Title: Buffy & Spike, Lost in Cyber-Space Author: Anne Rose Email: anne3rose@yahoo.com URL: http://annerose.cjb.net http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=47579 Rating: R (but nothing you haven't seen on the show, at 8pm.) Disclaimer: Joss and Mutant Enemy, etc. own BtVS. No infringement intended. Any resemblance to people living, dead, or undead, or to real life events is all in your mind, is downright scary, and means you seriously need to get a life. Spoilers: Season 6, but story is set after 'Once More With Feeling' where Buffy lives, and a little later in Fic-land. Summary: S/B, Willow has been using her computer to do a little inter-dimensional hacking. Spike finds it and wacky Internet hi-jinks ensue. It gets a bit more serious as it goes along. It's become a retelling of the second half of Season 6. Answer to Challenge from Stephanie Honey. Archive: I would be honored if you want to archive it. Please let me know where so I can visit it. Author's Note: time passes differently in different dimensions. So it can be almost end of Season 6 in one place and Season 5 in another. Oh wait, that's syndication. ;-) And don't get on my case about screen names. I'm just keeping them simple. Thanks to the Buffy Dialog Database (http://vrya.cstone.net/index.htm) and the Buffy Guide (http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes.shtml) for help with research and parts of episodes. Thanks to Clare009, Dakota, and Hubby for beta reading. (c) April 25, 2002 --------------------- [Spoiled_Spuffy] fanfiction group challenge from Stephanie Honey Hey fic writes! I got a challenge for ya'll! Here it is: Requirement 1. Humorous Fic!!! Requirement 2. Buffy and Spike find a fanfic group. And can't believe some of the stuff fans write about them!!! Requirement 3. PG-13 or higher Requirement 4. e-mail it to me at honeymajandra@hotmail.com Option 1. Try to mention these members: Honeymajandra (me- Stephanie Honey), Sophie_limbourg (Sophie), Sarafina120 (Melissa), Lochnoir (Jerri) --------------------- Buffy & Spike, Lost in Cyber-Space By Anne Rose Part 13 ~*~*~ They had left LA a little before sunset. Angel had taken over the wheel from Wesley once the sun was down. He, Wes, and Lorne were packed into the front, while Cordelia and Groo sat in the back on either side of Conner's car seat. Fred and Gunn followed in his truck. All the way up the freeway, Wesley and Cordelia were arguing about their plans when they reached Sunnydale. Their bickering was driving Angel nuts. 'Maybe it was time to give up the sporty midlife-crisis wheels and settle down with a nice mini-van with bucket seats,' he wondered. Angel tried to remember why he'd thought this road trip was a good idea. No wedding could be worth this torture. However, after Wesley and Groo had taken out Holtz and his "army," things had heated up in LA. Wolfram and Hart called out their own army and were doing their best to make life difficult for Angel and company. The invitation to the wedding couldn't have come at a better time. They would arrive a little early - several days early actually. But he was sure they could find something useful to do on the Hellmouth. Where to stay was another matter, they hadn't had time to make any arrangements before leaving town. Hopefully Wes and Cordy would get it sorted out before they drove him insane. The visit to Sunnydale would also give him a chance to introduce Conner to Buffy and the others. He was worried and excited at the same time. He knew Buffy had heard about Conner via Wesley and Giles, but he had no idea what her reaction had been. His team had all been too busy trying to keep Conner safe. At least now he and Buffy would have a chance for a quiet chat. The small caravan arrived at 1630 Revello Drive, at about 9:00 pm. Angel turned off the engine. "Everybody, out!" They piled out of the car. Groo handed the car seat, with Conner in it, to Cordelia. He walked with her as she followed Angel up the steps. Fred and Gunn climbed out of the truck, tagging along with Wes and Lorne bringing up the rear. "We should have called first." Cordelia nudged Angel. "Or at least used the cell phone. If you knew how. When are you going to join the rest of us in this century?" She snorted. "It's a little late for that now," Angel said, turning to look at her. "And we did sort of leave in a hurry." Cordelia sighed and shook her head as Angel knocked on the door. A few moments later, Buffy peeked out through the window and opened the door. "What are you guys doing here?" She gaped at them. "Can we can explain inside?" Cordelia said, pushing past Buffy with the car seat. Dawn saw the car seat come in and jumped up from the couch. "Ooh! A baby. Can I hold him?" Dawn asked, as she played with Conner's little fingers. The others crowded in through the door, pushing Angel aside. "Fine," Angel said. "I'll just wait over here." After the stampede into the house, Angel followed them. His face smashed into the invisible barrier. Stunned for a moment, he paused. His face was a mask of confusion, as he reached out and tested the doorway again. He couldn't believe he'd been uninvited. "Buffy, do you mind?" He growled, waving at the door. "Um, actually, I need to talk to you first. Hang on." Buffy closed the door and disappeared for a minute. When the door opened again, she stepped outside instead of inviting him in. The instant she crossed the threshold Angel's head jerked up and he growled, his eyes flashing yellow as his face morphed. "Where is he?" Angel demanded, grabbing Buffy's arms. "Let go of me," she protested, knocking his hands away. "What's gotten into you?" "I can smell him. Spike's here, or he was recently. And you...," he sniffed her again. "You reek of him." Angel growled out. "What's going on?" By now the others had heard Angel's outburst and had come to the door to see what the problem was. Buffy backed through the open door, and bumped into Cordelia and Wesley. "Would you guys give us some space here?" Buffy asked, waving them all back into the living room. Buffy looked back through the doorway at Angel as he seethed, waiting for her to invite him in. She took a deep breath. "Spike is here, in the house," she explained. Buffy flinched as Angel roared and threw himself at the invisible barrier. "We can talk on the back porch. I'll meet you there in a few minutes." She said firmly, closing the door against his pleas to come in. "Buffy, you're shaking. Is everything all right?" Giles asked, noting with concern how the encounter with Angel had affected her. She looked at Giles and gave him a weak smile. "It will be." She shook her head, "One way or another, it will be." Giles nodded. "He knows about Spike." "How?" Giles asked. Buffy tapped her nose. "Oh," Giles said, and then his eyes opened wide, "Ohhh!" He exclaimed, pulling his glasses off and fiddling with them. "Ya, Oh," Buffy sighed. "Please just make sure nobody invites him in." "If that's what you want, I'll see to it." Giles said. "And Buffy, do be careful." "I will," she said, and then dashed upstairs. ~*~ ~*~ Giles watched her go and turned to back to the living room. Some of the 'guests' were sitting, others were milling around nervously. When he walked back in they peppered him with questions. "Giles, is Buffy ok?" Willow asked. "What about Angel, she's not letting him in is she?" Dawn looked at him fearfully. "Why shouldn't she let him in?" Cordelia demanded. "I don't understand any of this." "He sounded pretty evil there, Cordelia, and my, what big teeth grandma had. Are you sure he didn't lose his soul when he was..." Xander waved his arm at Connor, "With Darla?" "He's not evil!" Cordelia snapped. "I don't know why he's acting this way." The Sunnydale contingent didn't answer her. Some shuffled their feet, or fidgeted, none of them would meet Cordelia's eyes. "Ok, what's going on," Gunn asked. He was standing with his arm around Fred. "It's rather complicated, Mr.?... I don't believe I caught your name?" Giles inquired. "Charles Gunn," he walked forward taking Giles' hand and shaking it. "I work for Angel Investigations, along with Fred, and Cordy, and Wes." "Fred?" Giles looked over at Groo. "No," the woman beside Gunn said, extending her hand. "Winifred Burklen, pleased to meet you Mr. Giles. I've heard so much about you from Wesley and the others," she gushed with nervous excitement. "I see," Giles said. "And the other 'gentlemen' with you?" Giles turned towards Groo and Lorne. "They're from Pylea, where I lived for five years after getting sucked through a dimensional portal. Angel came and rescued me," she beamed. "Well, actually, he and the others came to rescue Cordy, she got sucked in also, but while they were there they rescued me too." "So, you're *not* human?" Giles asked, removing his glasses and cleaning them. Groo carefully helped Cordelia off his lap, and stood. "No, I am the Groosalugg," he strode forward, clasping Giles hand firmly. "I followed my beloved princess here to your dimension to serve her," he said, as if it needed no further explanation. "You followed... Winifred?" Giles asked, confused, looking at Fred who was clearly connected in some way to Gunn, and back to Cordelia who was standing by the chair she and Groo had been sharing. "No," Groo shook his head slowly, "I followed my princess, the beautiful Cordelia." He walked back over to her and wrapped an arm around her. "Willow, does Buffy still have that bottle of scotch I left here?" Giles asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'll go find it." Willow hustled off. "Now Wesley, perhaps you could start at the beginning and explain all of this." Giles sighed. ~*~ ~*~ Buffy arrived upstairs to find a very worried Spike pacing around her room. As she walked through the door, he grabbed her, hugging her tightly. After a moment he looked down at her, "Are you ok?" "I assume you heard all that?" She asked. He nodded. "I guess the Buffy birthday curse is still alive and well," she moped. "He had to find out sometime, Luv," he said, pulling her over to the bed and sitting with her in his arms. "I know... I just wish he could accept it. What am I going to do if he won't leave us alone? Do I stake him? Do I let him stake you? Then I could stake him, for staking you, and live by myself with a dozen cats maybe." She babbled miserably. "I think Clem could help you out with the kitten end of things. He owes me a couple favors," Spike joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm serious, Spike," she said. "I know you are. For now, he's outside and I'm inside. If necessary we can just wait him out." He smoothed her hair and rubbed gentle circles on her back. "Ok," she said standing up. "I have to go back out there and talk to him, but first I need to change." She grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom, with Spike following. She turned on the water and started to peel out of her clothes. "What are you doing?" Spike Wondered. "I'm just trying to not antagonize him any further," she said stepping into the water and quickly soaping herself. "He's still going to be able to smell me," Spike said quietly, and a little sadly. "I'm inside you, and he knows that." Buffy rinsed and then pulled the curtain back to look at him. "I told him that, Spike. I'm not hiding anything from him. I just... I just don't want to throw it in his face. That's all," she said, stepping out of the shower into the towel he was holding. He dried her gently and then held her for a moment. "I love you. Be careful." "I will," she said, pulling her clothes on quickly. "I love you," she kissed him, and then pulled back to look at him. He was grinning like an idiot. He still hadn't gotten used to her saying it. "Ready?" "For what?" Spike asked. "I'm going to introduce my new boyfriend to Cordy, my ex-watcher, and their friends. It would help if the you were there for it." She smiled at his confused look. The confusion was quickly replaced by the same silly grin he'd been wearing. "Boyfriend?" She smiled indulgently at him. "Well, what else to you call the man I'm sleeping with..." she kissed him again, "who practically lives here." "That's true enough. Ok, let's go then," he said, sounding confident, but she could see it was just a facade. She squeezed his hand and they started down the stairs. TBC...