Beautiful Disaster - Chapter 6

“Giles!” Buffy yelled as she walked in through the door to the Magic Box. She’d promised him yesterday that she’d come and do some work so she could get some extra money coming into the house. Shop work was the last thing she wanted to do in life, but she couldn’t rely on Spike for all the money. She wanted to do her share of the earning and she was willing to give anything a try.

Besides, she might like it. It wasn’t like she was going to help the customers. She was strictly here on a stockroom basis.

Heading down the steps and straight for Giles, she sighed heavily and tried to keep hold of William. He had wriggled in her arms all the way here and Elizabeth had kept trying to lead them off in different directions, making her head pound and her stress levels go through the roof.

“Giles… a hand would be nice?”

Giles just stared at her, frozen to the spot and holding his glasses in one hand, and his cleaning cloth in the other.

“Giles? Am I speaking a different language?” She moved so William was near him, hoping he would take the little boy out of her arms and give her a few moments rest. Since getting up this morning it had been all go. She’d had to feed the children and herself, tidy the lounge which was now littered with toys, give William and Elizabeth their baths and then get them dressed.

Spike had tried to help, but her mood had prevented him from getting close enough to be of any assistance. All she’d done is snap at him, taking everything out on him when it wasn’t even his fault. She couldn’t bring herself to let him help, and on the way over she’d realised that she’d done it to spite him. She’d intentionally overworked herself and stressed herself out just to get at him.

Buffy decided that men were right. Women were crazy.

She should’ve just let him help like he’d offered, rather than insisting on doing it all herself so she’d have something to hold against him and a reason to make herself feel better.

“Um…oh…yes…” Giles looked at the little boy wriggling frantically in Buffy’s arms.

Slipping his glasses back on, he moved painfully slow to free Buffy from William.

Settling William awkwardly into his arms, Giles patted his back clumsily and half smiled at Buffy. She rolled her eyes.

“Where’s Spike?” Giles looked at the little boy in his arms. For a moment, he was still but as he heard his father’s name mentioned, he started wriggling again.

“Coming through the sewers. That’s definitely no place for children.” Buffy sat Elizabeth down at the research table and smiled as Elizabeth started flicking through the books.

“Please don’t…” Giles reached one hand out towards the book but stopped abruptly when Buffy frowned.

“It’s a book, Giles. I thought you’d be happy that one of us Buffy’s showed an interest.”

Giles shook his head slightly and tried to keep hold of William, who was now struggling against him.

“Buffy, please.” Giles implored her to help him. William was pushing his hands hard against his chest in an attempt to get away and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep hold of him.

“Sorry, he’s been cranky all day. Think he’s tired…” As she said that, Spike walked in through the door from the basement.

Giles was amazed as the struggling boy in his arms became placid, his little hands reaching for Spike.

Heading straight to William, Spike pulled him out of Giles’ arms and wrapped his own about the boy.

“Calm down, little mate, wasn’t gone long.” Spike felt William’s arms wrap tight around him and smiled as he buried his head into his neck.

Both Buffy and Giles stared at them. William was quiet as a lamb and sucking his thumb as he rested his head against Spike’s shoulder.

Watching them, Buffy remembered this morning. She’d come down to find William asleep on top of Spike, his little head rested on Spike’s chest, and both father and son were snoring softly.

“Any reason he’s so cranky today?” She looked at Spike with her brows raised.

“He um…came down last night, we watched telly. Seems he has his daddy’s sleeping patterns.”

“Spike… he’s a five year old. Late night TV…” Buffy started but was cut off by Spike.

“We watched animal documentaries alright?” He frowned at her, and then shot Giles a deadly look as he struggled not to laugh. “Little tyke couldn’t sleep so we watched a program about bears. We also had an insightful conversation about teddy bears, and their lack of teeth. He seemed to enjoy Passions…”

“Oh you didn’t. Spike, I’m not having our son watching Passions.” She stopped as Spike’s face softened into a boyish look and her stomach warmed through as she mulled over what she just said. He’s our son. She’s our daughter.

Giles watched the interchange of tender looks and rolled his eyes.

A quiet snore drew everyone’s attention.

William smacked his lips together and snuggled into Spike’s neck. Spike sighed. Buffy smiled. Elizabeth pawed the books. Giles put the kettle on.


Four hours later, Buffy couldn’t stop yawning. She’d managed to rearrange the mess in the basement into several piles of mess instead of one. Still, it was probably a good thing that she hadn’t made much progress, it meant that Giles was going to have to pay her to work for a lot longer.

She stretched as she ascended the stairs and pushed the door to the shop open. She smiled at Giles as he looked up from counting the day’s takings and then wiped her brow on the back of her hand. Rolling her shoulders, she looked around for Spike and found him sitting at the research table with the children. He looked as bored as she felt.

“Any luck?” She nodded towards the book that was sitting in front of him and then sat down beside Elizabeth.

“Not a jot.” He said as he pushed the book away from him and let his attention focus on her.

She looked tired, her skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat and her pristine clothes dirtied from working.

“I’m bushed…” She let her chin come to rest on her upturned palm and slumped against the table. “You know what I need?”

“Could think of a few suggestions.” Spike smirked and watched her cheeks colour by the tiniest amount.

“A good workout.”

Spike looked confused. “A workout? You just said you were tired.”

“Yeah… tired of working. It seems like forever since I found the time to do some training. I’m here and my work’s done for the day… training time.” She smiled at him as he continued to look confused by her theory.

Spike watched her stand and take hold of Elizabeth’s hand. She walked a short distance and then paused and looked back at him.

“You coming?” Buffy said casually, trying to shut down the nerves that were fluttering inside her stomach. It wouldn’t be the first time Spike had watched her training, but everything seemed so different these days. The events of the past week had left her feelings towards Spike irrevocably changed and she couldn’t ignore the effect it was having.

Spike could make her blush at the drop of a hat now.

He could make her stomach heat up like a volcano and could leave her feeling like she was made of jelly with just a look and a smile.

Training in front of Spike now meant lots of blushing and silent praying that she wouldn’t make a fool of herself. She wanted to look strong, wanted to be as graceful and as beautiful as he’d told the children he saw her like.

Leading the way into the training room, she sat Elizabeth down on one of the chairs at the perimeter of the room and then waited for Spike to appear. When he walked in with William in tow, she grabbed her kit bag and disappeared into the back to get changed.

Spike watched her as she emerged a few minutes later. She was tying her hair back into a tight ponytail, her body now clad in her traditional training outfit that consisted of grey sweat pants and a tight white spaghetti strap top. His eyes followed her every move as he made himself comfortable on the floor, letting his back rest against the wall as his arms rested against his bended knees.

He gave her a smile as she looked at him not once but twice while stretching her muscles and then let his attention briefly turn to William who was tugging on his t-shirt.

“What’s mummy doing?” His tone was a hushed whisper as he looked up at Spike.

“Remember I told you about mummy being a great fighter?” Spike waited and when William nodded, he continued. “Well, that takes a lot of practice. That’s what mummy’s doing now.”

“Oh.” William looked satisfied by Spike’s answer and turned to watch Buffy as she began her training.

Buffy suddenly felt as though she had a very overly attentive audience and had to take several deep breaths to gain the courage to start. She decided to begin slowly, just a few exercises with the punch bag.

Spike couldn’t take his eyes off her as she punched and kicked the bag, her moves as fluid and graceful as always. Watching her training always left him with a hunger, a desire to be able to fight her again without the chip triggering. He didn’t want to kill her anymore, but fighting her had never been about that. Fighting her was unlike anything, it was beyond everything. When they fought it was as though they were dancing, a deadly dance to the rhythm of their hearts and their desires. Passion seemed to drive them rather than a desire to kill. They seemed to get lost in the moment, in the feel of fighting each other, and there was nothing that compared to it.

He’d never felt anything like it in all his life. Not even sex compared to fighting her.

His mind wandered off for a moment and he considered that making love to Buffy could be the one thing that would beat fighting her.

He let his eyes narrow as she briefly glanced in his direction and he smiled as her cheeks coloured deeply this time. He extended his senses, focusing them on her and seeing how she’d react.

Buffy bit her lip as her Slayer radar went off the scale and she found herself fighting the punch bag even harder and faster. There was something about the feeling of Spike in hunt mode that drove her on, something that elevated every feeling she got from fighting until it was almost addictive. She wanted to feel him watching her, needed to feel his eyes on her as she punched and kicked her way into oblivion.

There was something about it that was beyond satisfying.

She gave him a wicked little smile as she moved around the punch bag and felt a rush of pleasure as he looked even more enthralled. She loved the power she had over him, just like he loved the power he had over her.

Spike was itching to fight her. He couldn’t resist her when she was radiating so much strength in her fluid moves.

She was incredible.

Buffy steadied the punch bag and decided to work on her balance. She walked casually over to the horse and the blocks, pretending that she wasn’t aware of Spike’s eyes following her. She needed to train—this had nothing to do with looking good in front of him.

Looking at the horse, she bit her lip and decided that she needed more of a test than the one it offered to her. Pulling the block out, she placed it down and made sure it was on the level before flexing her fingers and taking a deep breath.

Spike cocked his head to one side as he watched her put her hands on the little block of wood. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but when she kicked her legs up and gracefully moved into a handstand on the block, he was stunned. She’d clearly done this before, but that didn’t make it any less amazing to him. It was incredible the way she could balance on such a small square of wood, her body still and straight as a rod as she kept her balance perfectly.

“Wow.” Elizabeth breathed as she watched Buffy.

“Was just thinking the same thing, bit.” Spike said as he watched Buffy, wondering just how long she could maintain that pose. She seemed so in harmony with her surroundings, so relaxed and so perfectly still that Spike felt as though she could probably hold that position for hours.

Buffy took shallow breaths as she closed her eyes and let her senses extend outwards. She blocked out all the noise in the room, using her inner radar to pinpoint the things around her. She could feel Spike. She could feel the little ones. She could feel the walls, the punch bag, the horse. She could almost see them.

Moments like these, she found the true meaning of her power and the strength of her abilities.

Spike almost purred as he felt her signature growing stronger inside him. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

As the door to the training room opened, he shot Giles a deadly look that warned him not to disturb Buffy.

Giles smiled as he saw Buffy on the block. At least there were some things he’d taught her that she’d remembered. Quietly closing the door, he left them to it.

“Spike?” Buffy said as she opened her eyes.

“Yeah, baby?” Spike replied and then let his eyes widen as she did the splits in the air.

“Was that Giles?”

“Yeah…” He just stared at her as she moved her legs into different positions.

Buffy put her legs back up again. “Spike?”

“Hmm?” He raised his brows as he let his eyes roam over her body.

She stood up and smoothed her ponytail out of her face. “Quit staring.”

Spike smirked at her. “That all you were gonna ask?”

“Nope.” Buffy grabbed her towel and stretched as she walked towards him. Stopping just in front of him, she let her eyes meet his and smiled inside as she found he was having trouble keeping his eyes off her body. “You wanna patrol?”

He stared at her for a few seconds, letting what she’d asked soak in. “Sure.”

Grabbing her jacket, Buffy slipped it on and threw her other clothes into her kit bag. Placing it over one shoulder, she walked back to Spike and picked Elizabeth up.

“Come on then.” She said as she walked past him and then smiled as she heard him following her.


The walk home was quiet. Spike was finding it hard to keep his eyes off her. His thoughts were stuck on how good she’d looked when training and he couldn’t wait to patrol with her. He hadn’t even bothered to ask who was going to look after the children, he got the feeling she had a plan that would cover that.

Following her into the house, he set William down on the couch next to Elizabeth and smiled as the little boy yawned. Last night had been nice, just sitting in front of the television with William and talking nonsense about bears and things. It was fun not having to be sensible and grown up. He wished he could act more like that around Buffy, but he got the feeling they still had a way to go before they were that relaxed around each other.

“Dawn!” Buffy called up the stairs and felt a little taken aback when her sister appeared, along with her friend. “Oh.”

“Wow… when did your sister spout?” Janice gave the two children a look and then let her eyes settle on Spike. “And when did she snag the major hottie?”

Dawn sharply nudged her friend when Buffy gave her a death look.

Spike grinned.

Buffy turned her look on him and watched the smug smile drop off his face. She almost squeaked as he walked up to her and sucked his cheeks in as he looked her over. When his hands came to rest on her waist, she cleared her throat and turned her attention back to her sister, trying to ignore how hot her skin was where he was touching her.

“Can you baby sit the terrible twins?” Buffy asked her sister in a shaky voice and resisted elbowing Spike when he squeezed her waist slightly, not letting her forget his presence behind her. “We um, we want to go out for a while… you know… moonlit walk?”

Dawn nodded, knowing exactly what her sister meant. She looked at the two children and then back at Spike and Buffy.

“Absolutely. Would love to.” She said with a wide grin.

Buffy got the impression that Dawn loved having a niece and nephew as much as she loved having children. Removing Spike’s hands from her waist, she shot him a little frown and pretended that she didn’t see him pouting at her.

“Come on, you.” Buffy grabbed his hand and pulled him out of her house with her.

When he shut the door behind them, she stopped on the porch and let her frown intensify until she was nearly scowling at him.

“What was that all about?”

“Just thought it might look better for you if I made out we were together. You know what teenagers are like. She figures you got yourself knocked up and have no partner in crime, tells the whole school, they tell their folks and presto, you’re the town slut.” He narrowly avoided the slap she levelled at his arm and grinned as he wiggled his eyebrows.

“That isn’t funny, you know.” She said sulkily as she started walking down the path towards the road.

Spike caught up with her and fell into step beside her as she walked towards the cemetery. “Hey… I’m here with you, right? You’re not alone, you’re not the town slut… you didn’t even give birth to the little brats.”

Buffy stopped dead. “Does that make it any better? If Dawn even mentions how old those kids are, Janice is going to figure out I would have been sixteen when I had them. How does that make me look? I just look like a teenage slut that let you knock me up, probably while we were parking or something equally as whorish.”

She went to start walking again but found a hand on her arm stopping her. Spike held her firm and tightened his grip as she tried to shake herself free of his grasp.

“Listen to me. Niblet’s got more sense than that. She won’t go spouting her mouth off about who the kids belong to or how you came to have them. Chances are that bird won’t figure out how old they are anyway. It’ll be fine, love, and if it isn’t, I’ll make it fine again.” Spike offered her an affectionate smile as she looked up at him, her lips pouting expertly and her eyes showing him that she was far from convinced by his words. Sighing, he let his fingers brush against her cheek and looked deep into his eyes. “You’re not alone, Buffy… you’re never alone… not in this, not in anything. I love you. I’ll always be here for you. I’ll play the father, the protector, and I’ll look after all four of you. I can be a hero like you said I could be.”

“I know, Spike, I know. You don’t have to try and be a hero, you already are one.” Buffy let her fingers slip into his and sighed as they started walking again.

Spike smiled down at their joined hands and then let his head fall back as he stared up at the stars. It was a still night, the sky was clear and for some reason he found himself hoping that patrol would be quiet.

He realised it was because the more time he spent with Buffy lately, the more she was opening up to him and he wanted to see just how far she would let him in.

He wanted to see if she’d go all the way to her heart, like he wanted her to.

Bringing her hand up, he pressed a kiss to the back of it and smiled as she gave him a shy look.

“I’ll never let anything happen to us. We’re family now.” He squeezed her hand lightly.

Buffy smiled at that word.

“Family.”

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