she was leaving a bloody print on his skin. She pulled him towards her and leaned in.

“Yours,” she whispered into his ear, placing a kiss on his neck before baring her teeth. “Mine!” Buffy said forcefully, biting down hard on his neck, over the marks Drusilla had made him with.

“Yours,” he responded gently, his body shuddering.

In an instant she felt the mating bond pull them together. Feelings of each filled the other. Buffy pulled back from her bite, blood on her lips, only to have Spike lean in and lick them clean. They kissed, tongues touching, caressing, for a few wonderful moments.

“I love you William,” she said softly as they pulled away. Buffy rested her head on his chest.

Spike sighed. He could feel what she was hiding now. Not that she had been hiding it in the first place.

“But you don’t trust me,” he observed. “Then why?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to claim me since you were first turned William. Did you honestly think I was going to not accept? I love you William. I may not trust you right now, but now we’ve got eternity to get back what we had before this whole mess started.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Back when you were just William, who loved me and wrote poems about his golden goddess and I was just Cecily who fidgeted at parties because I had too much energy. You’re mine now, and I’m never letting you go.”
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tbc...