“Saavik is hot!”
“She’s a right shaggable bird, that.”
“What are you two watching?” Buffy asked as she entered the living room of the apartment Spike and her now shared.
Glancing over his shoulder, Spike smiled at her and waggled his eyebrows. “Star Trek, Wrath of Khan.”
“Yeah, there’s a Star Trek marathon on cable, and since Anya’s running the store and Tara dragged Willow to a Wiccan retreat, I thought a day of male solidarity was in order,” Xander added, stuffing a Dorito in his mouth.
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Men.” Wandering into the kitchen, she opened the cupboards and frowned. “Xander? Where are my S’mores treats?”
Her best friend looked at the empty box in front of him on the coffee table. “Uh, no idea!” he yelled to her, shoving the box underneath the couch.
Spike snorted. “She’ll find `em, mate… sooner or later. She always does.”
Returning to the living room, she grabbed her purse, and sent the two men a death glare. “I’m going grocery shopping, and when I get back, there will be no eating of Buffy’s munchies.”
“But luv, your munchies are so edible.” Her mate leered at her, his tongue tucked behind his teeth.
“Hey! No subtle innuendos in front of the best friend,” said best friend complained, covering his ears.
Pulling one of his hands away, Buffy leaned in and whispered, “I have just one thing to say to that. Mouth gag.”
Groaning and turning beet-red, Xander hid behind his fingers. “I know nothing, I see nothing.”
“Good,” she said sweetly. Leaning over the back of the sofa, Buffy cupped Spike’s cheek and kissed him, nipping on his lower lip. “Want anything?” she breathed against his mouth.
“You,” he growled, deepening the kiss as he pulled her closer, his fingers twisting in her locks.
She giggled, rubbing his nose with hers. “I mean something to eat.”
He smiled and began trailing open-mouthed kisses along her neck. “Still you.”
“Should I leave so you two can have at it with a full-blown grope session?” Xander interrupted, becoming slightly nauseated at the scene before him. Admittedly, he was still getting used to the idea that Buffy and Spike were mated, but observing them snog, as Spike liked to call it, was as close to watching porn with his best friend as the star as he liked to get.
Buffy straightened with a pout. “Sorry.” She ruffled Spike’s hair, laughing lightly when it stuck up in the back where his scar was located. “I’ll see you later.”
Spike mouthed the words, Love you, before she closed the door, the blinding rush of feelings through his body her answer. He didn’t think he’d ever grow tired of sensing her emotions, even the more somber ones, grateful to be alive once more.
“Can we refocus?” Xander groused, pointing to the television screen.
Shifting his hips to relieve some pressure from his semi hard-on, Spike nodded towards the scene being portrayed. “Yeah… Saavik is a right shaggable bird.”
“We’re past that.”
“Oh, right,” he responded sheepishly, trying to pat down his hair.
“So…” Xander trailed awkwardly. “Do you think those are fake?”
“What? Saavik’s tits? Nah, not big enough.”
“No! Kahn’s chest!”
Spike peered at the scene where Kahn was implanting the Ceti Eels into Chekov and Terrell’s ear, the actor’s pecs rather buffed and twitching. “Should I be worried you’re askin’ about a bloke’s chest instead of the hot alien’s?”
“Never mind,” Xander grumbled.
“You brought it up,” Spike countered, snagging some of Xander’s popcorn.
“I just asked if Khan’s pecs looked fake.”
“No, you didn’t, you said-”
“I know what I said!”
Spock’s voice interrupted their argument. “That is wise. Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
“Or the one,” Xander quoted somberly.
“Sounds like Buffy,” Spike murmured. “Always thinkin’ of others before herself.”
The dark-haired boy nodded, but then chuckled. “So is Buffy like Spock then?”
The vampire looked at him like he’d lost the plot. “Hardly.” Laying his head against the back of the sofa, he thought for a moment. “For one, I love her and all, but if she had those eyebrows, I’d be hard-pressed to take her seriously.”
Xander laughed outright. “Even if she accidentally stripped off an eyebrow when she waxed them?”
“Oi! She does not wax her brows, mate!” he spluttered in outrage. “She tweezes them.”
The younger man grimaced. “Okay, TMI, really.”
“Watch the bloody movie, Whelp!” the vamp barked.
They both watched in silence until the part where Spock sacrificed himself to save the crew, Xander growing uncomfortable with the vampire beside him, knowing Spike had practically done the same thing as the Vulcan.
Kirk shouted for his friend, who was slumped in the corner, barely able to stand. “Spock!”
He watched as the Vulcan staggered to his feet and approached the glass, so blinded by the radiation he couldn’t tell where the barrier was. Then he stopped and laid his forehead against the shield, wheezing with extreme effort. “Ship… out of danger?”
“Yes!” the Admiral quickly assured him.
Hearing the mournful quality in his friend’s voice, Spock breathed heavily and gave him a rare, thin smile. “Don’t grieve, Admiral. It is… logical. The needs of the many outweigh…”
“The needs of the few,” Kirk finished when the Vulcan could not.
Nodding, Spock dropped to his knees, unable to bear his weight any further. “Or the one.” Putting his face close to the glass, he knew that Kirk had followed him to the floor. “I never took the Kobayashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?”
When Kirk said nothing, only staring at his rapidly deteriorating friend, Spock continued on, knowing he had little time. “I have been, and always shall be, your friend.” Placing his hand on the glass, he spread his trembling fingers to form the Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper.”
With his last words, he quietly died, leaving a stunned Kirk to sit there, mumbling, “No… no.”
Raising his hand to scratch at a pseudo piece of dust in his eye, Xander tried to sniff inconspicuously, and Spike had the decency to refrain from teasing him. The next scene showed the sleek, black torpedo tube being lowered, the entire crew of the Enterprise gathered around.
“We are gathered here today to pay final respects to our honored dead,” Kirk intoned, deep sorrow lacing his words. “But it should be noted that this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world; a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish.” The Admiral frowned for a moment, knowing his friend would’ve considered these emotions illogical. “He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings.” After a long pause, Kirk gazed at the crew he’d completed many missions with. “Of my friend, I can only say this… of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most-” He tried not to falter, but couldn’t help it. “Human.”
Xander paused the movie and glanced sideways at Spike. “Can I ask you a question?” he posed hesitantly.
The blond vamp studied the boy, touching his scar absentmindedly. “What?”
“I mean you don’t have to tell me,” he offered. “But I wanted to know what they did to you in the lab.”
Spike inhaled quickly, a shudder wracking his frame as he covered his mouth and nose with a hand, staring off in the distance before whispering, “Terrible things, Harris.”
“We saw the containment cells where they kept the demons,” Xander admitted. “Buffy got sick.”
“She saw all that?”
At Xander’s nod, Spike touched the back of his head, and closed his eyes. “Never knew what happened after those buggers…”
When it seemed Spike was lost in memories, Xander prompted him. “What did they do? I mean I saw the-” He gulped. “- the after affects.”
“What I’m about to tell you does not reach Buffy’s ears, understand?” Spike threatened.
The whelp nodded vigorously. “Scooby swear.”
“That’s bloody rich,” he snorted. “They darted me after tasin’ you lot, but I didn’t get the enjoyment of bein’ unconscious, unlike you.”
“Wanted you awake, huh?”
“You could say that,” the vamp said soberly. “Threw the Gem at Red before Psycho Grunt dragged me out the door, couldn’t let them get their grubby mitts on the ring, see?”
“Smart move,” Xander agreed.
For the next hour, Spike recalled all that he could remember of his brief time in the lab before everything descended into darkness, glossing over the brutal abuse suffered at the hands of Riley so as not to disturb the boy. He knew Harris still had preconceived notions that demons couldn’t feel so he figured it was pointless to tell him of the despair he felt, the utter hopelessness that drew him further into the black void, the punishing beatings to retrieve pointless information. He finished by telling him the precise moment he woke up, Buffy straddling his chest with a gigantic knife headed straight for his heart.
“Shit!”
“Yeah,” Spike agreed. “Let me tell you, mate, that was one rude awakenin’.”
“No doubt,” the boy mused. “You know, I think I’ve finally figured something out.”
Spike arched a brow in a very Spock-like fashion and smirked. “Stop the bloody presses, world! Harris has a thought in that melon of his!”
“And here I was going to say something decent about you,” he spat.
“Decent?” Spike’s ears perked up, highly curious.
Xander hid his grin at the vampire’s insecurity. “I was going to echo Kirk’s sentiment.”
The vampire’s eyes widened. “You’d best not say a word about Klingon aphrodisiacs, Whelp!”
“What? NO!”
“Then what? You’re not gonna quote Moby Dick while you’re dyin’, are you?”
“With you, are you insane?”
“Well, I do have a great whale of a-”
“Don’t even finish that sentence!” Xander shouted, jumping of the couch.
Wiping his palms on his pants leg, the Scooby stuck his hands in his back pockets. “Look, I was gonna say…”
The vamp’s eyebrows rose, indicating the boy should continue when he said nothing for several moments.
“It was the part at Spock’s funeral that got me to thinking,” Xander started. “Of all the things I’ve encountered since I’ve known Buffy, you’re the most… human.”
Spike opened his mouth to snark some reply, but the other man’s earnest expression made him falter, choosing instead to neither refute nor claim he was right. The opening of the apartment door brought the men’s discussion to a halt.
“Can you two help me?” Buffy grumbled over the top of one of the paper sacks.
“Sure, Buff.” Xander exited the apartment, heading to the car to grab the other bags.
Setting her bundle down, Buffy started to admonish Spike for not helping, but he was staring off into space, a frown marring his brow. “Are you okay?” she asked, worried that he might have a headache.
“Hmm? Oh, fine, pet,” he said, finally registering her presence. “Just thinkin’.”
“Must be something pretty profound if you didn’t even know I was here,” she teased.
Getting off the couch, he moved around until she was in his arms, as he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent. “I think the Whelp boldly went where no one has gone before,” he mumbled against her jaw.
“Oh, do tell!”
“Said I was more human than most humans,” he said quietly.
She pulled back to stare at him. “Seriously?”
He nodded, and then kissed her forehead. “I think I just finished my voyage home.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is in response to a drabble challenge on LJ from Carly, ie, bloody_bint: In light of the new movie hitting theaters on Friday, I'd LOVE a Trek drabble. If you want to make it Spike and Xander discussing Trek, that's okay too. So this is for Carly! *hugs and smoochers hun!*
This turned out to be much more than a drabble - more of a ficlet! Plus I wanted a tentative friendship already established because I wanted Xander to come to some conclusions on his own. Many thanks to my awesome beta duo, Mari and Tina, who made it much better than just a mere drabble. Thankee ladies!
*Star Trek is property of Paramount and there are quotes from ST, Wrath of Khan littered throughout this.*
This turned out to be much more than a drabble - more of a ficlet! Plus I wanted a tentative friendship already established because I wanted Xander to come to some conclusions on his own. Many thanks to my awesome beta duo, Mari and Tina, who made it much better than just a mere drabble. Thankee ladies!
*Star Trek is property of Paramount and there are quotes from ST, Wrath of Khan littered throughout this.*
Chapter End Notes:
Currently working on the next chapter of Incandescent - seriously!