Author’s Note: Don’t be like shocked or anything, but I squeezed out some writing time and came up with another chapter of Marking Time. I know! What’s up with that? Three chapters posted in less than a month? You’d think we were actually getting somewhere. Heh.
And just guesstimating? I’d say it will take about 4 more chapters or so to wrap things up. Not quite heading down the home stretch yet, but close. Whee!
As with the last two chapters, I’m foregoing asking the fabulous pennydrdful to exercise her outstanding beta skills. With my current work schedule, I’ve got to post them as I can. They’ll be the lesser for lack of her input, but I’ll do my best not to disappoint.
If you’ve forgotten what’s going on and missed the last two chappies, you can find a synopsis at the beginning of Chapter 14.
Hope you like! Now on with the show…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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“So?”
Spike stepped out of the shadows of the inn’s large hall, moving toward the rustic staircase that had just taken a noticeably red-eyed Buffy up to the sanctuary of her room. He looked at Angel, who stood motionless at the base, shoulders slumped.
Angel shook his head. “I don’t have any answers.”
“Right. Let me guess.” His voice jumped to a high falsetto. “‘I don’t want to talk about it, Angel.’” Then dropped to a deep, goofy-sounding tone. “‘Whatever you say, Buffy. I’m a useless wanker with bad hair and mush for brains, anyway, so it wouldn’t do any good to confide in me. Just try not to be too hard on yourself.’”
Spike spotted the telltale twitch in Angel’s jaw, but the big lummox didn’t move. Instead, he gazed up the staircase as if he could still see Buffy retreating up the steps. “I’m not gonna do this with you.” His voice held a warning, which Spike, of course, ignored.
“Because it happened just the way I said it would, didn’t it? You let her put you off and you made her cry. Don’t deny it. Saw her face. I should just rip your head off and get it over with, but I don’t have the time. Now move your sorry arse. If you can’t get to the bottom of things, I will.” He pushed past Angel, taking the steps two at a time.
“It’s the Shanshu.”
Angel said it so softly that even with vampiric senses Spike almost didn’t hear. Then it sank in.
“The Shan—” He stopped and turned, looking down at Angel. “What about it?”
“She asked about it. I think…I think she’s sorry it happened. To me, I mean. I think she wanted it for you.”
Spike’s boots clunked heavily on each step as he slowly descended, eyes fixed on Angel’s face. “Why would…” He swallowed hard. “I mean, where’d you get a daft notion like that? Did she say…?” He left the question hanging.
Angel waved it away. “It’s not what she said. It’s how she reacted. She talked about it a little…how Gunn told her you wanted it. But the rest…” A look flashed across Angel’s face, there and gone so fast that most people wouldn’t have noticed. Spike wasn’t most people. Whatever Buffy had said, however she’d reacted, it had tarnished Angel’s shiny new Shanshu. To think that his now-human status was the cause of Buffy’s distress really hit him where it hurt.
Spike glanced away. “Think you’re off on this one.”
“You weren’t there, Spike. You didn’t see how she was.”
“Why would Buffy be upset over—”
This time it was Angel getting in Spike’s face, made easier by the latter’s slightly elevated position on the stairs. “Every time I think you can’t possibly be a bigger idiot, you go and surprise me! She wants you, moron, and she wants you human so you can have the picket fence and the fat grandbabies and all the other things that go along with it. Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
If he’d had a functioning heart, it would have pounded its way right out of his chest. “She tell you this?”
“She doesn’t have to. I know Buffy. She wants to be normal. Do all the things The Slayer never could. Only now, she’s not the only one. Now, she’s got a chance to have that life she could never have before. With you, much as it galls me to say it.” Angel’s heated gaze shifted to the banister where his clenched fist rested. “But then she can’t, can she? Because you didn’t get the Shanshu.”
Spike stared at him. Then in a blink he was sprinting back up the stairs. He was surprised when Angel’s hand closed around his arm, jerking him to a halt. He wouldn’t have thought a human Angel could move that fast. Instead of breaking the hold, as he easily could have done, Spike let the force of his momentum swing him around to face his grandsire.
“Sod off, Angel!”
“You can’t go up there right now.”
“Try and stop me!”
“Spike! If you love her, really love her, you’ll back off and give her some time. Wait till she’s ready to tell you this herself.”
“Why?” he shot back. “You think if I wait long enough she’ll come to her senses and change her mind?”
“God, I wish she would.” Angel glared at him. “But I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Meeting Angel’s hard stare, Spike wanted more than anything to believe that. But the single-minded determination that had propelled him up the stairs was already fading, and he found himself left with the same doubts that had plagued him since he’d first materialized in Angel’s office.
Even with the still-fresh memory of Buffy standing in the middle of the street pouring out her heart to him, there was a stubborn part of Spike’s psyche that remained unconvinced. The insecure William side couldn’t help but wonder…what if Buffy wasn’t as certain as she’d seemed? What if Angel was wrong?
She’d called him “her guy” and insisted he was the one she wanted to be with, but after spending time with Angel again perhaps she’d realized her mistake. Unlike most, Spike had never believed Buffy would be satisfied with a “normal” life. What if it wasn’t a human Spike she wanted, but a vampire Angel? Could it be she was actually mourning the loss of a little monster in her man?
He glared down at Angel’s hand still wrapped around his bicep. “If you’re plannin’ on keepin’ that, suggest you remove it.”
“Consider it yours, if that’s what it takes to stop you from hurting Buffy more than you have already.”
Neither one moved. Then Spike rolled his eyes. “Now you’re playin’ dirty.”
“Like you wouldn’t? Look, I know asking you to be patient is like asking a snowman in hell not to melt, but do it anyway. For Buffy.”
Spike huffed, but before he could decide whether to capitulate or make good on his threat, another voice cut through their stalemate.
“Well, lookee here, if it ain’t Fred and Ethel together again. What’s up, dawgs?” Gunn stood in the doorway.
Angel dropped Spike’s arm as if it were a snake that had hissed at him. “Just…catching up.”
Gunn’s eyebrow rose. “Or something.” Then his expression turned grave. “Kayneg just rode into town. He spotted smoke coming from the south. Looks like raiders hit Gonock’s farm, and we figure they’re heading over to Brindig’s place next. Tondor’s saddling up the hemoths now. Gotta hustle.”
Spike frowned. “Raiders? The demons you told me about that came through the portal with you? Thought you ran them off with their tails tucked between their legs.”
Gunn nodded. “Literally, in some cases. But looks like they’re back.”
“Bloody wankers. Wish I could come with you.”
Gunn shrugged. “Can’t be helped.” He glanced up the stairs. “What about Buffy? She up for a little slayer-style R&R?”
Angel looked torn. Or maybe constipated. Spike wasn’t sure.
“She’s…not feeling well. It’s better if we don’t bother her right now.” He glared at Spike.
Spike didn’t even try to look innocent. “You run along now. Mustn’t keep the nice raiders waiting. I’ll hold down the fort.”
“Spike, I mean it,” Angel growled.
“Just give it a rest, will you? You made your point.”
Though Angel seemed a little less tense, he didn’t look entirely convinced. Nevertheless, he silently followed Gunn to retrieve their swords. Then both men hurried out the door, leaving Spike alone in the hall.
He waited till the count of five before turning back to the stairs.
“Said he made his point,” Spike informed no one in particular. “Didn’t say I was going to take it.”
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TBC in Chapter 17
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is currently a WIP written in response to a Spuffy Kinkathon challenge. The story requirements were as follows: The requested kink was hurt/comfort. Three other requests were to show Spike reluctantly biting Buffy, include Dawn and/or Xander in the story, and set it anywhere from Season 5 to Post-NFA.