Title: Spike & Buffy, 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)
---------------------
 
 
Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyber-Space
by Anne Rose
 
 
~*~*~
Part 19
~*~*~
 
The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch.  Anya's vows were
eccentric, to say the least, but Tara had managed to talk her out of
any mention of being Xander's "sex poodle."  But even that couldn't
have distracted Spike from the woman standing on the other side of the
happy couple.  Even the sea of hideous green ruffles Buffy was drowning
in couldn't make her any less beautiful to him.
 
Groo prodded Spike in the back, and he noticed the ceremony was over. 
He wondered how long he'd been staring and how many people had noticed.
He was still the Big Bad and he wasn't going to let some sappy wedding
ruin his reputation.  Then he saw Buffy again, smiling and waiting for
him to take her arm and escort her back down the aisle.  He stepped
forward, linking her arm in his, and they walked slowly following the
other couples, with a grin on his face.  'Well,' he rationalized, 'got
to be smiling for the pictures.  Wouldn't want to ruin the album.'  
 
The ordeal was not quite over.  Since Anya didn't want Xander to see
her in her wedding dress before the ceremony, pictures had to be taken
afterwards.  But, half an hour later, they were finally able to join
the festivities.
 
Spike and Buffy followed Xander and Anya back into the main hall.  Once
there, they were able to move away from the newlyweds and find a quiet
corner to sit down.  "My feet are killing me," Buffy said.  "Standing
in heels all day is murder."
 
Spike recognized his cue and leaned over to pick up her feet and pull
them into his lap.  Buffy sighed as he pulled off her shoes and started
rubbing her feet.  They sat for a while and watched the other guests
mill around.  There was Xander's father, at the bar again, and already
arguing with the bar tender.  Dawn had managed to get Conner away from
Angel and was feeding him a bottle.  Lorne was getting setup with the
band, and it looked like Anya and Xander were preparing to cut the
cake.  
 
Buffy groaned, "We're going to have to get up in a moment."
 
"Why's that?"  Spike asked.
 
"After the bride and groom cut the cake, then there's toasts, and then
all the unmarried people get herded together to try to catch the garter
and bouquet," Buffy sighed.
 
"I'm sure we're up to the challenge," Spike said confidently.  Buffy
just smirked back at him, giving him the odd feeling that he was
missing something important.
 
Lorne's voice came over the sound system, instructing everyone to
gather around the happy couple.  Xander and Anya cut the cake, and he
delicately placed a piece in Anya's mouth.  Spike was surprised as he
watched.  He would have pegged the whelp as a smear the cake on her
face sort of chap.  Maybe there was some hope for him yet?  
 
Anya returned the gesture, feeding Xander a small bit of cake.  Then
they kissed and the crowd applauded.
 
Next were the toasts, followed by the inevitable tossing of the
bouquet.  In the jostling and shoving that followed Anya tossing her
bouquet and Xander flinging the garter, two victors emerged.
 
"You could have warned me they'd be throwing elbows," Spike complained,
as Buffy looked at his face.
 
"I think it'll heal before you can actually get a black eye.  Stop
being such a baby," she laughed at him.
 
"Hey, you at least could shove back.  I was stuck there, in the middle
of a melee with no means of defending myself!"
 
Buffy leaned over and kissed the tiny bruise on his face.  "Better?"
 
He swung his arm around her and pulled her close.  "Much better," he
said, and then he waggled his eyebrows, "but it was a fierce battle.  I
got bumped and bruised in all sorts of interesting places."
 
Buffy smiled, and gave him another quick kiss.  Then she looked back at
the dispersing crowd.  "Well, that's not right!  Dawn's way to young to
be getting married." Buffy laughed as she and Spike wandered back to
their chairs.  
 
"You lost me there, Pet."  Spike said, sitting back down.  
 
"She caught the bouquet," Buffy said.  They looked over at Groo, who
was standing there, somewhat dazed, holding the garter, and Dawn had
the bouquet. 
 
"Oh, right.  I was never sure if that was just a TV thing or if it was
for real," Spike answered.  Buffy looked at him curiously.  "What? 
It's not as if I've been to a wedding recently, now is it?" 
 
Buffy pulled him close and gave him a hug.  "No, I suppose not."  She
watched as Anya was trying to explain to Dawn that she and Groo needed
to dance together.  Instead, Dawn walked over to Cordelia and traded
the bouquet for Conner.  Buffy chuckled as she watched Anya trying in
vain to regain control of the situation.
 
Music started playing, and Lorne stepped back up to the microphone. 
"This first song is for Xander and Anya."  He began singing as Xander
led Anya out onto the dance floor.  Buffy rested her head on Spike's
shoulder as she watched her friends sway and spin slowly to the music. 
They looked so happy, and in love, that it brought a tear to her eye. 
Spike wrapped his arm around her and they sat quietly enjoying the
music.
 
As the first song ended, other couples began to head out onto the dance
floor.  Spike stood and extended his hand to Buffy.  She took his hand
and the walked out among the other couples.  As they began to dance to
another lyrical old standard, Buffy was surprised to see Angel across
the floor, dancing with one of the bridesmaids.  The woman had dark
hair and a fair complexion, but Buffy didn't remember seeing her
before.  Spike noticed Buffy was distracted, and looked over to she had
her attention.  He grinned when he saw who Angel was dancing with. 
 
"That's Halfrek, Anya's friend," Spike said.
 
"What?  Who is?"  Buffy asked.
 
"The woman dancing with Angel.  The one you're staring at," Spike
replied.
 
"I wasn't..." she started, looking up at him.  He raised an eyebrow. 
"All right, maybe just a little.  But it's only because I didn't
recognize her when she's not all veiny."
 
"Whatever you say, Luv."  Spike murmured, as they continued their
dance.
 
Towards the end of the song, Spike heard Buffy's tummy rumbling. 
"Shall we hit the buffet line after this song?"  He asked.  Buffy
nodded.  When the song ended, Buffy and Spike headed towards the buffet
table.  Buffy put herself together a plate of food, while Spike went to
get drinks for them.  On the way back to the table, Buffy ran into
Angel, standing off to one side.
 
She thought about walking by without saying anything, but that would be
even more awkward, so she squared her shoulders, veered a little to the
left, and walked up to him.
 
He was still looking down at the floor when she heard him say, " Hello,
Buffy."
 
"Hey," she replied.
 
"It's a happy occasion.  Your friends getting married," he said.
 
"Yeah, it is.  They've been through a lot, but they finally made it
here," she sighed.  "I'm really happy for them."  She paused for a
moment.  "I saw you were doing pretty well, making new friends."
 
He looked confused for a moment and then said, "Oh, you mean Hallie? 
We just met."  He shrugged.  "She seems nice enough."
 
"She's an old friend of Anya's.  I hadn't seen her before with her
human face."  Buffy explained.  "Just don't go making any wishes around
her."
 
Angel looked surprised, "Vengeance demon?"  Buffy nodded.  Angel
sighed, "That explains it.  I knew something was off, but I couldn't
place it.  Yeah, I'll be careful."
 
They lapsed into another awkward silence.  Angel shuffled his feet and
looked at the floor.
 
"Are you ok with all of this?"  Buffy asked finally.
 
"What, with you and Spike, with wishing things had been different?"  He
said to the floor, and then he looked up and met her eyes.  "I won't
lie to you, it's hard, and it hurts to see you with him."  Buffy looked
stricken for a moment as she saw how hard this really was for him. 
Angel continued, "It's nice to watch you be happy, even if it is with
him.  So I can live with it."  He paused again.  "You, uh... you glow."
 
Buffy chuckled quietly.  "That's because the dress is radioactive."
 
Angel chuckled.
 
"I should..."  Buffy started.
 
"Yeah," Angel nodded.
 
Buffy walked past him and back to the table where Spike was sitting,
watching her.  "That didn't seem too bad.  What did the Poof want?"
 
She sat down and toyed with her fork.  "Not much.  He wanted to tell me
he was glad I was happy."
 
Spike nodded again.  There was really nothing left to say about that,
so he sipped on his cup of blood while Buffy ate her food.  When they
finished eating, they got up and danced again.
 
The dancing lasted for what seemed like hours to Buffy.  Then Xander
and Anya finally said their good-byes and left.  As soon as they did,
Buffy felt like her legs were suddenly full of lead.  She sagged into
Spike and mumbled into his chest.  "I think I'm going to fall asleep
right here.  All of the sudden, I'm exhausted."
 
Spike walked her back to their table and then went to find Dawn.  The
last time he'd seen her, she was dancing around the room with tiny
Conner in her arms.  A few minutes later, Spike was back with Buffy's
coat, but no Dawn.  "Seems Little Bit is still full of youthful energy.
Begged to stay and get a ride back with Willow and Tara.  Told her I'd
check with you."
 
"Sure, that's fine.  Does that mean we get to leave?"  Buffy looked
hopeful.
 
Spike waved at Dawn, and she smiled.  "Yeh, put this on and we're out
of here," he said, holding open her coat for her.  She slid into it and
they quickly said their good-byes.
 
Buffy fell asleep on the short drive home.  Spike turned off the car,
and looked down at her head resting on his thigh.  He smoothed her hair
back and shook her gently.  When she didn't wake, he picked her up out
of the car, closing the door with his foot, and carried her into the
house.
 
As he walked up the stairs, she sighed and burrowed her face into his
chest.  Spike smiled as he laid her on her bed.  She looked so
peaceful.  He sat her up carefully, unzipped her dress, and peeled it
off of her.  The rest of her clothes followed quickly.  He searched for
a moment before finding a t-shirt and grabbing it out of her dresser. 
Returning to the bed, he gently pulled the shirt over her head and
arms, and then he tucked her into bed.
 
Quickly stripping out of his own clothes, Spike slid under the covers,
and wrapped himself around her.  Buffy sighed, and snuggled closer into
him.  He watched her sleep for a few minutes, thinking about the day. 
Today had been the end of what they had learned from the prophecies. 
From this point forward, they were on their own.  Whatever lay ahead,
they would face it together, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
 
Spike was awakened in the early morning by the bed shifting suddenly as
Buffy bolted out of the room.  He heard her run to the bathroom, and he
was starting to get up when he heard the sounds of her retching. 
Concerned, he called out to her, "Buffy?"
 
~*~*~ THE END ~*~*~
 
 
 
 
 
Epilogue:
 
As the season six reruns began playing, they instigated a flurry of
emails on Spoiled_Spuffy as subtle but definite changes started
appearing.  Videotapes were pulled out and compared, as well as
transcripts from the episodes.  
 
There was never any explanation about the changes from Joss and Mutant
Enemy, but something was clearly up.  Older and Far Away aired out of
order in the reruns, and Dead Things and Normal Again, had disappeared
without a trace.  In their place were completely new episodes that
dealt with the repercussions of the Suvolte egg business, and a
cross-over with Angel the Series.  It came out in those episodes that
Spike had received a huge amount of money in advance for the eggs. 
Buffy and Dawn had already spent part of it on trivial things like the
mortgage, college tuition, and food, even before the eggs were
destroyed.  
 
Naturally, Spike had killed the middle-men, well, middle-demons, when
they came to collect.  As a result, some fairly nasty characters
arrived in Sunnydale with murder and mayhem in mind.  Luckily for
Buffy, it was during the cross-over episodes and the crew from LA was
there to lend a hand.  It all culminated in the season finale, Hell's
Bells.
 
This sparked another rash of emails on the lists.  Hadn't the networks
said they weren't going to do cross-overs?
 
The debate raged all summer on the fan lists.
 
~*~*~
 
Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, Willow was still trying to re-establish
the connection to the oracle's dimension, and Buffy's tummy problems
weren't going away...  
 
 
 
~*~*~ THE END ~*~*~