“You’ll behave now when I’m gone, yeah? Don’t give Buffy a hard time.” Spike raised a brow as he looked at his son. “Don’t wanna come back and find out you’ve been sneaking girls up to your room, you hear?” He said the last part with a teasing note in his voice, glancing at Buffy, who tried to hide her amusement.
“Girls?!” Billy stared at his father with a horrified expression on his face. “Why would I wanna do that?” He looked like the mere thought sickened him.
“You say that now.” Buffy smiled. “Just wait and see. Before you know it, you’ll be out on your first date.”
“Oi!” Spike mock glared at her. “Don’t give him any ideas.” She raised her hands in an apologetic gesture, although still smiling.
Billy let out a snort, looking deeply offended. “Not bloody likely! You’ll have to kiss and stuff when you go out on dates. That’s gross.”
“You mean like this?” Spike pulled Buffy into his arms, brushing his lips softly against hers. Pulling back a little, he gave her a questioning look. “Well? Was that gross?”
“Hm.” Buffy pretended to be thinking. “I’m not sure. Do it again.” Just like she had expected, Spike was happy to oblige. Billy rolled his eyes, although he couldn’t help but watch them with a hint of curiosity.
Finally Spike let go of Buffy, although most reluctantly, only to notice that she obviously didn’t like the idea of being separated from him anymore than he did. She pouted a little, all of the sudden an almost miserable expression on her face, and he felt a pang in his chest, wishing that he wouldn’t have to go. But he didn’t have much of a choice. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d be gone forever. With any luck, he’d be back again by tomorrow night.
“Hey, none of that.” He ran his fingers tenderly down her cheek. “Be back before you know it.”
“Yeah.” Buffy gave him a weak smile before turning to the boy. “We’ll be okay, won’t we, Billy?”
“Sure.” Billy nodded, clearly intending to act casual, but not quite succeeding. He glanced at his father. “Once Mum’s signed the papers, you’ll come back, right?”
Spike frowned, taken aback by the look of genuine uncertainty on the boy’s face. “Course I will. You know that.”
“Right.” Billy made another attempt of sounding nonchalant. “Just checking.” A pause. “And she’ll sign ‘em.” It was more a statement than a question, but there was still a slight hint of doubt in his voice.
“Yes, she will.” Spike looked him right in the eyes, a firm expression on his face. “Billy, we’ve talked about this.” He looked at Buffy, realizing that she appeared to be quite concerned. Their eyes met and he forced a smile.
“You’ll call when you get there?” She slid her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder for a moment.
“Will do, luv.” Spike swallowed. Suddenly he got an uneasy feeling inside, and he wondered where it was coming from. Not that he expected this little trip to LA to be a walk in the park, but still, all he had to do was try to have a somewhat civil conversation with his crazy, cheating, child abusing, soon-to-be ex-wife. He could do that, as long as it would mean her finally being out of his and Billy’s lives for good.
And for the possibility of Dru not wanting to sign the bloody divorce papers, well, Spike was convinced that he could get her to come around. Luckily, he could be quite persistent when he wanted to. No way would he be leaving LA before having gotten what he came for, and he had every intention of making that very clear to Drusilla, right from the start. He wasn’t about to let her manipulate him in any way.
So, why was he worried? Like Buffy said; she and Billy would be just fine by themselves until he got back. He doubted they would have any problems getting along, and Billy would be much better off as far away from LA and his mother as possible. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his son in for a hug. “Take care, buddy. I’ll talk to you tonight. Now be good.”
“I will.” Billy looked a little uncomfortable, but nodded in agreement. “Won’t cause any trouble. Promise.”
“That’s my boy.” Spike turned to Buffy, tilting his head to the side. “Come here, you.” She willingly walked right into his arms. “You be good, too, yeah? Might find a way to make it up to you for lost time when I get back.”
Buffy gave him a sad smile. “Gonna hold you to that. Now go, before I make us all uncomfortable by starting to cry.” Although she meant it like a joke, she couldn’t quite keep her bottom lip from trembling. She couldn’t understand why she felt so sad. Spike would only be gone for a couple of days, and she would have Billy around to keep her company. Still, she missed Spike already, and he hadn’t even left yet.
Spike leaned in to give her one final kiss – putting as much passion into it as he could muster with his son standing only a few feet away – before stepping away from the two people he cared about more than anything in the whole world, and jumped into his car.
Meanwhile in LA...
“What do you think you’re doing here?” Doctor Walsh watched the young man in front of her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Last time I checked, medical interns are strictly forbidden to wander around by themselves at this part of the hospital.”
“Oh, I was just...” Warren gulped, desperately searching his mind for some kind of explanation. How typical for him to run into that old hag. The other interns, and even some of the younger nurses, used to refer to her as ‘the evil bitch monster of death’, and he couldn’t help but find the name rather fitting. He cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m here because...”
“He’s with me, Doctor Walsh.” A young, pretty brunette hurried up behind them, accidentally stumbling and dropping a pile of papers on the floor. “Oh, darn!” Glad for the distraction, Warren immediately bent down to help her, and she gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
Doctor Walsh hesitated for a moment before clearly deciding that neither of them was worth more of her time. “Very well. I assume you will remain in Doctor Burkle’s company from now on, and not walk around by yourself. I will not have you upsetting the patients.”
“Of course.” Warren put on a strained smile. The older woman glared at him for a moment before finally leaving. He let out a sigh of relief, turning to his rescuer; “Wow, that was close. Thank you.”
She let out a nervous giggle. “Oh, don’t worry about it. But you really shouldn’t be here.” A pause. “You’re one of the new interns, right? I’ve seen you around. I’m Doctor Winnifred Burkle, but most people call me Fred.” She reached out her hand in greeting, which he accepted after a brief moment’s hesitation. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I, uh...” Warren thought quickly. “A friend of mine’s staying here,” he lied. “We’ve sort of drifted apart, with her being sick and all. I just wanted to see her, you know, make sure she’s all right.” Holding his breath, he hoped she would fall for it.
“Oh.” Fred got a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry to hear that. I take it you’re not on the list of authorized visitors?”
Warren shrugged, apologetically. “No, I’m afraid not. But maybe you could...?” He raised a brow, leaving the rest of the question hanging. Seeing how she was about to object, he hurried to add; “I won’t stay long. Just a couple of minutes. Please? It would really mean a lot to me.”
“I don’t know...” Fred hesitated, clearly torn between her duty as a doctor and her heart. Finally she sighed. “All right. Five minutes. And that’s all. We could both get in trouble for this.”
Beyond relieved, Warren nodded, eagerly. “Thank you.” He let his hand discretely slip into his pocket, making sure the paper was still there. It was. Drusilla would be pleased with him.
“What’s that smell?” Billy stopped in the doorway, eyes widening as he saw the smoke coming from the oven. “Dinner’s on fire?”
“No!” Buffy quickly grabbed a dish towel and hurried to open the oven, waving her hand in front of her face as even more black smoke welled out. “It’s just an experiment. A failed experiment, I might add. Wanna call for pizza?” She put on a bright smile, although inwards she cringed.
“Sure.” Billy shrugged and went to get the phone, returning a moment later. He watched Buffy’s weak attempt of cleaning up the mess she’d made with a doubtful expression. “You really can’t cook, can you?”
Buffy sighed. “No, I really can’t. Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Billy waved his hand in dismissal. “I like pizza.”
“Me, too.” She let out a small chuckle. “Maybe we shouldn’t tell your dad about this little...” She hesitated, not sure what to call it.
“Experiment?” Billy helpfully suggested, using her word.
She nodded with a sheepish smile. As Billy quickly dialed the number to the pizza place – something he was clearly quite familiar with – she couldn’t help but wonder what Spike was doing at that moment. He had promised to call before he went to see Drusilla and she couldn’t wait to hear his voice. She had never thought it was possible to miss someone this much, seeing how they had just recently started dating.
Billy’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she realized that he was talking to her. She shook her head, as if to clear it. “Sorry, spaced out for a while. What did you say?”
“The pizzas will be here in twenty minutes.” The boy watched her closely. “Thinking ‘bout Dad?”
Starting to say no, Buffy then decided against it. “Actually, yes. Good guess.” She smiled a little.
He was quiet for a moment. “Are you worried because he’s going to see my mum?”
“What? No!” Buffy forced a laugh, although it sounded false, even to her ears. “Are you?”
Billy didn’t answer at first. Then he shrugged. “Why would I be worried?”
“I don’t know.” Buffy hesitated a little. “Why don’t you tell me?”
He just looked at her for a moment, clearly not sure whether or not to say anything. Then he walked over to the fridge. “Want Coke or Pepsi? Think we have both.”
“Coke will be fine.” She let out a sigh, realizing that whatever the boy was thinking, he was obviously not in a mood for sharing. Maybe it was for the best. Because she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear what he had to say about his mother.
TBC