Spike continued to stare at the ring in the palm of his hand.
Buffy grew more nervous when he didn’t saying anything, wringing her fingers as a myriad of emotions played across his face. She watched as his hand closed around the jewel, his eyes closing in what could only be called rapture.
Oh God! Stupid Buffy! You know he’ll only use it to pick up right where he left off, terrorizing Sunnydale and poking fun at my idiotic decision about Parker. What the hell was I thinking?
He raised his head sharply and frowned at her. “No,” he said quietly, intense emotion behind the word.
“No, what?” Willow asked, confused.
“No, I won’t take it,” he said simply and gave it back to the blonde, whose jaw hung wide open.
“Won’t take it?” she scoffed. Her eyes narrowed on his pensive face. “Is this some kind of macho-pride thing with you? You can’t help me unless we get there in one piece, and that includes you staying unnaturally pale in sunny California. Hence the ring,” she reasoned, trying to hand the ring back.
Stepping back slightly, his eyes grew icy cold. With a frosty glare he clipped, “I heard what you were thinking, Slayer.”
Damn it! Huffing out a breath, she turned to her best friend and glared. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
Willow’s brows drew together, wondering at her friend’s ire. “What do you mean?”
“Did you do something you shouldn’t have?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Like what?”
“You haven’t wriggled your little nose lately to say… oh, I don’t know, maybe make the pain go poof?”
The redhead looked affronted. “I haven’t done any spells lately! Giles thought it would be a bad idea since I’m so emotional right now, so I didn’t do anything… except maybe, I remember…” she faded out as she remembered the tiny spell she uttered before leaving the dorm a few days ago. “Oh, goddess,” she breathed.
“What?” both blonds asked in unison.
“Umm, well… you see, I kinda did a itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie-”
“Better be a yellow polka-dot bikini, Red,” Spike growled.
“Spill, Wil,” Buffy said, ignoring Spike.
The witch fidgeted on her stool. “It was a simple little thing, really… three words shouldn’t make that much difference, right?” she cringed. She’d never tried that spell before and didn’t know the far-reaching magnitude of it.
“What did you do, Willow?” Buffy grew irritated.
“Tempus vernum veritas,” she answered quietly.
“And that does what, exactly?” the Slayer asked when she wasn’t forthcoming with the details.
“I’m not sure,” she murmured very quietly.
“Didn’t catch that,” Buffy groused. “What does it mean?”
Flustered, Willow closed her eyes and sighed heavily. “Means only time will tell the truth. It’s a kinda truth spell and it’s different for each person it affects.”
“Truth spell? You put a ‘truth’ spell on us? For Pete’s sake, why?”
She flung her hands in the air. “It was a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing, honestly! I’d been looking at some simple spells in a book I got at the Magic Shop, but I didn’t read the whole text. Like I said, I don’t know what it does other than your true self will be revealed in time. I guess for you guys that means you hear each other’s thoughts,” she added hesitantly. “But I don’t know how that will reveal your true self.”
Spike pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out the breath he was holding. “And how long does this tiny, bitty spell last, Red? Don’t know if I can keep shieldin’ my thoughts from the Slayer.”
Buffy suddenly glanced at him with a hurt expression. “You shield your thoughts from me?” The bigger question was why did she care that he did.
“Buffy,” he said softly. “If you knew half of the stuff runnin’ rampant in my head you ‘d be scared witless, shitless, and probably shirtless.” He didn’t expound on why he wanted Buffy shirtless, he’d had enough of constantly fixing a broken nose.
“Why can he do that and I can’t?” she whined to Willow. “I mean, at first, everyone could hear what I was thinking, including Riley. But now, it’s only me and Spike… when he chooses to let himself be audible,” she said with a glare in the vamp’s direction.
“I imagine he can do that because he’s been around a lot longer than you have, Buffy. I’m guessing it has to do with the vagueness of the spell when I cast it.”
“Woah, wait a tic,” Spike growled. “Vague is not a word I want to hear you associate with a spell, Red.”
Willow held up her hands in apology. “I’m sorry! I was flustered and irritated when I cast it. All I could think about was the Scooby group and Spike, and how it would’ve been better if everyone were their true selves instead of being all ‘I’m concerned about you, but I don’t want to concern myself with you’ constantly. Plus, there was that truth spell that Giles wanted to do, but he backed out at the last minute, and maybe that’s why I was thinking ‘why doesn’t everyone just reveal the truth? It’d be so much easier.’”
Both blonds stared at her.
“What? Giles was seriously condemning me about magic, saying I was too ‘unfocused’ and I just wanted to prove him wrong.”
Buffy snorted. “Yeah, you really achieved that goal.”
“Actually, I did,” Willow gloated. “I cast the spell and it worked… somewhat.”
“Except that now, Buffy and I might as well have amplifiers plugged into our brains. Yeah, Red… not the brightest of ideas there.”
“Hey!”
“Look on the bright side,” Buffy started to explain. “At least we’re only hearing each other now. Before…” She shuddered and closed her eyes.
“Is that so?” he teased. “Do tell.”
“It started with Riley and then Giles. In my head, I compared Giles to Gollum and I basically thought that Riley couldn’t pull off a sexy eyebrow waggle like Spike does to save his life,” she recounted and then blushed profusely at what she’d revealed.
“You think I have a sexy brow waggle, Slayer?” he asked with mirth. He couldn’t let that one pass, her blush making his heart lurch in his chest.
Buffy held up her index finger. “Not a word to another soul, understand?”
“Fine by me, Slayer.”
“So who else is affected by this spell, Wil? We didn’t hear anyone else’s thoughts.”
Willow bit her lip. “Well, like I said… I was thinking about the Scoobies and Spike at the time, so I think it will only affect them.”
“Yeah, curious about that one. Why me?” he asked cocking his head.
“Oh! `Cause Buffy was talking about you that morning,” she replied with a smile.
Buffy groaned loudly and buried her burning face in her hands.
“Did she now?” he mused with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “And just what were you sayin’, pet?”
That I was worried about you came the forbidden thought, straight from Buffy’s mind.
He sobered immediately and took pity on the embarrassed girl. “Ahem, so, Red… what do you think it’s done to you then?” he inquired, changing the topic so Buffy wouldn’t have to answer his question.
She glanced up at him and sighed in relief. Thanks.
Welcome, luv he thought with a nod and smiled shyly.
Willow watched the interaction between the two and grinned. “Well, umm, let me think. Not sure how its affected me, or if it even has. But I think I know how it’s affecting Xander.”
“Oh, please do tell about the Whelp,” he encouraged with a grin.
“Well, he’s always been kinda left out, even among us Scoobies. I think he thinks of himself as just an ordinary kind a guy… you know, the only non-magical, non-super human, non-vampire, non-Sir John Gielgud librarian type person amongst us,” the witch explained in one breath.
“And?” Buffy said, hoping her friend would get to the point.
“Well, he kinda feels left out. I mean, he’s been my best friend for like… forever, and he’s your close friend, too,” she explained, pointing to the blonde. “But there really aren’t any other ‘guy’ friends around our group. Mostly because they keep getting eaten or try to sacrifice us to serpent demons. But with Spike, Xander has… well, for now, someone he can kinda get to know and maybe you two could do the male bonding thing and shoot pool, hustle frat guys, go on all night binges… oh wait, that wouldn’t be good,” she mused aloud as an afterthought.
“Male bondin’ thing?” Spike asked with a moue of disgust.
“Tell me you didn’t have fun last night?” Willow challenged him. “The honest, hard truth for Xander is he needs a male friend that he can look up to. Someone that will make him try his hardest to be a better person. I think that’s you, Spike.”
“I think you’re way off base there, Wils,” Buffy laughed, but the vampire remained quiet.
“Just give it a shot,” the redhead pleaded, silently eyeing Spike.
He pursed his lips. “I promise not to eat the scruffy Whelp… even when he clearly deserves it.”
The witch snickered. “I give you an ‘A’ for effort.”
“Crap!” Buffy shouted as she glanced down at her watch, her friend’s comment reminding her that she had her own ‘A’ to achieve. “I’m late! Willow, quick… the glamour!” She grabbed her backpack and pulled out a black hoodie and handed it to Spike.
Willow reached over and ran her hands through Spike’s hair and chanted before he could move. “Tergum ut vestri northmanni vultus.”
Immediately his hair became longer and shaggy, turning a honey brown with curls galore. His face filled out a little more and the scare above his eyebrow disappeared. His normally bright blue eyes softened to a deep iris blue. Without knowing it, Willow had transformed his looks to that of Spike’s human self, William.
“Oh my god,” Buffy breathed, staring at the completely different-looking vampire.
Spike was stunned, as he touched his face. What the hell had the witch done? He felt off, somehow… not uncomfortable, but not relaxed, either. Gazing down at his hands, he noticed they were pink as human flesh. He gulped audibly as familiar emotions flooded his being… ones that greatly resembled his state of mind just after he’d been sired.
“Can I see my reflection in a mirror?” he whispered hesitantly.
The redhead nodded and asked Buffy for her compact. She fished it out and handed it to her friend, her eyes never leaving Spike’s face.
Willow slowly opened the compact and murmured, “Vos animadverto vestri animus,” allowing him to see his reflection.
For the first time in over a hundred years, Spike looked upon his reflection.
He turned his head this way and that, tilting his chin up and down. He gazed into his deep blue eyes and grimaced at what he saw behind them. Years of Angelus’ abuse and Dru’s faithlessness had made him weak in his mind and the truth shone out for all to see… if they only bothered to look.
“Poncey bugger,” he muttered and shut the compact quickly.
“Sorry, it was all I could think of on short notice,” Willow apologized.
“No, no, Red. `S okay, really. Just a bit of a shock, that’s all,” he assured her. She still looked fretful, so he pulled her in for a big hug and kissed her forehead. “Truly, `s okay. Better get goin’ though.”
Shucking his beloved duster over the end of the couch, he pulled the hoodie over his head, tugging it down so that he looked somewhat presentable. Reaching behind his head, he grabbed the fabric and pulled the hood over his head to complete the disguise.
Before he put the hood up, Buffy believed he’d beat the pants off any model for the cover of Esquire or GQ. His honey brown curls laying lightly against his face made for a softer Spike, and all Buffy could do was appreciate the view.
“Drool much?” Willow whispered in her ear. It earned her an elbow to her sternum.
“Best leave now, Slayer,” he suggested as he approached the door, waiting for her.
Shaking off her daze, she grabbed her backpack and headed towards the door, stopping before him. Gently, so as not to startle him, she took his hand and slid the ring onto his left ring finger. The significance was not lost on Spike.
“I trust you to do the right thing,” she admitted quietly, her cheeks tinged red.
Spike once again stared at the gem and squeezed his fist. “Why?” he pleaded, fixing his eyes on hers. He needed to know why she trusted him… why he felt different lately… why it mattered, to him and to her.
Standing on tiptoe, she softly kissed his cheek. “Because I believe in you.”
Moaning softly, he nuzzled her cheek, pressing his cool lips at the pulse point just under her ear. “Let’s go ace that final then, shall we, m’lady?” he asked, smiling against her skin.
She giggled softly and took his hand in hers, pulling him out into the sunshine of a bright new day.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Yes, I know this is a short chapter, but the muse is a ornery little bastard that pops up in the most unlikely of places. I need to tell it to quit scaring me in the shower or else I'll drown the bugger. **Any and all facts come from the series "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" which is full of trivial knowledge!**