"Wow," she said while staring at the ceiling.
"You're telling me."
This hadn't been on her agenda for this mission. It was a slayer mission - not a 'meet your old lover and have sex with him' mission. But then with the meeting and the sparkage and the bed sitting there, waiting, and then her clothes decided they needed to be off her.
She couldn't regret a second of it, though. Her intimate parts were still tingling.
Spike's placed a hand on her stomach. "This alright?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Just...not expected."
Spike shifted so he propped himself up on his elbow. Buffy tore her gaze away from the popcorn textured ceiling to look at him.
"For one, I thought you were dead," she said. "Which, by the way, still pissed that you never called me."
"So noted."
"For another, I just thought that...," She stopped herself. She wasn't sure if that would be a tactful thing to say.
He finished for her. "You thought you were over me."
"Well, I did think you were dead and dusty," she admitted.
He hesitated. "But it was good?"
"So good." Buffy's eyes closed as she remembered how good it was. Spike's thumb stroked her abdomen.
"So, then. What now?"
That was the question, wasn't it? Spike was working with Angel; she worked with the slayers. By coincidence, they'd managed to both get the same mission. Now, in theory, they needed to figure out who would get the scrolls (she would) and then...go their separate ways.
She'd go back to England, and he'd go to LA.
Separate.
First things first. "I get the humanity scrolls."
"The Humaneia Scrolls are going back to LA with me, sorry. I don't need Angel busting my ass about coming back empty-handed."
"Don't you think you owe me for the whole not calling me after you came back thing?" Buffy gave him her best wide-eyed look. "Besides, Giles, really wants it - "
Spike snorted. "Yeah. And I'm always up for catering to Giles."
Oooh. Misstep. Buffy had forgotten that Giles and Spike had ended on bad terms. She frowned.
"Compromise," Spike said. "I take the scrolls back to LA. We have a guy who can make a copy of them. We'll send those to you."
"I'll have to ask my people. I don't know if they need the information or the scrolls, themselves."
"Yeah, I dunno, either. I'm just a gopher on this one."
"Same."
Then they were smiling at each other like lovestruck teenagers. Buffy wasn't sure how that had happened.
"I missed you so much," she said.
He traced a finger down her cheek. "I never stopped thinking about you."
"It's not possible to..."
"To?"
"Well, for you to - maybe - come back with me?"
Spike tilted his head. "What are you asking?"
"I think that's pretty obvious," Buffy said. She grabbed his hand and held it to her chest. "I want you with me."
"No small request."
"I know that."
He considered her quietly. Buffy wondered what he saw.
Then a cellphone went off. His cellphone. Buffy waited to see what he would do. She hoped he would ignore it. He didn't.
With an apologetic grin, he rolled over and reached down for his jeans. He extracted the phone from his pocket and stabbed the 'talk' button.
"Yeah?"
Buffy lay back. She could distantly hear a man's voice on the other end. Three guesses as to who that was.
"Got caught up in something. You know how it goes." Spike glanced at Buffy. "Listen, might need a few more days on the scrolls."
That was a lie. They had the scrolls.
"Just cause. Things are more complicated than that."
He was staring at her then. Buffy realized he wasn't just talking to Angel.
"Listen, Angel, just gimme a few more days to suss things out. I'll ride back with the treasured scrolls then."
Buffy smiled. It wasn't a no.
"Tell me about dying," Buffy said.
Spike kept his gaze on the passersby. "What do you want to know? You've done it before."
"Were you scared?" She poured more milk into her cup.
"When I died?"
"Yeah."
"Wasn't then. Later, though, when I showed up in LA. I was terrified, then."
Buffy quietly sipped her coffee. The street lights of the open-air cafe produced a halo around the vampire across from her. She knew that was a deceptive image. He was far from an angel.
"I'm sorry you had to deal with it alone."
Spike finally broke from his people-watching to glance at her. "Wasn't like what you went through. I hadn't been in heaven or anything like that."
"Still."
He sighed. "Still."
Their waiter stopped by to check on them. Buffy waved him away with a smile.
"You really meant it?" Spike asked as soon as the waiter had left.
Buffy blinked. "Meant what?"
"What you said down in the hellmouth?"
She set her coffee mug down. "No, Spike, I was totally lying to you in the last seconds of your life."
He snorted. "Right."
"Of course I meant it. I'd practically been screaming it the days leading up to the whole thing."
He raised an eyebrow.
"...non-verbally," she amended.
"I think I believed you then. Couldn't admit it cause I had to save the world and all, but I knew it. Then I came back all ghost-like and Angel told me - well, I convinced myself that I was probably just making a big deal out of nothing."
"It wasn't nothing for me."
"Nor for me."
Buffy's sandaled foot reached under the table to caress down Spike's shin.
The dryer rattled with a loud clanging sound. Buffy walked back to the chairs lined up by the wall of the all-night laundromat and reclaimed her seat beside Spike. He sat with his arms crossed, feet stretched out, head tilted to the side like he was about to fall asleep.
"Crappy dryer," Buffy commented.
"Sounds as if it's about to launch into orbit."
"I hope it lets me grab our clothes first."
Spike chuckled at her weak joke, but he didn't speak again. Buffy's hand swept down Spike's arm to tease his fingers. In response, he captured her hand in a firm grip.
"I had a place in LA," Spike said.
Buffy would have been confused at the subject change if she hadn't known the looming question that was hanging over both their heads. Instead, she remained still. The dingy laundromat was completely empty besides them.
"Like I belonged for once. Back in Sunnydale, hardly anyone gave a fuck about me. Was an outsider. That gets old after a while."
Buffy squeezed his hand.
Spike continued, "Angel gave me that in LA. That's why I stayed."
Buffy turned to look at him. "I can give you that."
Spike's chin quivered, though more from excess emotion than from any impending tears. He kept his gaze forward.
"I think I'd like that."
Buffy reluctantly released Spike's hand only when they reached the gate. The throngs of people walked around them.
"You're sure that this airplane is vamp-safe?" she asked.
"Company jet. Completely sun-proof."
"The evil company?"
Spike shrugged. "The very one."
"I'm still not sure about that."
Spike turned to face her. "It won't matter much longer. I'm only going back to drop off the scrolls. Then I turn right around and meet you in England."
She smiled. "You better not let me down, mister. No disappearing again."
He brushed her hair away from her face. "No disappearing. Promise. I love you."
"I love you." She pulled him down for a kiss.
There'd been plenty of passionate kisses in the past week. This wasn't one of them. It was a kiss of promise and hope and beginnings. When Buffy pulled away, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. It was like a permanent fixture.
"Call me when you get there."
"Of course."
Twenty four hours later...
The hook of the hanger twisted as Angel attempted to hang his jacket up in the office closet. He righted the hook, enjoying the satisfying metallic snap as the hanger latched onto the closet rod. He straightened his suit as he walked back to his desk.
The still-wet bloodstain slowly spread across his carpet. With a press of a button, Angel summoned his cleaning staff up to take care of it. Then he flipped through his Rolodex to find Buffy's most recent number.
He balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear while he dialed.
"Hello?" She picked up on the first ring.
"Buffy, hi."
"Angel? I'm expecting a call from - " She cut herself off.
"From Spike, I know. I have some bad news, Buffy."
"About Spike?"
Marta, the cleaning lady, entered wearing thick rubber gloves and carting a variety of spray bottles. The smell of disinfectant filled the room.
"Buffy, Spike is dead."