CHAPTER 26: That surprising vampire of mine

The California night was surprisingly cool for the last week of August; enough to justify wearing a light sweater after the sun wasn‘t in the sky to warm up the air. Buffy briefly pondered if the cold spell could be a sign of impending apocalypse. She did a mental shrug--apocalypses were so last year--and returned her attention to her fashionable, yet incredibly painful boots. Cute, but definitely not a smart footwear choice for the occasion. How was she to know this guy lived in the middle of the woods and she’d have to walk a dirt path on four inches stiletto heels for half a mile? Stupid tree roots were sticking out everywhere as if purposefully trying to trip her. She wondered if there was such a thing as demonic trees. She’d have to ask Giles about that. Thank God for Spike’s arm, the only reason she hadn’t ended up on her proud Slayer behind yet.

Soft wind ruffling the foliage, full moon shining bright, stars sprinkling the clear night sky, her man walking next to her, it could have all been eerily romantic if it wasn’t for her tortured toes, repeatedly twisted ankles, and the hissing whispered conversation coming from somewhere behind them. Xander and Willow had insisted on tagging along, and agreeing turned out to be a very bad idea.

“I’m telling you, Will, this will never last. It will end badly and I’ll be very happy to say ‘told you so’.” Xander said under his breath.

Willow inhaled deeply to steel herself against the burgeoning headache her oldest friend was responsible for. “Xander, come on. It’s Buffy’s business. I’m not completely happy with it myself...”

“Ah! I knew it!” He exclaimed a little too loud.

“Shhh! Would you stop? As I was saying, I’m not completely happy with it, but it’s her life and if this relationship makes her happy, I‘m willing to give it a chance.”

“So that’s it? It’s her life so you’ll let her make a big mistake and do nothing about it?”

“It’s not necessarily a mistake. You’ve read the other Slayers’ stories. Maybe it’s meant to be.”

“Yeah sure. We all read all well these stories ended.” He snorted in contempt. “And the Council members are not the only potential bad guys here. What if Spike pulls an Angelus on her?”

“Don’t bring Angel into this. Spike is nothing like Angel.” She snapped, clearly exasperated by her friend’s irrational obsession. “And you’re right, the other Slayers stories weren‘t exactly all hugs and puppies. Which is exactly why we’re trying to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to Buffy and Spike. Now walk faster, we’re too far behind and you never know what kind of nasties could jump us. It is a Hellmouth forest after all... and the full moon.”

Xander sulked in silence for a little while. Then he noticed Buffy tripping again, then Spike and her exchange what looked like angry words. He pulled on Willow sleeve and pointed.

“See? They’re fighting already! I told you this wouldn’t last. It’s just temporary insanity on Buffy’s part. She’ll snap out of it and before you know, she’ll be asking you for a spell to break that claim thingy. Or she’ll stake Spike for brainwashing her. I like the latter better.”

Willow punched him in the arm.

“Ouch! What the Hell was that for?” He asked while making a big show of rubbing his arm.

“Oh, let’s see...” Willow pretended to count on her fingers. “Annoying me, acting like a poophead, being totally irrational obsesso-boy, wishing for one of your best friend to have her heart broken... Shall I go on?”

He looked down and kicked a small rock with the tip of his sneaker. “Whatever.”

“And look,” Willow continued “the couple about to break up? Not so much with the breaking up it would seem.”

Xander looked up to see that Buffy and Spike had stopped walking and were engaged in a brief but steamy make out session. He swore under his breath.

Willow started walking faster to catch up with them, leaving Xander behind to stew a little. When she reached the couple, they had were in front of a huge clearing. At the other end of the clearing was the largest, most beautiful mansion they had ever seen.

“Wow. That’s what you call a crib.” Buffy commented admiringly.

Willow gaped for a couple seconds before finally saying “Goddess, that’s a big house!”

“Knew the bloke was one of the richest man in the state, but to see it is bloody impressive.”

“Wait.” Buffy turned to Spike with a suspicious look on her face. “You mean, you’ve never been here before? Do you really know this guy or is he going to send the Dobermans after us? You know how I feel about big ugly drooling dogs with sharp teeth.”

Spike smirked, but Willow missed the reference.

“No worries, pet. I promise I do know the guy. Just never been to his place, is all. See?” He pulled a business card that had direction written on the back. “How else would I know where he lives, right?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Good point.” Then she turned to Willow. “Do you mind if I stay behind and meet you there? I really need to have a little talk with Xander.”

“Uh, sure. Did you... hear our conversation?” She asked, suddenly nervous.

“Sure did.” Buffy answered with fake cheerfulness.

“But, how is that even possible? We were whispering... fifty feet behind you!”

“Don’t know. The claim I guess? I still have to figure out all the perks.”

Xander, who had been dragging his feet, finally reached them. “Holy Moses!” He exclaimed when seeing the house. “This guy really is loaded.”

Spike and Willow started walking toward the mansion, but Buffy put a hand on Xander’s shoulder to stop him.

He shot her a questioning glance.

“We need to talk.”

The young man’s expression went from sulking to downright gloomy. “I don’t really feel like talking, Buff.”

“Yeah well, I don’t give a shit.”

Xander’s eyes widened at Buffy’s unusual choice of word.

“I don’t really feel like listening to your nasty comments either and yet, I don’t seem to have a choice. Now it’s your turn to listen to me.”

“If it’s about Spike...” He started saying.

“What else could it be about?”

“There’s nothing you could say to make me be OK with that joke of a relationship. There’s just no way.”

Buffy put her hands up, her face scrunched up in something close to pain. “Stop! Would you just stop it? What kind of a friend are you, Xander? Jesus!”

“Buffy...”

“No. Shut up, please. It’s my turn to speak my peace.”

There was a long pause, Xander and Buffy warily staring at each other. Xander wouldn’t dare opening his mouth again, afraid she would go all Slayer on his ass. Wise decision because she was close to the breaking point.

When Buffy spoke again, her voice was laced with pain. “You hurt me.”

“Buffy, that’s not what I want to do. You’re my friend. I love you and I’m just looking out for you.”

“You call that looking out for me?” She was incredulous.

“He’s not good enough for you, Buff. You deserve so much better.”

“Get me off that pedestal, Xander. I’m tired of standing there. I am not that perfect hero you made me up to be. I have made decisions you didn’t agree with before and I will again in the future. Because I’m my own person and I don’t belong to you. You’re not the puppet master in charge of my life. And what you think is a bad decision, isn’t necessarily bad for me. We are close, and you know me well, but there are things about me you will never be able to understand.”

“Because you’re the Slayer.” Xander said almost bitterly.

“Yes. Because I’m the Slayer. And as much as I would love to be just a normal girl, I am not. And because you don’t understand that part of me, you can’t make decisions for me. You don’t know what I need or what I deserve. Hell, even if I was a normal girl, it’s not your job as my friend to decide anything for me. You, Willow, Anya and Tara did it once, and look what happened. You pulled me out of heaven. Don’t you ever learn?”

“That’s not fair, Buffy.”

“It’s not? You know what’s not fair? Me having to put my own happiness after yours. My entire life is about other people. Don’t I deserve some happiness? I have enough things in my life getting in the way, I don’t need my friends to make things hard for me on top of everything.”

She could tell he was biting his tongue to stop himself from making some comment. Probably something denigrating about Spike and happiness.

“You broke my heart, Xander. You, Willow, Giles... I couldn’t believe my friends would treat me like that the other day.”

“What kind of reaction were you expecting? You couldn’t possibly think we’d be happy to hear the news.”

“I wasn’t expecting a hug and a congratulation if that‘s what you mean, but support might have been nice. That’s what friends do. They support each other. Do you have any idea how much you hurt me? At least Willow apologized. But you? You just keep on going. And you don’t even see it. You are so focused on your own belly button that you don’t even realize what you’re doing to me.”

Xander went to sit on a log, his head down and his hands clasped between his knees. “What do you want me to do, Buffy? I don’t like the guy.”

She went to stand in front of him and waited for him to look up.

“I love him. Can you understand that? I. Love. Him. You don’t have to, but that’s the way I feel. You should try to respect that, respect me.” She sighed. “Xand, we don’t always agree with our friends’ choices. Sometimes they do stupid shit, make bad decisions, mistakes, or shock us. Don’t you think I wasn’t shocked when I found out Willow was a lesbian? Of course I was. Doesn’t mean I had to say anything bad to her. I could have said things like “You’re just upset that Oz left. You’re confused. You’ll snap out of it. It’s just a phase, or some kind of fad.” I didn’t. And you…”

“What about me?”

“I couldn’t stand Anya at first. She was weird and annoying. She was an ex-vengeance demon who had hurt men for a thousand years, caused pain and death and didn’t even feel bad about it now that she is human . Did I ever say anything to you? Was I ever mean to her?”

“Anya never did anything to you.” He argued weakly.

She opened her mouth in disbelief. “Are you serious? Selective memory much? Wasn’t it just a few months ago at the Bronze that Anya told us about that wish she granted to Cordelia? Sunnydale without a Slayer, the Master taking over, humans as slaves... ring any bells? Can you imagine what it could have done to the world? But that’s not the point. The point is I never made you feel bad for falling in love with her. I gave her a chance even though I thought it would blow up in your face. Because the best I could do as your friend was to be there if it did blow up in your face.”

They didn’t say anything for the longest time, but Buffy could tell she was getting to him. When she opened her mouth again, her tone was softer.

“It’s ok to give me you opinion, Xander, your advice, but you can’t get mad at me if I follow the path I’ve chosen despite how you feel about it. There is a way to disagree and still be supportive.”

He stood up. “I’m sorry, Buffy. I don’t know how, but I’ll try.”

She smiled at him. “Maybe you could start by remembering that every time you say something nasty to Spike, it’s me you hurt. Same goes for when I overhear you wishing the man I love would dump me. I’m sure if you heard me tell Willow I hope you and Anya would break up, it would hurt you. Right?”

“Right. I promise to do my best to keep my big dumb mouth shut.”

She pulled him into her arms and gave him a hug.

“Your mouth’s not dumb, Xand. It’s just big... and sometimes mean.”

“Can I still make fun of his hair at least?”

Buffy rolled her eyes and started walking toward the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The front door opened, revealing a tall thin man in his early forties. He had shaggy light brown hair, thick glasses that rested on a rather big nose, and was dressed in a gray turtleneck and black trousers. His face lit up when he saw her and he extended his hand.

“You must be Buffy?”

The smile he gave her was so warm, she couldn’t help but smile in return and shake his hand.

“Yes, I’m Buffy.”

“I’m Richard Gallager.”

Xander gasped and Buffy turned to look at him. But he was staring at the man.

“The video games software? THE Gallager?” He was almost drooling.

Richard laughed and shook Xander’s hand. “Yes, that would be me. But I don’t usually put a ‘THE’ in front of my last name. I’d rather keep my ego in check.”

Xander let out an unmanly giggle.

“Please come in.” Richard opened the door wider to let them in. “I‘m sorry you didn‘t find the lit, paved path that‘s on the other side of the house, it would have been easier. The way you used to get here is my trekking trail.”

Xander groaned.

Buffy’s mouth opened in disbelief. “There was a path? With lights? Damn it!”

Richard laughed at Buffy’s pouty look. “Yes. I should have been more clear with the directions I gave Spike. Come with me, Spike and Willow are waiting in the sitting room.”

They followed him into the room. The decor was manly, but classy. Large comfortable brown leather couches, dark mahogany furniture, expensive looking paintings on the walls--probably originals -- an antique pool table, and one of the walls was covered with books from floor to ceiling. Both Spike and Willow were standing in front of the book collection and going through the titles. They looked like they had just found heaven. Buffy smiled.

Xander was staring at the room with his mouth opened. Spike and Willow tore themselves away from the books and joined them. They all sat on the couches.

“Mr. Gallager...” Buffy started to say but he interrupted her.

“Please, call me Richard.”

She smiled. “All right. Richard, how do you know Spike? We keep asking him, but he won’t tell.”

“That’s very humble of him.” Richard said.

Xander snorted, then turned it into a fake cough and shot Buffy a sheepish look. She shook her head. Hey, at least he was trying.

“About a year ago, two months after I moved here, my only son disappeared. He was five at the time. The ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life showed up at my door with a ransom note.”

“Same type of demon who attacked the night you came back, pet, but different gang.” Spike clarified.

“Didn’t know demons were into kidnapping.” Willow commented.

Spike shrugged. “These wankers probably thought it would be a bloody fantastic way to finance their gang. Even demons need money.”

“The thing is,” Richard continued after they returned their attention to him “my wife died two years ago and Nicolas is all I have left. He’s the joy of my life and the idea of something happening to him was unbearable. I wanted to do what they ask so I went into town to withdraw the money. But the more I was thinking about it, the less I thought my son would live one way or another. He had been kidnapped by demons. They would probably kill him even if they got the money they asked for. I didn‘t know what to do.”

“Found Rich in an alley behind the bank, having a bloody panic attack.” Spike said, adding to the story.

Richard looked embarrassed. “I know, not very manly.”

“But understandable.” Willow reassured.

“I told Spike here the story, expecting him to laugh or run away from the crazy man who believed in demons, but instead, he helped me.”

Spike started looking decidedly uncomfortable. He was tapping his foot and fidgeting, not looking at anybody in the room. Richard took pity on him. He took an ashtray that was on the side table next to him, a half smoked cigar in it, and put it in front of Spike. The vampire gave him a grateful look before lighting a cigarette. He let out a cloud of smoke and sighed contentedly.

“Spike found my son in less than two hours. I had never seen anything like what happened that night. He must have killed at least twenty demons in there. Almost died too.”

“’t’was nothing.” The vampire said dismissively, trying to play it down.

“To me it was.” Richard huffed. “You gave me back my son, it was definitely something.”

Even Xander looked suitably impressed. He was staring at Spike with a strange impression on his face.

“What?” Spike finally asked.

“How come you never bragged about that? Wasn’t it around the time you were trying to impress Buffy? This would have definitely impressed her.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. “Not everything I do is to impress Buffy, Whelp.”

Buffy was expecting another snide comment from Xander, but instead, he turn to Richard.

“Do you... Uh... Do you know about Spike’s sun allergy?”

“Xander!” Buffy couldn’t believe he would dare bring that up.

“What? It’s a genuine question.”

“You’re asking me if I know he’s a vampire? Yes I do.”

Xander looked at Buffy. “I just wanted to know so we wouldn’t say something in front of him if he didn’t know. It’s not like I could ask outright.”

“Speaking of being a vampire...” Spike hesitated, looking uncomfortable asking what he was about to ask.

Richard turned his attention to Spike. “Yes?”

Spike told him about their problems, explaining what a Slayer was, the watchers, and how they wanted to stop the Council from eliminating both of them.

“You know when you said you owed me?” Spike asked almost shyly.

“Of course. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“I never planned to take you up on that offer, mate. I didn’t help you to get something in return. I like kids, you seemed like a nice enough bloke, and I decided to help. Nothing else to it. But now... We need to get to London, and me being a vampire, it’s impossible to go on a regular flight. I’m too flammable. But then I remembered you mentioning you’d sell your company, your house, you cars and your private jet to get your son back... About that private jet... Still have it, mate?”

Richard laughed. “Yes I do. It’s parked in a hangar at LAX. And yes, you can use it, Spike. Just tell me when, I’ll call the pilot, and all you’ll have to do is get to Los Angeles.”

Spike let out the breath he’d been holding in. “Thanks, mate. Means a lot.”

Buffy beamed. “Thank you so much!”

They all thanked Richard warmly. He offered them a drink, which they were happy to accept.

At some point during the conversation, Willow asked their host what made him move to Sunnydale.

He gave the smile of a man who finds irony very amusing. “I was tired of the attention I got in L.A. It didn’t feel safe anymore. I figured, a place called Sunnydale... Just saying the name makes you feel warm and safe.”

They all burst out laughing.

“Told you pet,” Spike said to Buffy when he finally got his mirth under control. “They should rename the place Sunnyhell so people would know what they‘re getting themselves into when they move here. Calling the place Sunnydale is just false publicity.”

Even Xander laughed at the comment.

That just made Buffy’s night even better.