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Author's Chapter Notes:
Done for the Art-to-Fic Challenge at spuffy_wonder, the lovely banner done by *okdeanna*. Only recently gotten around to posting it here. Enjoy!
He was spell bound. Bewitched. Had to be, there was no other explanation for it. How else could he be so enthralled by the full pout of her lips, that shampoo-commercial hair, those pretty emerald jewels for eyes? Those eyes could ensnare a man and bind him, mind, heart, body and soul. If he’d had a soul to give, he’d have laid at her feet, bare as everything he was, to do with what she pleased.

And he wondered if she knew about the un-beating heart she held in her smooth hands. His laugh went unheard as the waves roared, pulling thousands of grains of sand back home. Would she let him find it in her, if he asked? No way to know. As far as she knew, he was a never-ending dream, pulled from her subconscious mind to remind her that not all men were like her father. She’d told him so, not too long ago. Last year, when she came to visit her mother over the summer, as she had every summer of her life.


She’d been young when they’d met; four, five, maybe six-years-old? He couldn’t remember. He’d been relaxing after a long hunt, stretched out under a full moon, bright as a shiny new pearl. Foot-steps and laughter had sounded off in the distance, making him crack an eye open to find the source of his disturbance. Maybe it was because he’d gotten his fill of violence that the sight of the little girl playing in the waves didn’t really make him want to move. He just closed his eye and got settled again, intent on ignoring her until her parents pulled her from the water or she wandered off to leave him in peace.


For a while, things didn’t change. She would run to the edge of the waves, arms spread wide behind her, and then laugh at her game as she ran up the beach to escape them. If he was lucky, she wouldn’t bother a stranger sitting by himself, so he wouldn’t have to deal with her. But it seemed that his favorite Lady Luck was in the middle of something; the little chit caught sight of him and wandered over, intent on identifying this odd, lonesome looking man.


When her soft approach failed to slow, he all most considered the violence, a simple toss into deep waters, leave her to the churning of the oceans currents. But that would require movement, and he’d get a massive headache from listening to her screams while she drowned. Not that he would actually hear it, but he’d know she was trying to scream. He didn’t like killing kids anyway. Waste of a good meal for when they got older.


He’d be honest with himself; she’d scared him silly when she’d plopped on his chest like he was some giant teddy bear for her to cuddle with. He was the Big Bad, damn it. A Master Vampire. He didn’t have to put up with this.


“Sod off, midget.” He snarled softly when she shifted on top of him, getting comfortable by sitting on his chest, her legs hanging off the sides. His eyes narrowed, meeting her gaze as she watched him. Her head tilted to the side, one golden curl falling in front of her face. That innocent face was cute, he’d give her that. But he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. “Don’ make me repeat myself.”


She just kept staring at him. Then, “Why are you sitting by yourself?”


Oh, hell no. What was this, come clichéd fairy tale? Don’t think so. He refused to play the beast to her beauty. Picking her up by the scruff of her shirt, he dropped her in the sand next to him. “Sod. Off.”

“Or what?”


His demon bled through before the thought even formed in his mind, willing to deal with the stupid bints screams as long as it made her go away. “Or ’ll tear your head off an’ use your bones ‘s tooth-picks.” Her heart sped up in fear, and he waited impatiently for the sound of her hurried run. But instead of the terrified reactions he’d aimed for, a small hand reached out, and slim, chubby fingers traced the features that should have struck freezing fear to her core.


And it froze him, that touch. Some of his conquests, women he’d been ‘fond’ of who’d tried… No. That wasn’t true. No one who had gotten this close had wanted to stay with the demon long enough to find the man. He’d thought Dru had, at one point, but her interest had barely scraped demon deep, and she was the type of off and on again woman that made him wish eternity would end just a bit sooner.


It was simple curiosity that drove the girl before him, and he couldn’t decide if he was pathetic or not for respecting her the longer and longer she stayed, instead of running from the face presented to her. He was impressed.


“Mommy says that some dog’s barks are worse than their bite.” Her voice was firm and matter of fact as she retracted her touch, crossing her arms over her chest. And when that cute button nose raised in the air and sniffed daintily, his huge upheaval of laughter melted his face back into its human form. Her pleased smile told him she’d accomplished her personal mission, and the laughs cooled to a saucy smirk. This little bit had guts, saying that to someone like him.


“Was’ your name, pet?” His smirk softened to an amused smile when she stared at him, clearly not understanding. “Gotta ‘ave somethin’ to call you, ain’t I?”


“E-Elizabeth,” she murmured shyly, playing with the hem of her shorts. “I dun like it though. It’s really hard to spell, and I keep thinking I’m in trouble when I hear people say it…”


It was something he could sympathize with, though he kept the thought to himself. And really, the name didn’t suit her much anyway. Was too large a word for this slip of a girl. “Buffy, then.” He shrugged dismissively at her confused look. “Call yourself Buffy ‘nstead. ‘S short, easy to remember, damn well easier to spell, ‘n no one’s got a name like it.” Of course they wouldn’t. It sounded like a stripper’s name, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should reconsider…


But her bright, toothy smile told him she wouldn’t listen to him. She nodded eagerly, and crawled closer to him so she could lay down next to him, her small head resting on the bow of his arm as his hand rested behind his head. “I’m gonna make everyone call me that now. Buffy…” She frowned then, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hey, what’s your name anyway? I gotta have something to call you to, ya know.”


“Mine?” He raised an eyebrow at her insistent nod. He chuckled, a dark sound that rumbled in his throat. “The Big Bad.”


When she wrinkled her nose at him, he had to wonder if he should feel more justifiably insulted instead of highly amused. “That’s a silly name for someone like you. What’s your real name?”


His real name, was it? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken it aloud. “Mm… Not sure I wan’ you knowin’, luv. Could get me ‘n a lo’ a trouble if ‘t got ou’ I was back in town, yeah?” In a perfect imitation of his own look, she raised her eyebrow, clearly telling him she wasn’t impressed. He all most laughed at her again, but settled for a grin instead. This little bit was damn fun to tease. “’Ow long you ‘ere for, pet?”


His question distracted her enough to have her forget he hadn’t answered her. “Uh… ‘Til summers over. Heh, that’s my last name. Summers.” She giggled quietly. “But yeah, I’m here ‘til the end of summer. Then I go back to my Dad’s for school.” Her expression gave way to a trembling lip, and he brought his hand out to wrap around her small shoulders.


“Was’ wrong, pet?”


She sniffled, curling in on herself before beginning her slow explanation. “W-Well… It’s just… I dun wanna go back with my Dad. I wanna stay with Mommy, but I can’t. She said maybe I could, one day, but not yet. She said that there are people who say Dad can take better care of me.” She pulled herself closer to him, and he could feel the light trembles that had begun to wrack her small frame. “But he doesn’t like me. He yells at me a lot, and sometimes he’ll pull on my hair.”


His eyes flashed amber, fully aware it wasn’t just the man in him responding to her pain. It was his demon, the part of him that turned instinct into something dangerous, something primal, that was reacting to her. It took effort to control his building rage. “You tell your mum?” When she shook her head no, he tightened his hold, hard enough to hurt. He released her immediately at her small cry of pain, hoping he hadn’t hurt her too badly. She let him resettle her on his shoulder before hugging her again. “Why not, luv? She’d wan’ t’ help.” The bitch better have, otherwise he’d go ballistic.


But small tears broke through her eyes, and she buried her face in his chest to hide them. “I dun wanna make more trouble for Mommy though! I… I told her, once, that he’d pulled my hair.” He had the strong feeling that his protective snarl had made her feel better, because her trembles slowed down a bit, though the tears still fell. “They started fighting. He called me names, and Mommy got madder and madder and… And then he said something else, something I can’t remember, but she stopped, and… She hugged me, really tight, and she cried. She kept saying she was sorry, really, really sorry. I didn’t get it, and I couldn’t ask because Dad took me back to his house.” A pause. “I was supposed to stay another day, but…” A shake of her head. “That was in March, though.” She yawned then, and snuggled close.


With a quiet sigh, he carefully picked her up, holding her against his chest with one hand as the other brushed her hair from her eyes. She’d fallen asleep on him, but he wasn’t worried about it. A few quick sniffs and he found his way to her Mom’s home with little trouble. Knocking wasn’t an option, but there was a swing on the porch, so he adjusted the pillows and laid her down, taking his duster off and laying it over her. He’d find a way to get it back later.


As he turned to go, a small voice called him back. “What’s your name?”


And as he gazed into those pretty green eyes, he knew in his heart of hearts that he would never be able to deny this little girl anything. So he bent down next to her, leaning in to kiss the small tear stains from her cheeks. “William, sweetheart. Name’s William.” He smiled tenderly, brushing a curl behind her ear. “But is’ our secret, kitten. You’re the only one who can call me that, understood? To everyone else, ‘m Spike.”


She smiled tiredly, and nodded. “Kay. Night, William.”


He pressed another kiss to her forehead. “Night, Buffy. Sweet dreams, luv.”


For the rest of the night, he was never far from her. He wouldn’t leave her defenseless. Not even after her mother came out and took her inside, heart pounding in relief, did he leave. For now, he’d protect her, his little Goldilocks.


And while William fretted over what he could do to help her while a vampire, Spike gleefully imagined everything he could do to the bastard who dared to call himself Buffy’s father.






TBC


Chapter End Notes:
P.S. Can you find the Black Jewels Trilogy allusion? If you do, kudos to you! (And maybe a drabble for your awesomeness...)



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