Title: Checkers
 
Author: Anne Rose
 
Email: anne3rose@yahoo.com
 
URL: http://annerose.cjb.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=47579 
 
Rating: PG-13
 
Spoilers: Intervention and beyond
 
Summary: S/B, Follow-up to Intervention (the Buffybot episode).  What
happened after Buffy left Spike's crypt?
 
Archive: Yes.  I would be honored if you want to archive it.  Please
let me know where so I can visit it. 
 
Author's Note: Thanks to Caffey and Spiletta for ripping this story
apart and helping me fix several issues and confusing bits.  Thanks to
Hubby for initial plot help and Raven and Tamytha for catching even
more of my typos.  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.  (c) August 15, 2002
 
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.
 
~*~*~*~
 
Checkers
by Anne Rose
 
 
Part 4
 
~*~*~
 
Spike woke just as the sun was setting.  The familiar change in the air
prodded him, alerting him it was time to get up and hunt.  He started
to roll over and noticed something warm and heavy against his chest. 
Baffled for a moment, he breathed in to try to determine what it was. 
Buffy's unique scent filled his nostrils, overwhelming him.
 
Suddenly, memories of the past day came back to him.  Images and
sensations flooded over him.  The fight with Glory, her nearly
torturing him to death, the painful confusing trip back to his crypt,
the bot returning.  Only it wasn't the bot, it was Buffy, and she had
stayed on, fed and cared for him.  He thought he'd dreamed it.  It
wouldn't have been the first time.  But now he felt a warm body curled
against his and smelled her scent.  
 
He was afraid to try opening his eyes again, afraid that she would
evaporate like she had in so many of his other dreams.  Instead he
settled back down and wrapped his arm back around her.  She snuggled in
closer, burrowing her head into his shoulder.  If it was a dream, he
wanted it to last as long as possible.
 
A short while later, Spike was awakened again by the sound of someone
approaching the crypt.  He listened carefully as the person stopped at
the door, and then opened it.  As the footsteps came closer, Spike
morphed into his demon visage and growled menacingly at the intruder.
 
He saw Giles step back, staring at him in shock.  "Bloody hell, Rupert.
Thought you were one of Glory's little trolls sneaking up on me." 
Spike's head dropped back on the bed, his face reverting back to his
human mask.  
 
Two things went through Spike's mind in that moment.  First, he noticed
that Buffy really was there with him, lying in his arms, in his bed,
fully clothed - but then, you couldn't have everything.  Second, her
watcher was standing over them, so perhaps the clothes weren't such a
bad thing after all.  'Or maybe Rupert will make the whole thing
academic by staking me?'  Spike's mind wandered on of its own accord.
 
"Yes, sorry about that.  Buffy asked me to return after sunset."  Giles
apologized as he scrutinized Spike.  "You seem to be doing much better
than when I was here before."
 
Here before?  That was news to Spike.  He wondered how long he'd been
out.  Covering his surprise, he smirked at Giles.  "Sorry to disappoint
you, but I'm afraid I threw most of my energy into trying to scare off
whoever had come calling.  My ribs haven't knit yet, and I think one
leg's broken.  That hell bitch busted me up right and proper."
 
"I see."  Giles nodded.  Spike watched Giles' eyes as they moved from
him to Buffy, who was still draped across his chest, sound asleep.  His
expression shifted from curiosity to concern as he regarded her.  She
had been on the point of exhaustion after the Glory incident.  "How is
she?"  Giles asked.
 
Spike looked at Buffy again.  "She's tired, but other than that she's
ok.  Her heartbeat and breathing are steady.  Can't smell any fresh
blood on her.  I think all her wounds have closed up already," he said
quietly.  "She's been asleep since before I woke up."
 
"She's had a hard couple of days, and I know she needs her rest," Giles
said, his concern evident.  "I really hate to wake her, but we'll be
safer once we get back to the house."
 
Spike sighed.  He knew this was too good to be true, too good to last. 
However, he wasn't a pile of dust, in spite of the watcher finding
Buffy in his bed, so the day wasn't a total loss.  That last bit did
cause him to question if this was all a dream, but he pushed it aside. 
"Hope you brought your car.  I don't fancy the idea of her walking back
to the house in her current condition, meeting some nasty along the
way."  Giles nodded, and Spike began gently shaking Buffy.  "Slayer,
rise and shine.  Watcher's here, come to take you home."
 
"Spike?"  She murmured, and buried her head deeper into his chest.  
 
Spike hissed as her hand accidentally grazed one of the wounds on his
chest.  Catching her hand, he tried again to get her attention. 
"Slayer," he called.  "Wake up, Buffy.  Early bird stakes the vampire."
 
"What?"  She groaned, as she opened her eyes and saw Spike staring back
at her.  "Spike?  How did I wind up here?"  She asked, a bit startled. 
 
"Dunno, Luv.  I was asleep, just woke up to find you all over me," he
said casually, his face contorted into an approximation of his
trademark smirk.
 
"I am not all over," she started, but Spike cut her off with a raised
eyebrow.  "Well... technically, but you know what I mean," Buffy
muttered as she began carefully untangling herself from Spike.  She
changed the subject abruptly before things could get more awkward. 
"Can you eat some more?  I think there are a few packets left in
the..."  She paused mid-sentence as she turned and saw Giles standing
there, watching her with obvious curiosity.
 
"Giles, what a pleasant yet embarrassing surprise to see you here,
again," she stammered as she smoothed her hair and clothes, and
purposefully walked past him to the refrigerator.
 
"You did ask me to return after sunset," Giles reminded her.
 
"Right," she said, as she opened a new packet and poured it into the
mug.
 
"I am rather concerned... no, curious," Giles said, removing his
glasses and fidgeting with them, "Uh, about your sudden closeness with
Spike."
 
Buffy closed the microwave and leaned against it.  She took a deep
breath and turned to Giles, giving him a big, almost bot-like smile. 
"You said I should get some rest, and you know me, always taking those
watcher suggestions to heart."
 
"Quite..."  Giles put his glasses back on and stared at her.
 
Buffy sighed, walking to the other side of the crypt, away from Spike
where she could speak more privately with Giles.  "I have no idea,
Giles."  She shifted her weight and didn't meet his eyes.  "It's just,
he went through so much for Dawn... and me... and I've misjudged him so
badly."  She fidgeted with her hands.  "He can't even sit up, so he's
even more harmless than usual....  And I was really tired and... I
don't know," she looked up at Giles hesitantly.  "Maybe a little scared
and lonely.  Is that so terrible?"
 
Giles looked at her with a bemused expression.  "No, I don't think it's
terrible.  I think we all misjudged him.  He's been changing subtly,
and we're just now starting to realize it.  If Xander can actually say
a few sympathetic words about Spike, he must have changed," Giles
chuckled.  Buffy laughed softly at the joke.
 
"But on a more serious note, Buffy, this is new territory, and we don't
know what will happen.  I think you should bear in mind what you told
me of your encounter with the First Slayer."
 
Buffy sighed.  "You think she could have been referring to Spike?"
 
"It's possible.  Didn't you say she told you to forgive and risk the
pain?"  Giles prompted her.
 
"I'm full of love," Buffy parroted back.  "I should love, give,
forgive, and risk the pain.  It's my nature and love will bring me to
my gift."  She looked up at Giles.  "The only catch is, death is my
gift."
 
Giles fidgeted now and looked over at Spike.  "There could be many
interpretations of that.  It could be referring to you being the
slayer.  Or..." Giles paused and fiddled with his glasses for a moment,
"Spike isn't exactly alive, and he has seen more death than any of us,
including his own."
 
Buffy silently mulled over what Giles and the First Slayer had said. 
"He did have other options than staying in Sunnydale and helping us,
after the chip.  But I still don't get it.  Angelus would have given up
Dawn in a second.  He probably would have rushed to join forces with
Glory, except their egos wouldn't fit in the same room."  She threw her
arms in the air, not able to understand.
 
"Spike is a paradox.  Since coming to Sunnydale, he's never really
behaved like your typical vampire," Giles said, almost to himself. 
"Well, this is something you'll have to sort out for yourself.  I can't
advise you except to say, you need to be true to yourself."  
 
Buffy smirked up at him.  "You got that out of a book, didn't you?"
 
"It's timeless advice really," Giles stammered with mock indignation. 
"And just because someone wrote it down once doesn't make it any less
valid."
 
The microwave beeped.  "Right."  She said, as she went to feed Spike.
 
Buffy gently raised Spike up and helped him with the mug.  He drained
it quickly.  "Thanks, Luv, that really hits the spot."  Giles brought
over the last packet and poured the warmed blood into the mug.  "And
thanks to you too, Rupert."  Spike raised the mug as if he were making
a toast.
 
"Don't mention it."  Giles watched Spike finish and then took the mug
back and rinsed it in the makeshift kitchen.  "Buffy, we need to be
leaving as soon as possible," he called out.  "Collect up whatever we
need to take with us and let's be going."
 
Spike sighed.  They would be leaving soon and that would be the end of
his happy little dream.  He had been elated, even hopeful, when he
overheard Buffy and Giles talking, but now he leaned back against the
bed, a little deflated and suddenly feeling much more tired than he had
a minute ago.  
 
"I'll be back in just a minute," Buffy said.  She ruffled his hair and
then got up, grabbed her bag, and disappeared into his 'basement'.  She
returned a few minutes later.  "All set, Giles."  Spike watched her as
she walked closer.  He didn't want to say good-bye to her.
 
"Come on lazy-bones," she said, gently easing him into a sitting
position.  "Giles car is only a few hundred feet away.  You think you
can make it, or do we have to carry you?"  She winked at him, but he
just stared back at her, not understanding what she was going on about.
 
"Giles, I'm gonna need some help.  Looks like Spike may have checked
out again."
 
"I'll be right there," Giles said.  Together they lifted a dazed Spike
and practically carried him out of the crypt.  "Crutches would have
been a good idea," Giles muttered as they struggled through the
cemetery to the car.
 
"Crutches.  Check.  I'll put it on the list for the next time one of us
gets beaten to death by a hell-god."  Spike's ears pricked up at
Buffy's use of us.  He would have smiled, but just then his foot
bounced over an uneven patch, jarring his body.
 
They managed to get Spike into the car and to Buffy's house without
incident.  The stairs up to the front door were a bit more of a
challenge, but finally they had Spike inside and installed on the
couch.
 
Buffy looked at the windows behind the couch.  "Giles, we're gonna have
to move him.  All this work'll be for nothing if he goes poof as soon
as the sun rises."
 
Giles nodded.  "I see your point, but I'm not sure we can get him
upstairs in his current condition.  At a minimum, we would need to
splint his leg.  Then we would have to carry him."  Giles trailed off
as he puzzled over the situation.
 
"Ok, one splint coming up."  Buffy dashed downstairs, into the
basement, returning minutes later with some sturdy sticks and an old
sheet.  She tore the sheet into strips as Giles began arranging the
sticks on Spike's leg.
 
"This may hurt a bit," Giles said as he and Buffy secured the splint. 
Spike hissed in pain as they checked their work and tightened the
knots.  "I think that should do it," he said.  "Now we just need to
carry him upstairs."
 
Spike rolled his eyes, but said nothing, saving his energy for the
ordeal of moving upstairs.
 
That was easier said than done, but after a couple false starts, they
managed to carry and drag Spike upstairs and deposited him on Joyce's
bed.  He looked exhausted, and Buffy knew the trip upstairs had to have
been painful, but he hadn't complained.  Now he just lay there with his
eyes closed.
 
"Giles, maybe you could get him some more to eat, and then he can rest
for a while," Buffy suggested.
 
"Yes," Giles nodded.  "The more he eats, the faster he should heal. 
I'll be right back."
 
Buffy sat on the bed next to Spike and studied him for a moment.  She
reached out a tentative hand to stroke his forehead and then smoothed
his hair back.
 
At her touch, his eyes opened.  He lay still, and watched her.
 
"I meant what I said," she started.  He looked up at her questioningly.
"What you did for Dawn and me, I won't forget it."
 
Spike reached over and took her other hand.  "Buffy, about the bot." 
He swallowed before continuing.  "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."
 
Buffy nodded.  "It's okay, Spike.  Well, it's not really okay.  The
whole robot Buffy idea was gross.  But, I think I understand."  She
smiled at him.  "And after all, you are evil."  She chuckled.
 
He chuckled a bit, relieved that she wasn't furious.  And then stopped
and looked thoughtful.  "Sometimes..."  He caressed her hand. 
"Sometimes I think maybe it might not be so bad not being evil.  I know
you'll never love me, but if it meant you'd let me stick around..." his
voice faded, unsure of what to say next.
 
"Why did you do it?"
 
Spike sighed, "Dunno.  I was lonely I suppose, and since you were...
unavailable."
 
"I don't mean why the bot, I meant why did you have Warren give it all
that extra programming.  It knew about my friends and my family.  It
wanted to patrol and it could fight."  Buffy looked at him, waiting for
an answer.
 
Spike considered what to say for a moment.  Very quietly he said,
"Those things are part of who you are."
 
Buffy couldn't believe what he was saying.  He was so different from
the vampire that had tried to kill her when he first arrived in town.  
 
Anything else they might have said was cut off by Giles' return with
blood for Spike.  He drained the mugs silently while Buffy rummaged
around in her bag.  She traded him a clean t-shirt for the mug.  With
Giles' help, they managed to remove his boots and get the ruined shirt
off and put the new one on him.  Spike was still awake, but it looked
like he would be asleep again in minutes.  They covered him with a
blanket before Giles left to go back downstairs.  
 
Buffy walked to the bed and sat carefully next to Spike.  She lifted
his hand up and brushed it against her cheek.  "Get some sleep so you
can get well soon.  We're going to need all the help we can get against
Glory."  Spike looked up at her hopefully, and she gave him a warm
smile.  Buffy leaned down and pressed a kiss against his forehead. 
"And never is a long time."
 
~*~*~
 
The End
 
Epilogue to follow...