full 3/4 1/2   skin light dark       
 
Another Time by PassionFish
 
StandAlone
 
 
 
Another Time By PassionFish



TimeLine: Sometime after the season seven, episode three. (Not taking into account the rest of the season). A softer Buffy and a crazier Spike.






"Are you sure it went this way?" Buffy re-questioned, as she jogged ahead of the running Xander, both making it through the undergrowth that inhabited Sunnydale’s outermost cemetery.



"Yes, Buff, for the love of fried potatoes yes!" Xander was breathing heavily, exasperated from about two minutes behind her. Damn that slayer speed - demasculating was what it was.



"Okay - so we find the demon, kill the demon, save the world and be ho-” Buffy stopped as a random vampire jumped out in front of her, teeth bare, growling for effect.



"I'm gonna suck your blo-." He snarled, amber eyes flashing.



"Ugh! So don't have time for this!" Buffy lifted her stake, about to slam the wood into his chest when his head was suddenly twisted straight off his shoulders.



"Spike?" Buffy breathed in shock as the dust dissipated and standing about fifteen inches in front of her, there he was.



"Uhh.... hello, Buffy." Spike said in a hushed voice, ducking his head bashfully.



"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked, both unaware that Xander was just a moment behind them.



Spike reached forward, gently brushing the back if his hand against her cheek as his other hand trailed up and down her arm. "I-I'm sorry, d-did I scare you. Didn't mean to...sorry, so-” His eyes flashed with fear and worry at the thought.



Buffy shook her head placing her fingers against his soft lips, "No, I'm not ma-"



Unknowingly, instinctively, Spike carefully leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. Seeking comfort from her in the basest of ways.



"Buff, why d'ya st-SPIKE! Get away from her!" Xander darted forward, still panting and yanked Buffy back.



"You son-of a-b-"



"Xander, NO!" Buffy shoved the dark-haired man back with a little more force then she had consciously intended and he flew a few feet from the blonde couple. "He wasn't doing anything."



"Oh god, - what have I done, oh god - what have I done, oh god, - what have I done oh god...” Spike's muttered heart-felt litany continued and Buffy felt her heart contract painfully at the sight.



"Hey...Spike...Spike?" She called gently, waving her hand in front of his face, attempting to get his attention.



"You shouldn't have touched her, you don't deserve to touch her, you're a disgusting, evil, disgusting, thing...” He was pacing in a small circle, shaking his head as his fingers crawled painfully over his skull.



"He's cracked. Dru has taken him over." Xander muttered from his position on the ground. Buffy glared at him then turned back to Spike who was still pacing.



"You're a thing, thing, murderer, a thing, a thing...."



"Spike, please...William, I'm not mad...look at me." Finally he did and she smiled softly at him. "Hi, listen, I need your help, okay?" She said, trying to divert his attention, as one would a small child.



"O-okay?" Spike questioned. Since when did she ask him for help - she usually just took it?



"There's this demon, it wants to end the world. I have to stop it but I can't find it. Can you help me?" Buffy spoke softly, as though speaking to a scared animal.



"Okay...." Only Buffy caught his acceptance, the sound to quiet for mortal ears.



"Okay, good." She reached forward and took his hands down from where they were scratching up slithers of blood across his collarbone.



"Buffy, what the hell are you-"



"Not now, Xander!"



"Yes, now! Buffy he rap-"



With wild eyes she turned to face as she began to vent all of the frustrations



"Yes, Xander I do know what happened! But this isn't about how you feel about it; it should be about how I feel about it. I've dealt with it, stop using everything against me!" Buffy was furious, her head shaking, red cheeked as she finally faced her strongest fear ever - that of her friend's unrelenting judgement of her actions.



"Buffy, I-"



"Lizzy?" Spike whispered, not really wanting to anger her further, but feeling he really needed to tell her this.



"Hold on, Spike." Buffy murmured, her eyes never leaving Xander’s, who still sat on the floor an angry slayer towering over him.



"I wasn't trying to make it about me - I just want to protect you! Buffy, I'm your fri-"



"Yes, I know you are but it doesn't mean you get to make all of my decisions for me, or pass judgement on things that I do. Just like I don't-"



"Buffy, love, um....” Spike tugged on her sleeve.



"Hold on, Spike. Look I didn't make a fuss over Anya being an ex-vengeance demon or Willow going T-total on us and trying to kill everyone. I was here for both of you and I'm always gonna be, at least until I die...well, for real that is-"



Buffy’s speech was cut off by a blood-curdling scream and she spun around as Xander shot to his feet, both to find Spike sitting in the middle of a pile of demon guts.



"I-it just went 'Boom!'." He looked up to find their attention on him. He smiled hopefully at Buffy before realising he'd interrupted her. "I'm sorry - I know you said later but I thought - I didn't mean to-"



"Hey, wow, you killed the big bad lets-just-end-the-world demon!" Buffy smiled down at him, injecting safety into her tones.



"You're not mad?" Spike persisted, trying to ignore the voices wailing inside his head that he'd failed her yet again.



"Nope - demon dead equals happy slayer." Spike finally returned the smile, and she extended her hand to help him up. She looked him over, "You need to get clean, come back to my place, and I doubt the high school has a great washer and tumble drier system going on."



"Buffy, are you sure that's a good idea?"



Buffy sighed and turned to Xander, "You know something. No, I'm not sure. But I need.... I need to find out, okay? So either you live with it or you go home that-away." She indicated the opposite direction.



Xander deflated like a balloon and sighed, "Whatever."



"Dum, dee-dee, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum-dum, whatever!" Spike sang quietly to himself as the three turned and headed to Revello Drive.



Xander rolled his eyes, Buffy giggled, causing Spike to grin goofily at her. She leaned over and gently took his palm in hers. Spike gasped, but said nothing, carefully rubbing his cool thumb over the back of her warm hand.



Together, the three left the cemetery, apocalypse averted.



In more ways than one.



The End



A/N: I think this is my only 'proper' Season Seven piece - I went really off the whole thing after the attempted rape in Season Six - hopefully that doesn't show too much :)